Registered Office
The Benevolent Society
PO Box 171 Paddington NSW 2021
Paddington NSW 2021 Donations 1800 819 633 ABN 95 084 695 045
11 February 2010
Media Release
Meet the real leaders of tomorrow on the Sydney Leadership program
A new approach to leadership that offers real hope for lasting social change in Australia is on the agenda
today as an impressive line-up of CEOs, senior executives and high calibre individuals from across the
corporate, government and community sectors meets in Blackheath for the opening of the Sydney Leadership
program.
“These 24 talented and committed professionals will spend the next ten months working together to learn
what it means to exercise real leadership,” Head of Social Leadership Australia, Robbie Macpherson said.
“In the business world, or in politics, the prevailing leadership model emphasises power, vision, persuasion
and strength. But ultimately this is a limited and unhelpful view. The challenges we face in our world today are
far too complex, messy and interconnected for any one person to have all the answers. Real leadership
requires listening, it requires working inclusively – across difference – and it requires that we do the real work
required to creating lasting change and achieve genuine progress on our complex and entrenched problems.”
The successful participants selected from a competitive pool for this year’s program includes representatives
from organisations as diverse as Qantas, ACON, the Department of Immigration & Citizenship, Mission
Australia, Stockland and the Muslim Women's Association – to name a few.
The Sydney Leadership program is unique in Australia in that it employs the ‘adaptive’ leadership approach
developed at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In addition to its substantial reading list,
high profile speakers and intensive skills development, the program provides direct exposure to a range of
social issues from ageing to poverty, drugs and crime to refugees and the issues facing rural communities.
Graduates join a network of individuals with the capacity, skills and determination to create lasting social
change, wherever they may be operating in the world.
The Sydney Leadership program is an initiative of Australia’s first charity, The Benevolent Society. This year’s
program is supported by fifteen employer organisations and nine scholarship providers including Johnson &
Johnson Medical, the AMP Foundation, the City of Sydney, the National Australia Bank, Viventé Australia and
Community Services (NSW) as well as a number of Sydney Leadership Alumni who have donated funds to
enable individuals from the not-for-profit sector to participate in the program.
Sydney Leadership is one of a suite of leadership development programs and consultancy services offered
by Social Leadership Australia across the corporate, government and community sectors.
Full list of participants overleaf
Sydney Leadership 2010 Directory publication available at www.bensoc.org.au > What we do >
Social Leadership Australia > Sydney Leadership
Head of Social Leadership Australia, Robbie Macpherson available for interview
Media contact Rachael Vincent Tel 02 9339 9318
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Registered Office
The Benevolent Society
PO Box 171 Paddington NSW 2021
Paddington NSW 2021 Donations 1800 819 633 ABN 95 084 695 045
The 2010 Sydney Leadership participants are:
Maha Abdo
Executive Officer
Muslim Women’s Association
Michael Austin
Director, Family Services
CatholicCare Sydney
Margot Beach
Senior Manager
The Benevolent Society
Cathy Beer
Market Research Manager
Integral Energy
Ace Boncato
Advocacy Development / Coordinator NSW
Network of Women with Disability
Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association
Tania Cartmill
Senior Clinical Psychologist and Unit Head
Rehabilitation Psychology Department
Port Kembla Hospital
Bernice Daher
Manager, Resource Development
Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
Charlie Fruean
Team Leaders, SWYPE Program
Mission Australia
Michele Goldman
Senior Manager, Marketing & Development
Asthma Foundation NSW
Hilton Immerman
CEO
The Shalom Institute
Elizabeth Knight
Director, Business Improvement & Service
Capacity
Community Services (NSW)
Sara Lane
Co-Founder
The Burrabaroo Foundation
Oliver MacColl
Manager, Offline Campaigns
GetUp! Action for Australia
Sheila Matete-Owiti
CEO, Piye Inc
Senior Project Officer, Australasian Society for
HIV Medicine
Carolyn McAnulty
Manager Group Talent
Qantas Airways Ltd
Natalie Myatt
Portfolio Manager
Stockland Development
Diana Renner
Leadership Programs Project Manager
Social Leadership Australia
The Benevolent Society
Anna Rose
Co-Director
Australian Youth Climate Coalition
Tim Senior
General Practitioner & Director Primary Care
Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation
Hasan Sowaid
Director, Compliance Case Resolution
Department of Immigration & Citizenship
Michelle Sparks
Manager, Community Development
ACON
Pauline Stanley
CEO
Sylvanvale Foundation
Clare Thompson
Manager, SPARK Program
St Vincent de Paul Society
Jo Topfer
Director
JT Catalyst
For more information or to arrange an interview contact Rachael Vincent 02 9339 9318
More about Social Leadership Australia at:
NEWS 
