Sophie and Barbara

Originally from the nation’s smallest province, Manus Island, Sophie started her career as a Quality Assurance Officer with the largest hospital in Papua New Guinea. She was then recruited to the role of Occupational Health and Safety Officer, and later Team Leader, within Papua New Guinea’s largest water utility company.

Sophie hopes to contribute to legislation in Health and Safety and ultimately help governments better protect their citizens. Through the Women’s Leadership Initiative, she hopes to acquire the skills and knowledge to effectively support and motivate others to improve workforce and safety standards for everyone.

Barbara is the Director of People and Culture for Central Queensland University and has held senior human resources roles within Rockhampton’s regional and city councils. With interests in leadership, change management and continuous improvement, Barbara believes that empowering team members to achieve their goals and providing them with the agency to develop personally and professionally is the key to building healthy and committed teams.

Her effective people and culture management styles have also been awarded and commended by organisations such as the Australian Institute of Management.