Mentorship.
Mentorship
“Omigoodness haven’t been able to concentrate all evening so filled with hope… because Julian Burnside is my absolute hero/role model who I have been aspiring to be for the past 3 years of my law degree! Last week I really had him written down as my dream mentor! It’s almost unbelievable that he is going to be my mentor!”
-Email from Julienne Hortle
Arts/Law Student, University of Melbourne
Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program Graduate 2006
The Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Program makes dream mentorships reality by matching each fellow with an experienced social, environmental or business leader. The mentorship program is not only about getting answers to questions, assistance with networks, and practical career advice – it is about learning that the leaders that we dream of emulating are real people, and all of our dreams are attainable.
Mentors in 2009 include:
Melbourne
Evan Thornley
Chief Executive Officer Better Place Australia
Bob Welsh
Chief Executive Officer VicSuper
Tony Wood Director
Clean Energy Program (Australia) Clinton Climate Initiative
Rob Gell
Media personality and President Greening Australia
Rupert Posner
Chief Executive Officer The Climate Group
Tanya Ha
Author, television presenter, and campaigner
Janette O’Neil
Global Head of Sustainability and Environment NAB
David Risstrom
Barrister and former Green Councillor Melbourne City Council
Tim Costello
Chief Executive Officer, World Vision Australia
Ron Walker
Chairman Australian Grand Prix Corporation
Professor Rob Adams
Director of Design and Culture City of Melbourne
Dr. Edward J. Blakely
Principal BlakelyGlobal
Simon Molesworth QC
Environmental lawyer and Chairman Greenearth Energy Limited
Dr. Harry Blutstein
Principal Integrating Sustainability
Dr. Tony Fry
Director Team DES (Developing Ecological Sustainment)
Professor Geoffrey London
Victorian Government Architect
Amanda McCluskey
Head of Sustainability and Responsible Investment Colonial First State
Dan Atkins
Co-Founder and Director Shaper Group
Marcus Godinho
Chief Executive Officer FareShare
Brett de Hoedt
Mayor Hootville Communication
Hamish Walker
Manager, Sustainable Resources Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE)
Robert Larocca
Consultant CPR Communications and Public Relations
Ian Porter
Chief Executive Officer Alternative Technology Association
Professor Frank Fisher
Convenor of Graduate Programs National Centre for Sustainability (Swinburne University)
Dr. Peter Ellyard
Chairman Preferred Futures Institute
Mary Crooks
Executive Director Victorian Women’s Trust
Jan Trewhella
Deputy CEO Sustainability Victoria
Dr. Annie Bolitho
Executive Officer Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne
Phillip Sutton
Co-founder and Board Member Safe Climate Australia
Tricia Caswell
Founder and CEO Caswell & Associates
Mike Hill
Director Westwyck
Sydney
David Hodes
Managing Director Ensemble Partners
Sam Graham
Consultant Carbon Systems Australia
Paul Gilding
Independent writer and advisor
Suzie Barnett
Executive Director Green Building Council of Australia
Stephen Shepherd
Chairman, Shirlaws Global Business Coaching
Gareth Johnston
General Manager A&NZ Sustainability Circle
Cheryl Batagol
Chairperson EPA, Victoria
Larissa Brown
Executive Director Centre for Sustainability Leadership
Jenni Whitnall
Associate Director, Sustainability, Climate Change & Water Advisory KPMG
Trevor Thomas
General Manager Ethinvest
Megan Seneque
Leadership Team: Leading, Learning and Innovation Ensemble Partners
Alan Tate
Director Cambiar
James Whelan
Director The Change Agency
Jennifer Lauber Patterson
Director Innovative Carbon Pty Ltd
Lyn Goldsworthy
Director Campaign Essentials
Gavin Riddell
Director of Operations Earth Hour
Sue Lennox
Co-Founder / CEO OzGreen
Carolen Barripp
Owner CL Creations
Iain Macdonald
Co-Founder / Co Managing Director Amnesia Razorfish
Sandy Blackburn-Wright
Head of Organisational Mentoring, Sustainability and Community Westpac
Uli Kruger
Consultant Alternative Engine Technologies
Les Robinson
Director Enabling Change
Jason De Santolo
Research Fellow Jumbunna Research Unit University Technology Sydney
Larissa Behrendt
Professor of Law and Director of Research Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning,University Technology Sydney
Victor Steffensen
Project Manager Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways (TKRP)
Mentors in 2008 include:
Matthew Albert
Founder, Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning Program
Dan Atkins
Director, Sustainable Business Practices
Grant Blashki
Doctors for the Environment
Harry Blutstein
Director, Lighthouse Bureau
Dr Annie Bolitho
Author and Consultant
Fraser Brindley
Melbourne City Council
Dr Peter Christoff
Coordinator, Environmental Studies, University of Melbourne
Jason Clarke
Minds at Work
Brett de Hoedt
Mayor, Hootville Communications
Frank Fisher
Inaugural Australian Environmental Educator of the Year 2007-8, Adj. Prof. & Convenor, Graduate Programs, National Centre for Sustainability & Faculty of Design
Frank Fitzgerald-Ryan
Founder and Principal, Vox Bandicoot
Rob Gell
Sustainability Consultant
Marcus Godinho
CEO, One Umbrella
Mike Hill
Director, WestWyck
Frank Hytten
CEO, Reconciliation Victoria
Leon Kempler OAM
Chairman, Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC)
Robert Larocca
Chairperson, CERES Environment Park
Catriona MacDiarmid
EcoProperty / The Eco Real Estate Network
Romilly Madew
Chief Executive, Green Building Council Australia
Amanda McCluskey
Sustainability Manager, Colonial First State
Lelde McCoy
Managing Director, TheReputation Group,
Dr Ian McPhail AM
Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability
Simon R. Molesworth AM QC
Chairman, Greenearth Energy Limited
Pranav Nahar
Country Director, EcoSecurities
Ian Porter
Senior Consultant, Nous Group
Rupert Posner
CEO, Climate Group
David Risstrom
Barrister-at-Law
Gilbert Rochecouste
Managing Director, Village Well
Peter Singer
Philosopher
Philip Sutton
Director, Strategy, Green Innovations
Kane Thornton
Executive Officer, Renewable Energy Generators Australia
John Thwaites
Former Deputy Premier, Minister for Environment and Water, Victoria
Dr Linda Williams
Director, Arts and Sustainability Cluster, RMIT
Arron Wood
Director, Firestarter
Mentors in 2007 included:
Esther Abram
Consultant
Matthew Albert
Co-Founder, Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning Program
Jason Alexandra
Executive Director, EarthWatch Institute
Dan Atkins
Director, Sustainable Business Practices
Vanessa Bleyer
President, Lawyers for Forests
Dr Harry Blutstein
Director, Integrating Sustainability
Dr Annie Bolitho
Author, Consultant
Jacques Boulet
Director, Borderlands Cooperative
Fraser Brindley
Councillor, City of Melbourne
Julian Burnside QC
Queen’s Counsel, Author, Advocate
Don Chambers
Sustainability Victoria Board
Dr Peter Christoff
Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne
Brett de Hoedt
Public Relations Consultant, Hootville
Annie Edney
Cultural Development Artist, Enchanted River
Dr Peter Ellyard
Director, Preferred Futures
Assoc. Prof. Frank Fisher
Graduate School of Environmental Science, Monash University
Karl Fitzgerald
Projects Manager, Earthsharing Australia
Frank Fitzgerald-Ryan
Principal, Vox Bandicoot
Rob Gell
Sustainability Consultant
James Gifford
Project Manager, UNEP Finance Initiative
Marcus Godinho
CEO, One Umbrella
Mike Hill
Sustainability Victoria Board
Graeme Lahman
Director, Australian Business Theatre
Rev Howard Langmead
Social Commentator
Catriona MacDiarmid
Ecoproperty Consultant
Ian McPhail
Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability
Liza Maimone
Environment and Sustainability Services Partner, Ernst & Young/td>
Marvin Oka
Executive Director, MasterLogics Group
Alan Pears
Co-Director, Sustainable Solution
Russell Peel
Sustainability Victoria Board
Bill Pemberton
Director, SCARAB Solutions
Ian Penrose
Waterkeepers
Ian Porter
Senior Consultant, the Nous Group
Cr Janet Rice
Mayor, City of Maribyrnong
David Risstrom
Barrister
Bob Stensholt MP
Member for Burwood, Chair Public Accounts & Estimates Committee
Jeff Su
Business Development Manager, Gould Group
Philip Sutton
Policy and Strategy Director, Green Innovations
Jon Ward
Manager of Business and Industry Programs, Sustainability Victoria
Arron Wood
Director, Firestarter
Kipling Zubevich
Manager, Corporate Value Associates
Conversation with a Mentor
Arron Wood
Mentor FSL Program, 2007
2007 Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year
Why he became a mentor:
When I asked myself, “Who is the next Al Gore?” I really began to see the value of the FSL program. Having worked with our next generation for close to a decade, I believed succession planning was something we had to do much better. After all, ensuring the transfer of knowledge and leadership skills to the next generation is the very essence of sustainability.
On what he learnt as a mentor:
My mentee’s enthusiasm was infectious and it gave me a ‘shot in the arm’ knowing there is a group of young people coming through the program that will help share the load to secure a better environmental future for us all. Giving young people the knowledge about sustainability is important, but giving them the leadership and communication skills to bring about cultural change is the real challenge–it isn’t enough just to have passion or knowledge, or even both. You need the heart, head and hand to bring about genuine cultural change.
On the difference he made to his mentee’s career/life:
I think the interesting part of mentoring motivated young people is how equal the relationship is. This mentoring component wasn’t about me necessarily imparting huge slabs of knowledge, it was about my mentee receiving feedback and advice on where she is already going in the hope that the result is a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.
The advice he would provide to others considering becoming a mentor through the program:
Do it. No matter how pressed for time you are you can add value and in turn get back a little motivation for your own endeavours. There is a great quote that should be all the motivation you need to get involved:
“In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest responsibility anyone could have.”
Lee Iacocca, CEO Chrysler Corporation 1990.
On why he thinks the Fellowship Program should exist:
Because our environment and world as a whole needs more leaders. Young people are less than 20% of the population, but they are 100% of our future.