WomenToLead Archives | Johnathan Thurston Academy

JTAcademy throws support behind women in mining

We have all heard that old and outdated expression that diamonds are a girl’s best friend; Australia’s Gold Industry Group (GIG) would like to change that to gold is the land of opportunity for women where they are finding work, long-term careers and chances to thrive professionally.

For the first time this year, the GIG’s annual Women in Gold Great Diversity Debate was taken to Sydney and Melbourne, expanding its footprint from Perth and allowing more industry participants to have their say. The tour proved to be inspiring and engaging as gold industry professionals explored the thought-provoking topic: “a diversity debate that begins and ends with gender is doomed to fail”.

The Sydney event held on November 14 was proudly sponsored by key Johnathan Thurston Academy Employment Partner, Evolution Mining. Lawrie Conway, Evolution Mining Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer was Master of Ceremonies and GIG Vice Chair and Gold Fields VP Legal and Compliance Kelly Carter adjudicated the debate which featured a diverse line up of speakers representing the gold industry.

“It was incredible to be a part of an event which was designed with the sole purpose of shining the focus on women in the gold sector and the value of the contribution they can make,” JTAcademy General Manager Samantha Johnson, who attended the debate, explained.

“At the JT Academy, we happily embrace opportunities which help us to breakdown stereotypes and other barriers to entry for women in the gold mining sector.

“Attending the debate as a representative of the JT Academy allowed us to make some important connections and let industry know we are here and happy to help them achieve diversity targets, regardless of what form they take.”

Charmaine Saltner, Evolution Mining Group Community Relations Advisor, explained the company happily embraced the chance to sponsor the event.

“This is the first year we have had the opportunity to support this event in Sydney and our Chief Operating Officer, Bob Fulker was asked to be involved in the debate,” she said.

“He immediately recognised this as an important opportunity to explain ways in which women can contribute and, as it turns out, they are pretty much the same ways men can.

“There is no reasonable or acceptable reason for women to be under-represented in Australia’s mining sector. Anything we can do as a sector and society to help women get jobs and opportunities in this sector is something we are happy to be involved with and encourage others to do the same.”

To see more about our partnership with Evolution Mining and the opportunities they are offering, visit the website.

Johnathan Thurston wrong foots Woodridge High with a visit

A visit by Johnathan Thurston to Woodridge State High School in late 2018 as part of the JTSucceed program, caught the students as off-guard as he used to catch his opponents on the footy field.

The JTSucceed program has been developed to encourage students to attend school, to develop their confidence and self-belief and to not give up on their dreams.

“My message is don’t be scared of failing, be more scared of not giving it a go. I want to encourage as many youth as I can to keep turning up to school and to keep believing in themselves,” Thurston said in the story.

Woodridge State High’s Employment Connections Coach, Rhiannon Parsons organised the program for the school and added: “We know Johnathan Thurston is a major role model for the majority of our student population, and he has built such a great reputation for himself that we knew it would be a great program that our students would be excited to be a part of”.

To read the full story click here.

JT steps up to help young women lead

Speaking with Danielle Buckley from the Albert & Logan News in March, Woodridge State High School Principal Kathleen Janecek said she was “privileged and excited” her students were among the first to undertake the JTWomenToLead program.

The JTWomenToLead program has been developed to help female high school students receive mentoring and support.

“What’s really inspiring about these students is that diversity is normal for them,” Janecek said.“They’re already very resilient and this program will help them be even more self-aware at an earlier age.”

The 14 girls chosen to take part in the program are in Years 9, 10 and 11.

To see the full story click here.

International Women’s Day – Why it Matters

Happy International Women’s Day! And I do mean everybody because we all have a part to play in helping days like this matter.

It may seem a bit strange to have a footy player talking about why International Women’s Day matters. But I am talking about it because it really is important and long past time that we work together as a society to help everyone be the best version of themselves.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #BalanceforBetter with an aim of bringing to attention to the fact that “balance drives a better world”.

I have been lucky enough to reach the top of my career in what has been very much a male dominated world, but at home I am in a completely female dominated world with my wife Sam and our four daughters.

Now I am retired from footy, I am working with the JTAcademy to help Australians of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities to access the resources and support they need to be a success within their community.

An important part of this is the JTWomenToLead, which we launched this year at Woodridge State High School, where 14 young women from Years 9 to 11 are being offered special mentoring and career guidance to empower them to stay in education, build confidence, and bravery to follow their dreams and become our leaders of the future.

The more we can support and encourage young women to strive for the careers of their dreams, the more we level the playing field and, as a society, will benefit from their success.

Why do we need to support something like International Women’s Day?

The fact is that while we have been making some progress in the past decade towards closing the gender pay gap, in Australia men on average earn 14.1 per cent more than women, the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equity Agency tells us.

What’s more, in Australia, the gender gap favours men working full-time over women working full-time across every single industry and occupational category.

A gender pay gap of 14.1 per cent is simply not OK. Not for women working today or the next generation or the generation after that.

Hopefully, through days like International Women’s Day, where we work to promote awareness of the fact our world does not always offer equal opportunities, we can change this.

For more on International Women’s Day, check out the website
and if you are keen to hear more about our JTWomenToLead program click here.