Meet the Director Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment and Engagement

Melissa Williams, Director, Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment and Engagement

Melissa Williams believes that the best way to predict the future is to invent it. Melissa envisages a future where UWS - as a major public asset and premier educational institution in Greater Western Sydney - creates a mutual engagement model which promotes prosperity, rapprochement between cultures and successful mutual engagement. 

Melissa holds a Bachelor of Business from UTS, Project Management qualifications from the Australian Institute of Project Management, an Innovation Patent (Medical Mechanical), a Graduate Certificate in Research from UWS and is currently enrolled in a PHD.

Melissa Williams worked in the IT and telecommunications industries for 20 years before taking on the role of Director Indigenous Employment and Engagement at UWS.   She joined the original Marketing Team at Optus in 1992 where she undertook research and development which underpinned Optus’ entry to the Australian telecommunications market.  She was headhunted again – this time by Telstra - in 1995.  During 2005 to 2006, she was on the judging panel for the Australian Information Industry Association’s iAwards, Australia’s premier technology innovation awards program. By 2006, she became Telstra’s Industry Director (Media, Entertainment and Hospitality). 

In 2008, she moved from Telstra to UWS so she could “make a difference and give back to the community”.

“It's about changing people’s lives. We’re in a position to give potential leaders the tools to help them today. We're about building strong communication networks and partnerships and embedding that into the culture here,” says Melissa.

It’s a move that connects her head with her heart. As a result of her corporate experience, Melissa brings big picture thinking to her role at UWS. Melissa has put UWS firmly at the centre of Indigenous Affairs and creating opportunities with a collectively bright future for all.

Contact Melissa Williams.

Angela Spithill, Program Manager

Angela has extensive experience in managing and delivering outcomes for projects on time and on budget. This experience includes providing project management services for Telstra, Anderson Consulting and Citibank.

Angela has worked in the not-for-profit sector, youth homelessness and Brighter Futures programs. Angela has coordinated the securing of six additional properties for Youth Accommodation service, introduced procedures that enabled an increase in the annual budget from $500,000 to over $2 Million per annum.

Angela’s career history spans across corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors and includes project delivery at the University of Western Sydney including customer service, process improvement, Total Quality Management, tender writing and community engagement.

Angela has worked closely with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in her position in the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Employment and Engagement and is uniquely positioned to provide interpretation services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander projects between the Western and cultural framework.

Further Angela is an experienced Manager and provides technical mentoring and training for project team members in project methodology, process mapping, process improvement and quality management and assessment.

Contact Angela Spithill.

Josh Mason, Project Officer

Josh comes to us from the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) where he was the Field Officer for over 100 Local and 19 Regional AECG's. In this role, he provided high level support, advice and project administration to clients/members. Some of the key initiatives included preparation of reports to the Department of Education and Training (DET), Mentoring Programs in Western Sydney, Cultural Safety, Employment Training Programs and Capacity building in communities. Prior to that, Josh worked as a Project Officer for the Aboriginal Community Association in Western Sydney. Both these roles provided Josh with specialised experience working in communities and commercial expertise to execute initiatives.

Josh's role at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) focuses on the implementation of the Indigenous Employment and Engagement Strategy, in particular, the rollout of the Traineeship and Cadetship program, the UWS Employee Connections Program (Retention), building Employment and Engagement networks within Western Sydney (Attraction and Recruitment).

Josh says he gets satisfaction from seeing people excel and the projects being implemented here are about empowering people and giving them confidence to excel.

He was 1 of the 3 Inaugural Indigenous Kick-start Trainee’s  with the AFL Kick start program which is now the Indigenous AFL Academy running in schools in Greater Western Sydney.

Contact Josh Mason.

Jennifer Flood, Project Officer          

Jennifer comes to us from the Badanami Centre for Indigenous Education, where she was one of the Student Services Officers working with students across a range of disciplines and stages in their studies from Bachelor to Higher Degree Research as well as attraction and retention initiatives.

Prior to this role, Jennifer worked as the Call Centre Manager for Wattmaster which continued her passion in delivering high quality professional services to clients. Both these roles provided Jen with specialised experience in Education and Engagement as well as being able to implement practical outcomes to clients.

Jen is currently completing a Masters of Education Leadership with UWS, was the Vice-Chancellor Scholarship recipient in 2010, holds a Bachelor of Arts from UWS, Post graduate Certificate in Indigenous Research & Training Practices from Melbourne University, and a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment. Jennifer is also a proud parent of four and in her spare time is an AECG President for the Hawkesbury Region, Regional delegate AECG Met West and Chair of the Merana Aboriginal Association for the Hawkesbury.

Contact Jennifer Flood. 

Terri Keating, Administration Assistant

Terri's role at UWS focuses on contributing to achieving administration effectiveness and efficiencies within the office. Terri is the first point of contact for the Office within the University and the communities of Greater Western Sydney. Terri completed a Certificate in Business Administration at Western Sydney Institute and continues to enhance administration and cultural competency skills to ensure best practice for the office. Terri is a role model and her wisdom and insights are valued. Terri plays a critical role in the mentoring program.

Contact Terri Keating.

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