Meet the Mentors

Athena has spent the last 13 years in sales and marketing speaking to healthcare professionals for Medtronic and Servier.

In the last year, she returned to Sydney and has been shaping marketing strategies for acute care monitoring in neonatal and paediatric intensive care units across Australia and New Zealand for Medtronic.

She divides her time between her rabbit Abracadabra and cat Millie, and spends as much time with family, friends, church, Pathfinders and basketball as life permits.

I believe that when people are set up with the right tools, resources, and support, they can unlock their full potential and create meaningful change—not just in their own lives, but in the communities and businesses they’re a part of.

Growing up as the daughter of immigrant parents, I saw firsthand the power of hard work, resilience, and opportunity. My parents built a life from the ground up, and that instilled in me a deep appreciation for the importance of access, empowerment, and connection.

For 5 years now, I’ve had the privilege of supporting women globally through my life coaching practice. I have also held retreats, workshops, and coached women in personal and professional development. I also currently run a Sydney-based women’s community called the ‘I AM HER Collective’ that unites women in community and inspires them to step into the best versions of themselves.  

As a Corporate Partnerships & Marketing Coordinator at United Way Australia, I bring together strategy, creativity, and impact-driven initiatives to create opportunities that empower individuals and businesses alike. I work with passion and purpose. My previous experience as a social media manager and event coordinator at Generation Women and volunteer efforts at 4 Voices Australia, has taught me that where passion meets purpose, limitless growth and impact is possible.

In addition, coming from a Disability Support and Youth Leadership background, I wake up every day with the mission to inspire people to think bigger and take action toward something greater than themselves—whether that’s in business, personal development, or community contribution… we all have the potential to do something that makes a difference.  

Raza is a consultant with experience across infrastructure, technology and education. He has advised organisations of all sizes on risk management, assurance, engineering management, strategy, and M&A, combining systems thinking with commercial focus to deliver meaningful results. 

Raza has built and exited private businesses and continues to support the not-for-profit sector in advisory roles. 

He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Commerce from UNSW. In a professional setting, he brings a calm, confident presence and a structured approach to problem-solving. A lifelong and avid reader, Raza also loves sport having made his Premier Cricket First-Grade debut shortly after completing high school; he has played for over a decade.

Steve is passionate about seeing new ideas and opportunities get off the ground. He has been involved in a number of successful start-up companies in the IT and Telecommunications sector.

As a business consultant he enjoys looking at the way a business operates and then fine tuning them for growth. This is often by listening to the current staff and building them into cross disciplinary teams of passionate people to solve real world problems.

He is also active in the community assisting in the organisation of creative arts, youth and community events. Steve was awarded the Centenary Medal for his contribution to Australian Society and is a strong family man and a finalist for the NSW Father of the Year Award. 

Justin heads CBRE’s Development and Infrastructure advisory team and is the founder and CEO of Thelem Consulting practice.

Over his three-decade career in the property industry, Justin has advised on some of Australia’s most important social infrastructure initiatives including the NSW Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan, one of the largest-ever Commonwealth infrastructure projects.

Justin offers clients end-to-end advice across all phases of the major project development life-cycle including feasibility, financing, tender, design, development and delivery. He can also leverage the full expertise and resources of the global CBRE business.

Justin is one of Australia’s most experienced developers of social infrastructure and has advised on projects including the New Sydney Fish Market, the Commonwealth Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan, Cockle Bay Park, Barangaroo Headland Park and the Westmead Hospital Redevelopment.

Outside work, Justin is an advocate for improving educational opportunities for students in rural and regional Australia. His Woodcock Family Scholarships provide financial assistance and mentoring to high-potential senior school students within rural areas, with goals to achieve further educational and career opportunities.

I am a highly motivated and organised person with a passion to work with individuals and organisations to achieve performance outcomes. I have strong communication skills, both verbal and written, as well as excellent interpersonal skills and a practical approach to work. My background in Sales, Training, IT transformation projects and Change Management has provided me with the opportunity to develop a number of transferable skills including excellent training and facilitation skills, project management, change management, ability to work under pressure, high level of organisation, and excellent customer service.

Robert's current role is Fund Manager, AXA IM Real Assets Australia. Leading the New Business function, he is responsible for sourcing, assessing and executing new product and investment initiatives for AXA IM's Australian business. Prior to this role, Robert worked at Lendlease for over 7 years, culminating in theposition of Deputy Fund Manager for Lendlease International Towers Sydney Trust. Robert has worked in the US, serving as a member of both the principal investment and equity capital markets team, covering Lendlease Americas national real estate development and investment management businesses. Robert has also three years of finance experience, having previously worked at Macquarie Group in their Managed Funds division. Robert holds a Master's of Business in Finance and a Bachelor of Business (Economics) from the University of Technology Sydney.

I'm a dedicated and results-driven Project Engineer with a strong background in civil engineering and extensive experience in the transportation infrastructure sector. I am passionate about delivering high-quality projects safely, on time, and within budget. Throughout my career, I have developed a comprehensive skill set that includes team management, subcontractor management, stakeholder management, quality assurance, and procurement. These skills have been honed through hands-on experience and successful delivery of projects within budget, on schedule, and with an unwavering commitment to quality.

I am currently a Senior Quality Engineer with John Holland. Their purpose is simple: they transform lives and they are proud to be one of Australia’s leading building, infrastructure, rail and transport companies. They are currently delivering many of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects – from the Melbourne Metro Tunnel and Sydney Metro to the Australian-first Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project in Queensland – as well as significant water, property and urban renewal projects. You’ll even see us operating buses, trains and trams. Hannah aspires to gain valuable experience within the construction industry that will allow me to strengthen my knowledge of engineering and construction as well as the opportunity to develop my career.

As an Architect, I have extensive experience leading multidisciplinary project teams. I believe in a process that is research driven and people focused with a strong emphasis of history and culture. Architecture has the power to engender positive social change, therefore people must be at its core. I think a great project is socially considered, economically equitable and environmentally responsible. This is only possible through open communication with all stakeholders to develop a comprehensive understanding of the key priorities and voice the end user. I believe that by understanding the unique contextual constraints of a project we can explore opportunities and through active and open communication with each other that is interactive, fun and synergic we can produce amazing work whilst enjoying the journey.

Joyce is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with 25 years of experience in the Federal and NSW government and not-for-profit sector - Financial Controller at ASIC; Finance Director at the NSW Ministry of Police & Emergency Services; Finance Director at NSW Dept of Education and most recently she was the Chief Financial Officer at the NSW Public Service Commission.  She is enjoying her new role as the Chief Operating Officer at the Nurses & Midwives Association overseeing IT, Finance, HR, Governance & Risk.

Joyce is passionate about giving back a profession that had opened so many doors for her.  She had been a CA Program focus session facilitator; CA exam papers marker; participated in the CA mentorship program and in 2020, she joined the CAANZ NSW Regional Council. In 2021, Joyce established the NSW Public Sector Advisory Panel where CAs from a cross section of government agencies come together to share insights and promote the CA brand in their workplaces.

I have 12 years Financial Industry experience  including Fraud Prevention Systems Implementation, Product Ownership Project Management, Stakeholder Consultation, Risk, Strategy and Analytics.  My work centres around minimizing risk/cost, maximizing efficiency/revenue, and the  implementation of streamlined workflow systems while building and maintaining good and positive relationships. I am a critical thinker with in-depth problem-solving skills; goal, detail, and accuracy oriented, strong work ethics and values. I enjoy public speaking and delivering training. I am a self starter and I work well in a fast paced, rapidly changing, highly complex environment. I am a proud former Plumpton High School student and I am excited to be supporting another generation of students.