Leadership in Action

As a radiation oncologist, Dr Bronwyn King founded Tobacco Free Portfolios in 2010 when she became aware that health professionals were inadvertently investing in tobacco companies through their superannuation. A former elite swimmer and Team Doctor for the Australian Swimming Team, Dr King has dedicated her career to making the connection between investment and health outcomes impossible to ignore.

In 2018 she delivered two TEDx talks calling for change in the global finance sector. In 2019 she was awarded an Order of Australia for distinguished service to community health, particularly through advocacy for institutional investment strategies.

Chin Tan was appointed Race Discrimination Commissioner in 2018. Prior to joining the Commission, he spent three years as Director for Multicultural Engagement at Swinburne University of Technology, leading its cultural diversity strategy and working collaboratively across the university and the wider community.

His leadership there resulted in Swinburne receiving a High Commendation from the Victorian Government under the Multicultural Excellence Awards 2017. Chin was also Chairperson and Statutory Head of the Victorian Multicultural Commission from 2011 to 2015.

Vivienne Nguyen's professional experience has spanned the corporate, public and community sectors. Most recently as President of the Vietnamese Community in Australia, Victorian Chapter, she played a key role in building support for Australia's first Vietnamese cultural museum. She has worked with culturally and religiously diverse communities, engaging with Victoria's African community leaders and state and local governments to strengthen social cohesion.

At the Department of Health and Human Services and Melbourne City Mission, she supported the disability sector's transition to the NDIS. Viv was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in 2003 and recorded on the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2002.

Originally from Ethiopia and the son of a priest, Haileluel Gebre-Selassie migrated to Australia in 1992, receiving citizenship four years later. He has been actively involved in the community across Melbourne, living in Caroline Springs for over a decade.

Among his many roles, he is founding member and current Chairperson of the African Think Tank, Convenor of the Victorian Police African Australian Communities Task Force, and Chair of the African Leadership Development Program at Leadership Victoria. Nearly 27 years after migrating, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the African community of Victoria.

Stephanie Woollard OAM received the Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to the international community through humanitarian aid. She founded Seven Women in the Nepali capital Kathmandu, an organisation that educates, trains and provides employment pathways for disabled and marginalised women in Nepal.

After more than a decade, Seven Women has helped over 5,000 Nepali women build independence and dignity. In 2016 Stephanie was a nominee for Australian of the Year. She was also made a Rotary International Peace Fellow and received the Rotary International Responsible Business Award, presented at the United Nations in New York.

Tom Connell describes his leadership impact as sequential, working his way up from leading smaller teams to large systems in medical services. He is driven by motivating people and bringing out the best in his team, continuously questioning how things could be done better.

Now committed to remaining active as an Alum, Tom works with other Williamson Fellows to create impact through WCLP '23 Alumni theme days on issues that resonate. It takes effort to remain active as we return to the daily grind, he acknowledges, but with a clear understanding that the leadership journey continues, he knows the investment is worth it.

The most tangible contribution Julia made since completing WCLP in 2023 was investing in people-leader capability at Monash Health. Using The Leadership Edge as a foundation, she established a monthly Conversation Cafe for people leaders and facilitated face-to-face workshops, helping them translate leadership principles into everyday behaviours.

Today, leaders are more confident, more connected, and more intentional in how they support their teams. She is most proud of stepping more fully into system-minded, values-anchored leadership, holding equal weight on outcomes, relationships, trust and the stewardship she brings to the work.

Joe Murfet is a Jingili-Mudburra man who was born and raised on Larrakia Country in the Northern Territory and has been living and working on Wurundjeri Country since 2004. A decade-long public servant in the Victorian Government, Joe was looking for a new experience when he decided to undertake the Williamson Community Leadership Program.

WCLP has been a year of reflection. As part of his leadership purpose, Joe is considering different ways to bring a First Peoples perspective and add value to different parts of the community outside of his government base.

Divya Pasupuleti initially saw herself as a results-orientated leader. "I took great pride in delivering results. I looked at leadership as delivering a solution." Now she recognises that leadership is the key tool that drives change. Undertaking WCLP prompted her to expand her perspective, an experience she describes as "the best decision of my life".

A visit to the Budj Bim World Heritage site during the Great South Coast regional immersive reshaped her understanding of the intergenerational impact of leadership. She shifted from asking "what is the value proposition here?" to understanding that leadership is often about planting seeds.

Bryan Ross has always embraced the idea of leadership as an action, rather than a title. From being an apprentice chef to commanding soldiers in East Timor to now leading a team of 1,270 in critical support services, Bryan's path has been defined by seizing opportunities and challenging the status quo.

Through exposure to leaders outside his typical professional network, Bryan gained a new understanding of the challenges faced by leaders from marginalised backgrounds. This now informs the way he sees the world, understanding he has the authority to create a more equitable environment and influence a culture of fairness.

Mark Davis has long been at the intersection of business, government and community-driven change. With over two decades in digital, he describes his leadership journey as evolving from centred around field expertise and seniority to a focus on supporting and nurturing others.

Throughout his WCLP journey, Mark discovered the power of collaborating with people he would not otherwise engage with. In all my years of reading, training and courses, he says, I've never seen anything like it in its approach, its structure, its format.

At the heart of Praveen's leadership is a focus on people. He is driven by lifting others up and seeing what his team can achieve together. Prior to completing WCLP, Praveen had experienced plenty of traditional leadership programs and was looking for something that offered a deeper exploration of self.

Through the program, Praveen came to value the breadth of perspective in the room, learning that his view is not the only view. He now uses this as a practical lens for decision making, pausing to step onto the balcony and look for the interpretation he may be missing.

A nurse by background, Ashley sees leadership as a way of expanding influence around the care that's provided, not just as an individual but working with a team to create greater impact. Ashley spent his career as a self-described chameleon, proud of his ability to respond to situations based on what he thought was needed, but often to the detriment of his own needs.

Williamson fundamentally changed how he leads. He gave himself permission to be more thoughtful and reflective, becoming more comfortable creating genuine two-way communication, being more transparent with his team, and encouraging others to bring their whole selves to work.

Eva is Founder and Director of By Accident™, Australia's first and only peer-led training program for people with brain injury or experience of trauma. Drawing on life after sustaining a severe brain injury in 1999, she built a national career in disability arts, working across advocacy, consulting and the performing arts.

Being accepted into WCLP with a Victorian Government Disability scholarship was pivotal for Eva. She entered a world with leaders that had nothing to do with disability and battled imposter syndrome. Being acknowledged for what she brought to the group proved transformative. She found softness, acceptance, and the ability to be herself.

Born in Gambia and educated across Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and Hong Kong before arriving in Australia, Ebrima's path to leadership began early. Despite already holding a master's degree and a PhD, Ebrima credits WCLP with deepening his commitment to contribution through leadership in practice.

Learning alongside peers and hearing from seasoned leaders expanded his worldview and challenged him to lead beyond theory. Being in the same room with these people gave me that life experience, he says. Learning in theory and learning face-to-face in real-life situations are very different.

As an Aboriginal man from Barada/Kabalbara Country, Dyllan has always had a passion for helping mob. His leadership journey began in the Navy, where it was very regimented. A straightforward style that worked at times, but came off too direct at others. Williamson taught him to step back and take more of a balcony view, seeing what's most beneficial for everyone by taking on board everyone's perspectives.

It was also very welcoming as a First Nations person on the program. The cohort's interest in wanting to learn more about his culture made him feel proud to represent his mob.

Linda Liwewe was named Valedictorian of the 2023 third series of the Joan Kirner Emerging Leaders Program, named in honour of Victoria's first woman Premier, Joan Kirner AC. The program gives women in leadership the tools, strategies and support to develop and advance their careers.

An emerging leader who has spent several years in the Victorian public sector specifically in the criminal justice space, Linda's interest in systemic thinking has driven meaningful contributions to a more inclusive community through managing public sector digital and reform projects.

Briana Keenahan is National Sales Manager at Dulux Australia. Through Williamson, she developed a deeper understanding of leadership in complex environments, embracing the practice of pausing, listening, and asking harder questions before acting.

Dan Stubbs is Victoria's Public Advocate, a role he credits Williamson with helping him imagine and pursue. The program expanded his sense of what was possible, giving him the confidence to step into roles of greater responsibility and public accountability.

Richard Dammery has held senior leadership roles across the corporate, arts and public sectors. A long-standing member of the Williamson Alumni community, he reflects on the program as one of the most enduring professional experiences of his career, not for its corporate content but for the breadth of humanity in the room.

Dr Sonja Hood AO describes Williamson as life changing, a rare thing to say about a professional development program. What shifted for her was the depth of perspective she gained by spending a year alongside leaders from sectors and communities she would never otherwise have entered.

Jessica Bartik is Executive Director at the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Her experience of the Williamson Alumni community speaks to what makes the program enduring: not the curriculum alone, but the people and the trust that builds between them over the course of a year.

Joanne Kirk is Director of the Red Rocketship Foundation. Her experience of the Williamson program was one of genuine personal and professional transformation, describing it as an experience she will never forget and a year that stretched her as both a person and a leader.

Lyndon Galea founded Eat Up to tackle food insecurity among school children. He came into Williamson as a hands-on, self-described impulsive leader who involved himself in every issue. The program gave him the self-awareness to lead differently, and the discipline to step back and trust others.

Melanie Cook entered Williamson as an experienced and accomplished leader in her sector. She left with something she hadn't expected to find: a deeper sense of purpose and a broader community of people who continue to challenge and encourage her. She now has a network of friends, not just colleagues, who push her to bring her best always.

After 28 years in banking, Emma's approach to leadership had been shaped by a corporate setting that, in her words, creates a blinkered view of society and leadership. Williamson cracked that open. Regional visits, keynote speakers, group debate and self-paced reflection gave her an entirely different lens. Now she is thinking about how to contribute more meaningfully in her community and bring the most important threads of what she learned back into her corporate life.

Stephen Braithwaite arrived at Williamson feeling stuck. He had been institutionalised in how he approached leadership, not taking time to think differently or consider other perspectives. The deepest shift came through the Immunity to Change work. What he believed was a listening challenge turned out, on deeper examination, to be something harder: a tendency toward selfishness. That was difficult to hear, but it changed everything. He is now more selfless in how he leads, giving back and doing things for others rather than focusing on himself.

Madeleine Buchner founded Little Dreamers to support young carers in Australia. Through Williamson, she learned to lead differently within her own organisation: asking better questions of her team, trusting others to lead in different areas, and ensuring Little Dreamers stays guided by purpose and driven by impact. The biggest personal shift was learning to take a break and switch off. She had always believed she had to choose between work and life. Williamson showed her she could have both, and that doing so is more sustainable for her and everyone around her.

Coming from the private sector, Tish initially found Williamson's community focus jarring. She struggled to find the relevance and bring it back to her work. The shift came when she recognised the program was just as much about process as content. How do you deal with uncertainty? How do you make change sticky? How do you lead people who don't always agree? Those questions are universal, and they apply in every organisation. The concept that has stayed with her most is turning a ripple into a wave: making bite-size changes, focusing on progress over perfection, and appreciating how that builds momentum toward something bigger.

Catherine Board came to Williamson from the private sector and found the community focus difficult to connect with at first. Her aha moment was realising the program was teaching something universal: how to deal with uncertainty, how to make change stick, how to lead people who see the world differently. These challenges belong to every sector, every organisation, every leader. The idea of turning a ripple into a wave has stayed with her, shaping a leadership philosophy built on progress over perfection and momentum built from small, intentional steps.