Creating Future Leaders Series
The Creating Future Leaders Series is an initiative by the Melbourne Graduate School of Management to engage students with the experiences, thoughts and recommendations of successful key business men and women from Australia and overseas, through seminars and presentations.
The Melbourne Graduate School of Management encourages students to attend these guest lectures, given by corporate role models, to inspire your leadership initiatives and to develop insight into future career prospects and opportunities.
Upcoming Seminars 2009
Doing well by doing good' - a seminar about sustainable and community friendly business practices
25 November, 12 - 1pm, Level 5, The Spot
Speakers: Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
Seminar Synopsis
Back in 1978, close friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, armed with a $5 correspondence course in ice cream making, opened their first Scoop Shop in a dilapidated gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Whilst they occasionally disagreed on the size of the chunks going into the ice cream, one thing they did agree on was having fun. As Jerry put it, “ if it’s not fun, why do it?”. They also decided from the start that business has a responsibility to give back to the community in which it operates, a philosophy that is still important to the business today. 30 years on, with a continued focus on sourcing the finest ingredients to create euphoric chunks & swirls, Ben & Jerry’s now operates in over 30 countries, spreading joy for the belly and soul across the globe with a mission to make the best possible ice cream in the nicest possible way, using business as a tool for social and environmental change.
Recent Seminars 2009
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In the Spotlight - a week of engaging and inspirational seminars
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World Vision: Tim Costello, CEO, World Vision Australia, Rudo Kwaramba, National Director, World Vision Uganda and Dr. David Lansley, Senior Economist, World Vision Australia - Community Development: Testing the Entrepreneurial Approcah
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Ernst & Young: Helen Adair, Senior Manager Advisory Services - Advising on Sustainability and Climate Change
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Leaderhip in the Spotlight: Professor Margaret Abernethy, Dean, Faculty of Economics and Commerce and 2008 Telstra IBM Business Woman of the Year - Where you go tomorrow is up to you today: Leadership as a Journey
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World Vision: Paul Newnham, Youth Segment Manager - The Global Food Crisis: People, Climate, Fuels, Production, Greed. Making ethical choices to bring change
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SEEK: Paul Bassat, CEO - The SEEK Story - the history & background of SEEK, views on the current economic climate & how SEEK is responding to the downturn
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Diversity Council of Australia: Sonja Terpstra, Senior Consultant - Business and Diversity
In the Spotlight - a week of engaging and inspirational seminars
Monday 14 - Friday 18 September
From Monday 14th to Friday 18th September, the Melbourne Graduate School of Management (GSM) brought to the University “In the Spotlight - a week of engaging and inspirational seminars” as part of the GSM’s Creating Future Leaders Series.
The week saw more than 300 students and staff from across the University, as well as members of the wider community, attend seminars focussing on a variety of topics including; World Vision’s approach to community development, Ernst and Young’s advice on sustainability and climate change and Professor Margaret Abernethy’s personal journey into leadership.
The In the Spotlight week succeeded in highlighting a range of different people, organisations and global issues. Spanning relevant and interesting topics, the week was engaging and inspirational for all who attended.
Please find below a summary of the week's events.
"Community Development - Testing the Entrepreneurial Approach"
Tuesday 15 September
Speakers: Ms. Rudo Kwaramba, National Director, World Vision Uganda, Rev. Tim Costello, CEO, World Vision Australia and Dr. David Lansley, Senior Economist, World Vision Australia
Seminar Summary
The first seminar of the week was Tuesday’s World Vision presentation entitled, “Community Development – Testing the Entrepreneurial Approach” (podcast 6.9MB). It was a delight to hear from Reverend Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia, together with Ms. Rudo Kwaramba, National Director of World Vision Uganda, who spoke on the importance of developing genuine partnerships between aid agencies, local communities and entrepreneurial business organisations.
The speakers focused on how these partnerships deliver real and sustainable community benefits, often more successfully than government efforts. Following the seminar, the World Vision guests attended a lunch hosted by Professor Margaret Abernethy, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Commerce. Both graduate and undergraduate students, who are actively involved in global causes such as sustainability, poverty and social entrepreneurship, were invited to join the lunch also attended by senior University and Faculty staff.
The lunch was a perfect platform to discuss the partnership between World Vision and the University’s Knowledge Transfer and Partnerships Office. A collaboration which focuses on economics, aid policy and global health is currently being developed.
Ms. Rudo Kwaramba presenting at the seminar (L-R) Rev. Tim Costello, Professor Margaret Abernethy, Ms. Rudo Kwaramba and Dr. David Lansley
'Advising on Sustainability and Climate Change'
Thursday 17 September
Speaker: Ms. Helen Adair, Senior Manager Advisory Services, Ernst and Young
Sponsored by the Graduate Careers Centre, Thursday’s seminar welcomed guest speakers from Ernst and Young. Ms Helen Adair, Senior Manager Advisory Services and Ms. Allie Wnuk, Graduate Consultant, presented on the topic ‘Advising on Sustainability and Climate Change’ (podcast 5.3MB) .
Ms. Adair, who is a chartered chemical engineer and specialises in climate change and sustainability services, gave an insightful overview of the factors and considerations involved in advising industry and businesses on how to address their carbon footprint.
Ms. Helen Adair presenting at the seminar
'Where you go tomorrow is up to you today - Leadership as a Journey'
Friday 18 September
Speaker: Professor Margaret Abernethy, Dean, Faculty of Economics and Commerce and 2008 Telstra IBM Business Woman of the Year
On Friday, the In the Spotlight week concluded with a presentation by Professor Margaret Abernethy, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Telstra IBM Business Woman of the Year, discussing "Where you go tomorrow is up to you today: Leadership as a Journey".
Professor Abernethy, shared her inspiring leadership journey, and said ‘nothing can be more rewarding than working with the young, and nothing can be more important than education’. Professor Abernethy spoke of how all of us should choose to work in a field that we enjoy, the importance of having a mentor, and how we can all make a difference.
Students and colleagues heard about Professor Abernethy’s background and experiences commencing when she was a part-time student and worked for a Dean of Law in Canada, followed by her work as a volunteer teacher in a secondary school in Jamaica — where she witnessed true poverty, and racial tension. Professor Abernethy mentioned her fulfillment in having 3 loving daughters and how, as a mother, she successfully obtained further academic qualifications. Her PHD topic was to assess how to improve health care in public sector hospitals, and she later won a grant to work for 2 years in the Monash University Medical Centre, where she continued her interest in accounting.
Professor Abernethy became the first female professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Melbourne, and later was invited to be the first female Dean in the faculty. She spoke of her leadership role in many aspects of her work as Dean and her focus to implement strategies that achieve the vision of becoming a world class business and economics faculty. Her achievements have included the raising of resources for student scholarships, attracting large competitive research grants, sponsorships for new chair appointments, and orchestrating the new faculty building at Berkeley Street. Professor Abernethy acknowledged the importance of people as the critical ingredient in providing the very best teaching programs and ensuring research undertaken is of international significance. Her own academic work has been published in leading international academic journals and has led to numerous consultancy engagements.
She has honorary academic appointments in Italy and the Netherlands. Professor Abernethy’s presentation was sponsored by AWCUM (The Association of Women on Campus of the University of Melbourne); 85Broads (a global network of over 18,000 women across 81 countries); Melbourne Graduate School of Management and the Commerce Student Centre.
Professor Margaret Abernethy presenting at the seminar
"The Global Food Crisis: People, Climate, Fuels, Production and Greed. Making Ethical Choices to bring change"
Tuesday 19 May
Speaker: Paul Newnham, Youth Segment Manager, World Vision
Seminar Summary
On Tuesday 19 May, the Melbourne Graduate School of Management was delighted to welcome Mr Paul Newnham, the Youth Segment Manager from World Vision who spoke to students and staff about the Global Food Crisis and how making ethical choices can bring about change.
Mr. Newnham highlighted the work of World Vision and the Global Food Crisis through a number of thought provoking and engaging videos. Mr Newnham explained that the Global Food Crisis stemmed from the lack of food available for over 900 million people world wide due to factors such as People, Climate, Fuels, Production and Greed. Mr. Newnham went on to state that people can make a difference to effectively aid the crisis through, amongst other things, Ethical Consumerism - making a conscious choice to buy products that are for example, Fair Trade or organic.
The seminar stimulated thought and raised awareness of the complex factors contributing to the crisis. Mr. Newnham encouraged people to help make a change by following three easy steps:
• LEARN about the situation by reading newspapers and experience yourself what it’s like to live on $1 a day.
• ACT to make a difference by buying Far Trade, eating organically and growing your own vegies.
• SHARE your findings and knowledge with friends and family to educate those around you to make a difference.
Thank you to everyone who attended this truly educational, insightful and pro-active seminar.
For more information on The Global Food Crisis and Ethical Consumerism, listen to Mr. Newnham’s seminar (14.6mb with screen capture).
Paul Newnham, Youth Segment Manager, World Vision & semianr audience
"The SEEK Story - the history & background of SEEK, views on the current economic climate & how SEEK is responding to the downturn"
Tuesday 21 April
Speaker: Paul Bassat, CEO, SEEK Limited
Seminar Summary
On Tuesday 21 April, the Melbourne GSM was thrilled to welcome the CEO of SEEK Mr Paul Bassat who visited the Faculty as part of the Creating Future Leaders Series.
Mr. Bassat presented an exciting and interesting seminar to students and Faculty staff on the SEEK Story including SEEK’s background and their response to the current economic climate.
Mr. Bassat touched on some very interesting points including how he values the importance of human resources in his organisation and the policies and processes SEEK has in place to support employees values and productivity.
Additionally, Mr. Bassat candidly spoke about the challenges of starting SEEK from scratch in 1997 and the competition at the time of its conception from print-media, which was the primary source of communication between job seekers and advertisers.
Following the seminar, Mr. Bassat attended lunch with student representatives from various student groups including the Melbourne GSM Student Association, FMAA, AIESEC and the Entrepreneurs Club. Here, students had the chance to further pick Mr. Bassat’s brain and engage with his experiences and recommendations for the up-and-coming, budding entrepreneur.
Thank you to all who attended. For more information, listen to Mr. Paul Bassat's seminar.
Left: Seminar with Mr. Paul Bassat, CEO, SEEK Limited.
Right: Lunch with various student representatives.
Business and Diversity Seminar
Thursday 19 March 2009
Speaker: Ms. Sonja Terpstra, Senior Consultant, Diversity Council of Austraila
Seminar Summary
As part of the University’s Diversity Week celebration on Thursday 19 March, the Melbourne Graduate School of Management was delighted to welcome Sonja Terpstra, a Senior Consultant from the Diversity Council of Australia (DCA) to present on the topic Business and Diversity as part of the Creating Future Leaders Series.
The Diversity Council of Australia is Australia’s workplace diversity peak body and provides leadership and guidance to Australian businesses.
Ms Terpstra’s presentation provided an interesting and insightful look at leading edge diversity practices that organisations have in place. Key elements of the seminar included strategies for putting people first by focusing on the employees’ individual needs and how investing in human resources leads to tangible results.
Additionally, Ms Terpstra touched on some very interesting views of mediation practices in the workplace and how this style of conflict resolution is becoming more popular. Please see more of Ms. Terpstra's presentation (148kb).
Thank you to all who attended the event and we look forward to seeing you at the next Creating Future Leaders Series seminar.
2008 Seminars