Celebrating the Graduation of our 2025 April LeadAbility Cohort

We are delighted and proud to welcome our newest graduates into the Leadership WA Community of Practice. These 14 inspiring leaders formally graduated the 2024 LeadAbility Course (April Cohort) on Tuesday 24 July 2025.

Following 7 days of leadership learnings over 3 months, our Participants spent their final Experience Day finessing their Community Projects and practicing their presentation skills, ahead of showcasing their achievements to an audience of family, friends, Mentors, Managers and special guests.

Over the 3-months, Participants each worked on a group Project, under the direction of a Leadership WA Alumni Mentor, to concept and develop an initiative aimed at improving the lives of people living with disability.

Their innovative ideas included:

• Oz Lan Chat – an Auslan App that uses AI to translate real-time conversations.
• Colleague Connect – a tool to help individuals communicate their needs, working styles and access to their teams/coworkers, to support an inclusive workplace.
• Open Access Notice Board / Youth Rise Community Board – an accessible notice board that uses non-traditional platforms to promote opportunities for people with disabilities.

We’re so grateful to our Mentors for sharing their invaluable time and guidance across the Course, and would like to say a huge thank you to:

• Andrew Fairbairn (Rising 2017) | Project Coordinator, Limbs 4 Life
• Larissa Muir (Rising 2023) | CEO, 12 Buckets
• Mairead Connolly (Signature 2020) | Executive Director, Nudge Foundation

Each group then presented their impressive Community Project. They demonstrated not only their clever ideas and ability to develop and plan a project with the potential to make real impact, but also how much they’d grown as individuals, as they stood in front of the room and exuded confidence and presence.

It was then time to formally graduate from the Course. A highlight of the Graduation Ceremony being a video personal message of congratulations from the Hon Hannah Beazley MLA, Minister for Local Government; Disability Services; Volunteering; Youth; Gascoyne, who spoke warmly of the Graduates’ achievements and the positive impact they are creating as leaders, both in and for the sector.

Our special guest speaker, Jaz Draman, Director of Human Resources, Department of Communities, then officially congratulated the cohort and presented them with their certificates, along with awarding Carla Hush with the cohort-elected honour of being the April 2025 LeadAbility Valedictorian.

Our congratulations to Carla, a Senior Project Officer at the Dept of Communities, who gave an engaging address on behalf of the cohort. Carla described the incredible experience and outcomes of their collective LeadAbility journey and how she’s already been putting the learnings into practice at her workplace.

It was an inspiring afternoon on so many levels. As Dominique Mecoy OAM, CEO, Leadership WA said,

“Bringing together such a uniquely diverse group of people, united by a bond to build their leadership capability, creates debate and discussion, and empowers voices for change and action to do so. The sector is going to be so much stronger for having these 14 leaders continue to make a difference, to advocate for change and to create more connected and inclusive workplaces and communities.”

Our sincere thanks to the Department of Communities WA – for their enduring support in funding LeadAbility from inception until now, its eleventh year; and to Brooke Draper, Mia Huntley and the team at the Activ Foundation, for kindly hosting the LeadAbility Experience Days and the Graduation Celebration at their Wembley Head Office, and for making us so welcome.

A HUGE well done and welcome to our newest Community of Practice members: The LeadAbility Class of April 2025!

**To learn more about the powerful impact of LeadAbility or to apply for our September 2025 cohort, we invite you to discover more here.**