This month we caught up with Sorana Dinmore, General Manager Corporate Services at City of Marion about her role, LG Professionals SA membership, and the General Managers Network.

What is your role? Describe a typical day.

As the GM Corporate services, I don’t quite have typical days. Change is part and parcel I guess of the job as we’re undertaking a large digital transformation program and so there are different areas requiring focus on any given day. An important part of my portfolio is also finance and procurement which pose challenges, enquiries from elected members, etc.

I could be discussing waste management in one meeting, only to go to people management in another, our financial sustainability in a third. I love the diversity my role affords me as I’m quite challenged by the variety.

What’s your career background?

I have a double degree in Law and International Studies from Adelaide UNI and an MBA from UNISA. I was lucky enough to work in various industries, from the private sector, where I was in mining, law, small business to then transition to State government and academia. I was in State for 13 years and for the past 11 years I’ve also taught in IT subjects at UNISA and Eynesbury.

What benefits do you see in being a LG Professionals SA member?

I think it’s important to bring a higher level of professionalism to the sector which LG Professionals SA are known to be delivering.

You’ve recently taken on the role of Chair of our General Managers Network. Why do you think it is important to join a network and share ideas and experiences with your peers?

For me, it was about increasing my network across local government, we all do similar roles in different locations and so it’s important to collaborate to ensure value for our ratepayers and residents.

Is there anything you want to achieve now that you are Chair of the General Managers Network?

I hope to get more GMs interested in participating in the sessions and demonstrate value for the time investment they need to make.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I love my Tuesday morning bike rides, followed by a nice breakfast somewhere around the city, I’ve recently discovered reformer Pilates. On Fridays I coach my son’s y6 hockey team and on weekends I love spending time with my boys (21 and 11), unfortunately the 20yo daughter left for Sydney last year.