David Thodey AO, Chair of CSIRO, Tyro and Xero will dispense career wisdom at an upcoming Professional Development Forum (PDF) webinar to help young professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds get a foothold in the modern Australian workplace.
As a founding member of the Male Champions of Change, David Thodey has been in the forefront of workplace diversity for more than a decade. During his time as the head of Telstra, David Thodey enacted a ‘flexible working for all roles’ policy and set-up a diversity council.
“We are excited to hear from such a prominent a thought leader, as people from diverse cultural backgrounds often struggle to find the mentorship necessary to advance their careers.” says Jeffery Wang, the founder of Professional Development Forum, “Navigating a new career is challenging enough, but try doing that in your second or third language, with zero connections and operating in foreign culture.”
“This is heart-breaking because they have so much passion, work ethic and grit, the kind of traits that you want in your employees” says Rider Antwi, a Ghanaian-born volunteer at PDF, “Many just give up on leadership ambitions after a while.”
Founded in 2007, the Professional Development Forum was a grassroots response by a group of diverse professionals to the growing frustration and the lack of satisfaction in their careers. They held monthly forums hearing from prominent business leaders to address the lack of culturally sensitive career advice, access to professional networks and mentors.
Patrick Wong, a volunteer at PDF who runs recruitment firm W Solutions says “The answer can’t be found in a textbook, it can only come from someone who has walked that path before. Fortunately, we have many business leaders like Mr. Thodey who generously shared their wisdom with us over the years”.
Since its inception, the Professional Development Forum had heard from leaders such as the CEO of HammondCare Mike Baird AO, Former Australian of the Year LTGEN David Morrison AO and NSW Public Services Commissioner Kathrina Lo.
“I was particularly impressed with how the forum started and how it was a group of friends identifying a need for a network to support to those young professionals and actually proactively doing something about it.” said Kathrina Lo, the NSW Public Service Commissioner who recently spoke at PDF.
“We believe that everyone, not just the elite few, should have access to the knowledge, mindset and network to develop themselves. We run events that inform, connect, and inspire, and we share what we learnt with our community.” says Jeffery Wang.
Event Details:
Date: Thu, 22 July 2021
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM AEST
Tickets: Free, Registration Mandatory
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/leadership-lessons-from-david-thodey-ao-tickets-143676272599
