Meet your Mentors @ Creston

• Ms Gia-Yen Luong | ‘Letters to a Young Crestonite’

2023 Term 2 Formal Dinner

Friday, 04 August 6:00- 9:00 pm

 

Ms Gia-Yen Luong is the Teach for Australia South Australia State Manager and Coach. A graduate of Law and Science at UNSW, she is also a Creston College alumna (2012-2016) where she served in various leadership positions including House Committee President, as well as ServeSoc President and founding Academic Coach for Dream Australia – a project of RELEDEV. Gia-Yen was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to undertake postgraduate at Oxford University – she is the first person in her family to attend university.

• Dr Melanie Webb | ‘The Highs and Lows of Work-life Balance’

End of 2023 Term1 Formal Dinner

Friday, 12 May 6:00- 9:00 pm

 

Dr Melanie Webb  is a medical doctor and former Olympic windsurfer, one of the first recipients of a Ben Lexcen Sports Scholarship, and has been inducted into the UNSW Sport Hall of Fame. She continues to be involved with the sport, holding coaching positions with state and national windsurfing teams (https://www.sport.unsw.edu.au/about/people).

• Prof Louise Lutze-Mann | ‘Scientia cum corde’: knowledge with a heart

2022 End of Academic Year Formal Dinner

Friday, 11 November 6:00- 9:00 pm

 

Professor Louise Lutze-Mann, SFHEA 
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education & Student Experience
School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences 
The University of NSW, Sydney 2052 NSW, Australia

• Dr Ailish McKeown | Rebuild Together: the strength of human relationships

2022 Term 1 Formal Dinner

• Sara Pearson: my life and experience in the Architecture Industry

2021 Term 1 Formal Dinner

Thursday, 13 May 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Ms Sara Pearson

BArch, UNSW

PEARSON ARCHITECTURE
Established February 2009

Sara is the Founder, owner and Nominated Architect for Pearson Architecture, a Sydney based practice with a focus on the design of new dwellings, alterations and additions to existing buildings, and bespoke retail and commercial interior design.
pearsonarchitecture.com

• UNIV2021: Navigate – seeking a solid education in a fluid society

2021 Easter Conference Keynote Lecture

Friday, 2 April 10:00-11:00 am

Ms Anna Walsh

Solicitor (NSW & ACT), Accredited Specialist, Personal Injury Law (Medical Negligence), PhD Candidate (UNDA), M. Bioethics (Harvard), LLM (res) (Syd), LLB (Hons), B Nurs (Hons)
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Law, The University of Notre Dame Sydney

Anna Walsh is a lawyer specializing in Medical Law and Bioethics. An Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury law, she spent 10 years as a Principal in the Medical Law department of Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, where she acted for plaintiffs in a number of novel medical negligence cases as well as high profile inquests in the Coroner’s Court. She has published widely in Medical Law, is a regular speaker at conferences, and is an author for Lexis Nexis’ Practical Legal Guidance series. In 2011, she was named the Lawyer of the Year in Private Practice by the NSW Women Lawyers’ Association, and in 2018 was the winner of the 3MT competition at the University of Notre Dame Australia.

Anna is a PhD Candidate at the University of Notre Dame, completing a qualitative study on doctors and freedom of conscience. She teaches full time in the School of Law at University of Notre Dame in the subjects Advanced Torts, Mental Health Law, Remedies, Advocacy and Legal Research and Writing, and tutors in Bioethics in the School of Medicine. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the College of Law in Civil Litigation and Ethics, and practices as a private Legal Consultant. She has Honors degrees in Law and Nursing, a Master of Laws (res) from University of Sydney and a Master of Bioethics from Harvard Medical School.

(from The University of Notre Dame Sydney website)

• Grit: the power of passion and perseverance

2020 Term 3 Formal Dinner

Friday, 6 November 6:00-9:00 pm

Ms Katrina Alvir

Secondary Teacher, Director of REAL: Science of Character Program at Tangara School, mentor and speaker on parenting and teaching for character and Positive Psychology

Katrina has taught and mentored high school girls and their parents for over 20 years in Australia and abroad. She recently completed a Diploma of Positive Psychology in Melbourne. As a trained teacher and mentor she has extensive experience in working directly with adolescent girls in schools, as well as working closely with their parents. She is passionate about supporting parents in one of their most challenging and important roles – guiding their daughters through their adolescent years.

Her current project is REAL (Real Excellence & Attitude for Life) The Science of Character Program. It is a character and virtues program she is creating and implementing at Tangara. This program is for girls in years 7-10. She is incorporating the science of character and strengths research, positive psychology interventions and the research in neuroscience and brain plasticity into the REAL program. She hopes to promote a more engaging and compelling case for young people to live a life of virtue, grow in character and ultimately live happier and healthier lives.

• Think, Act, Make a Difference

2020 Beginning of Academic Year Formal Dinner

Thursday, 27 February 6:00-9:00 pm

Ms Rachael Wong, CEO Women’s Forum Australia

Rachael is the Chief Executive Officer of Women’s Forum Australia.  She is also an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Notre Dame Australia.  She previously worked with the Law Reform Commission in Samoa to bring about legislative reform to improve the lives of Samoan women and girls and has worked and volunteered in various human rights related roles. Rachael holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Auckland and a Master of Bioethics and Health Law from the University of Otago.

• Standing for Life

2019 End of Academic Year Formal Dinner

Friday, 22 November 2019 6:00-9:00 pm

Dr Rachel Carling, CEO Right to Life NSW

Dr Rachel Carling is the new CEO of Right to Life NSW, starting in July this year just before the decriminalisation of abortion was announced.  Prior to this, Dr Rachel lived in Victoria where she was a member of Parliament in the upper house.  She has a PhD in Social Work and Social Policy and worked extensively in the welfare field before being called into pro-life politics.

• Through ups and downs

2019 Term 3 Formal Dinner

Thursday, 26 September 2019 6:00-9:00 pm

Dr Angelica Merlot, UNSW

Dr. Angelica Merlot is a passionate cancer researcher who was recently awarded NSW Young Woman of the Year and the Tall Poppy Science Award. Following her B.Med.Sci. (Hons I) Degree, she undertook a PhD in Medicine at the University of Sydney, that focused on the development of new medicines to selectively target cancer cells. She now heads a team of researchers, known as the Cancer Targets and Therapeutics Team, at the University of NSW and Children’s Cancer Institute, after obtaining a tenure-track position as a Scientia, NHMRC Peter Doherty and CINSW Early Career Research Fellow. Angelica is a member of the Gender Equity Medicine Working Group at the University of NSW and hopes to empower women and promote equity.