A PAIR of Riverton residents will participate in the 2016 Emerging Leaders in Governance Program (ELGP) to further their skills and set them up for their respective aspirations to become board directors.
Adrian Gallo and Meghan Lewis were selected from a pool of more than 60 applicants to participate in the Southcare Inc hosted program this November.
The weeklong program aims to teach the necessary skills to serve as directors on community boards.
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READ NOWMr Gallo, the senior business development executive at the Duxton Hotel, sits on several advisory panels within the public sector.
He said his history had shaped his desire to become a board director for tourism, health and disability.
“I work in the hotel industry and love it. Career-wise this is where I want to be and one day I aspire to be appointed a board director position focusing on Western Australia’s tourism industry,” he said.
“(To serve in) health, disability and mental illness sectors is my passion, this sector has affected me, my family and those around me, I have a lot to relate in this space… Health and hospitality (are) not really unrelated,” he said.
“When consumers receive health care, particularly in hospitals, they require food, water, shelter and care (and) hotels do the same.
“I want to bridge these sectors and have our hospitals treating patients like they are five star hotel guests.”
Ms Lewis, who recently returned from eight months in Bangladesh working in the design and build of a health care centre, said she was looking for something outside of her role as an architect.
“I have always had a passion for social impact and I studied architecture because I believe that the built environment has the ability to shape and greatly improve people’s lives,” she said.
“As a graduate I spent two weeks in Bangladesh for a two week course on construction techniques run by Engineers without Borders… (I was) asked if I wanted to return to Bangladesh to design and build a health centre and I did.
“Since returning to Perth I have been working in an architecture firm, however I wanted to expand my impact and so when I heard about the ELGP I thought it would be a great opportunity to teach me the skills I need to be involved in an organisations at a high level.”