YOUNG ACHIEVER

City Of Casey Elena Spanos

Principal Strategic Planner, Revitalisation

Elena Spanos seeks to create sustainable and socially just places while inspiring those around her to achieve their workplace goals.

In her formal role, she works to build organisational social capital to foster an understanding and appreciation of the impacts urban development has on the economic, social, and physical environment. As a leader, she makes encouraging, bold, and impactful decisions while mentoring junior staff, supporting them to develop their technical skills and contribute toward positive change in the community they serve.

A natural problem-solver with a knack for effective collaboration, Elena has a talent for bringing the right people to the table to make decisions. She has successfully gained buy-in from all areas of the organisation and championed thought-leadership and action in establishing a place-based, whole-of-organisation approach to revitalisation.

An active listener and collaborator, Elena carefully considers the feedback and advice received from subject-matter experts and stakeholders when preparing policies and strategies to ensure that they maintain that buy-in when they see a familiar, final version of a proposal.

Her commitment to this inclusive policy development has meant that projects like the Cranbourne Structure Plan are more than just another planning policy, having included input from over 30 staff across the organisation and at all levels.

Taking a patient, methodical, and data-driven approach meant that Elena was successful in receiving in-principal support from the Department of Transport for Council to work through road space reallocation and streetscape improvements for the Cranbourne Major Activity Centre which will be truly transformational.

Elena has continually demonstrated her leadership and passion for inclusivity, community, and social justice. She has exceeded the expectations of her role by participating in programs to improve gender equity in the community and supporting youth with career pathways. In addition to being a senior member of a high-functioning team, Elena is also one of the City of Casey’s ‘Engagement Experts’ and a Gender Advocate, championing gender equality across the organisation. This involves day and night-time audits with the City of Casey’s Gender Equality Task Force that will go on to influence the development of policy and projects across the council.