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Michael Combs, CareerTrackers Founder
Endless opportunities.
Huge impact.
In an executive team meeting at the Sydney offices of his employer of the time – a large multinational tech company – Michael Combs looked around the room and asked ‘Where are the Indigenous people?’.
The rest of the team fumbled – they thought he was joking. He thought he needed to do something different.
On October 29, 2009, CareerTrackers was born – a national non-profit with the goal of creating pathways and support systems for Indigenous young adults to attend and graduate from university, with high marks, industry experience and bright professional futures.
Celebrating eleven years, hundreds of our participants have graduated from university. Each and every member of our Alumni community is employed in a professional role, with a median salary in their first year of $62,000. This year, our Alumni community will be made up of 1073 highly educated Indigenous professionals.
The success of the program has been recognised by employers, governments and, most importantly, Indigenous communities throughout Australia. CareerTrackers students complete university at higher rates than their non-Indigenous peers, and 95% of Alumni are in full-time employment in their field within three months of graduation.
The underpinning philosophy at CareerTrackers is ‘Students at the Core’. This means every decision we make in the delivery of the program focuses on the benefit to our students. We are proud to have built a community of CareerTrackers interns and Alumni that span thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households across Australia.
We see prosperous futures for our students and Alumni, who are quickly becoming leaders in their careers and communities.
Anita Lee Hong
Co-Chair
Qualifications & Experience
Anita Lee Hong is a descendant of the Badjalla language group. Born and educated in Cairns, Anita spent most of her life there until she moved to Perth in March 2002 and then to Brisbane until January 2021.
She completed a Masters of Human Rights Education in 2006, a Graduate Certificate of Tertiary Teaching in 2003 and a Bachelor of Applied Science Indigenous Community Management and Development (Vice Chancellor’s List) in 2002 at Curtin University.
Anita commenced in the role of General Manager at Gurriny Yealamucka in February 2021 as part of the Senior Management Team. Anita supports the work of the Chief Executive Office to lead the broader strategic business & systems development, stakeholder engagement and organisation development initiatives.
Anita was the former Professor/Director of the Oodgeroo Unit at the Queensland University of Technology, a position she commenced in July 2010 after 8 years of living and working in Perth as the Associate Professor/Director at Curtin University’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies.
Special responsibilities
Honorary Co Chair
Craig Laslett
Co-Chair
Qualifications & Experience
Craig Laslett is the Managing Director of Leed Engineering and Construction.
Craig brings significant experience in engineering construction and services, having spent more than 30 years at Leighton Contractors including Managing Director and 4 years at Lendlease as CEO of Lendlease Engineering.
He is passionate about greater diversity in the construction industry and reducing the barriers to employment of Indigenous and disadvantaged youth.
Special responsibilities
Honorary Co Chair, Management Committee
Angus Dorney
Secretary
Qualifications & Experience
Angus holds a Bachelor of Law (hons) and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney. He also has a Master of Business Administration (with Distinction) from London Business School. Angus has spent most of his career in the technology sector and he is currently Co-CEO at Kablamo, which is an early stage cloud software development company.
Special responsibilities
Honorary Company Secretary, Finance and Risk Committee, Management Committee
Brian Cahill
Honorary Treasurer
Qualifications & Experience
Brian Cahill is Managing Director, Global Head ESG for Moody’s Investors Service. In his role, Brian leads Moody’s strategy for the incorporation of Environmental, Social and Governance factors – including climate risk – into credit ratings, analytics, research and outreach. He has responsibility for ensuring that Moody’s is at the forefront of meeting this growing market need from investors, issuers and other important stakeholders.
Brian has more than 24 years of credit experience at Moody’s and has coordinated the MIS ESG initiative since 2014 building a strong platform for analytics, research and outreach in respect of ESG.
Brian has held various senior analytical and management positions with Moody’s. He joined the company in 1996, working first in Structured Finance and then Corporate Finance. He was regional head of the Asia Corporate Finance franchise from 2002 to 2020. In addition, he led the Asia project and infrastructure team from 2002 to 2018 and the Asia financial institutions team from 2009 to 2016. He was country manager for Australia from 2005 to 2009.
Prior to joining Moody’s, Brian practiced as a lawyer in London, New York and Sydney. He received an MA and Master of Law from St. John’s College, Cambridge University.
Special responsibilities
Honorary Treasurer, Finance and Risk Committee, Management Committee
Jennifer Elliott
Executive Director
Qualifications & Experience
Jennifer has extensive experience in senior executive roles in financial services, with a particular focus on strategic planning, risk and compliance, joint ventures in Asia and global human resources. During a 20 year career with Moody’s Corporation, Jennifer held a variety of analytic and management roles, including over 5 years as head of Moody’s Investors Service Asian business, and also several years as Chief Human Resources Officer for Moody’s Corporation. Jennifer currently sits on several boards as an independent director, including both not-for-profit and listed entities. She holds a Master of Asian Business Studies from SOAS, London University, and Bachelors of Arts and Law from the University of Sydney.
Special responsibilities
Executive Director, Finance and Risk Committee, Management Committee
Michael McLeod
Non-Executive Director
Qualifications & Experience
Michael is a Ngarrindjeri man from Southern NSW and currently serves as Chair, CEO and a founding Director of Message Stick.
Michael is a descendant of the Ngarrindjeri nation in South Australia, and from the
Monaro region in Southern NSW. Michael currently serves as Chair, CEO and co-founder of Message Stick; Chair and co-founder of Supply Nation; Chair and co-founder of iDiC (Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium), as well as Chair and CEO of IEP (Indigenous EnergyProcurement).
Special responsibilities
Management Committee
Peta-Lee Moran
Non-Executive Director
Peta-Lee brings a varied experience with the CareerTrackers Program, having so far filled the role of Intern, Senior Advisor, Alumni, and Business Coordinator. Peta-Lee is a Gomeroi Wiradjuri woman originally from regional NSW and holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science and a Master of Human Resource Management. She is currently the First Nations Talent Manager at Lendlease and has recently participated in the inaugural CareerTrackers Women’s Leadership Mentoring Program. Peta-Lee is excited to have a new opportunity to give back to the CareerTrackers Community by serving on the board.
Sharon Ridgway
Non-Executive Director
Qualifications & Experience
Sharon Ridgway joined Origin in 2009 and has been responsible for leading the People and Culture function since December 2016. Sharon’s team provides strategic support to the business in key areas such as engagement, diversity, talent management and culture change. Prior to Origin, Sharon developed a wide range of experiences across operational and human resources roles whilst working in Dixons Stores Group, a large European electrical retailer.
Sharon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Postgraduate Diploma in Human
Resource Management.
Todd Crawford
Non-Executive Director
Todd is a Mandandanji man from Roma QLD and is currently an executive at Macquarie Group.
Todd joined the CareerTrackers program in 2011 as one of the first cohorts of interns and is now a proud alumnus. He was named CareerTrackers Intern of the Year in 2017.
Since graduating in 2018, Todd has been working at Macquarie Group within the Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) division. During his career, Todd has been involved in a range of fund management activities including fundraising, developing global products, asset acquisitions and divestments, and direct asset management. Todd holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Finance (Honours) from Queensland University of Technology.
Chief Executive Officer
Senior Advisor
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