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CEO for a Day Sha-Lane Gibson knows where she is going

Children and Schooling
Sha-Lane Gibson standing back to back with Rachelle Towart

Working hard at school, like 19 year old student Sha-Lane Gibson from Hopevale in Far North Queensland, may lead to you becoming ‘CEO for a Day’ of a large organisation. 

Working hard at school, like 19 year old student Sha-Lane Gibson from Hopevale in Far North Queensland, may lead to you becoming ‘CEO for a Day’ of a large organisation.

Sha-Lane was selected as part of a program created by Generation One which enables young Indigenous people to spend a day ‘shadowing’ the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a major company or other leading organisation in Australia.

On 3 June this year, Sha-Lane was invited by Rachelle Towart, CEO of the Canberra based Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre to ‘run’ the organisation.

“Giving young leaders like Sha-Lane the chance to step up and experience life as a CEO of a national education organisation is a really important step,” Rachelle said.

“Young Indigenous leaders need role models and opportunities to expand their skills and horizons if we are going to build the number of Indigenous people occupying senior leadership roles in Australian organisations.”

As CEO for a Day, Sha-Lane said she learned many of the processes and procedures of the Chief Executive Officer role and how important processes are to running a successful business. She learned about the importance of networking and the financial accounting side of a business. As CEO, Sha-Lane also attended the opening of the 2016 Australian of the Year at Parliament House in Canberra.

But CEOs aren’t made in a day.

“My parents had a strong belief in education so they pushed me to prosper throughout both primary and secondary education,” Sha-Lane said.

At times, Sha-Lane found it very difficult being the only Indigenous student in her year at high school but recognised she needed to “get it done.”

“As I stepped into my senior year I found that my need for education changed and I was more passionate about it.”

Sha-Lane said that this passion led her to further education at Bond University on the Gold Coast where she is currently completing a Bachelor of Business degree.

After graduating from university, Sha-Lane plans to return to Hopevale one day and become CEO of her own business providing educational opportunities to remote Indigenous communities focusing on numeracy, literature and higher education.

According to Sha-Lane, working at the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre for a day really helped pave this dream for her.

“Over the years I became really passionate about helping my community prosper and grow into a safe and reliable community,” Sha-Lane said.

“Education is the first step in the process; educating our youngest to inspire them to become whatever they want.”

Find out more

A good education is essential for a good future. Getting children to school, improving education outcomes and supporting families to give their children the best start in life is a major priority for the Australian Government.

Getting adults into work and making sure everyone has the opportunity to own your own home, run your own business, and provide for yourself and your families will mean a strong future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Generation One is dedicated to helping Indigenous people experience the life and opportunities that can only come through real and permanent employment. It developed the employment model at the heart of the Vocational Training and Employment Centres (VTECs) operating around Australia. VTECs connect Indigenous job seekers with guaranteed jobs and support services before they begin training for those jobs.