Celebrating our Signature Class of 2025!

Our 2025 Signature Leadership Program cohort celebrated their graduation on Friday, 21 November, in the impressive surrounds of the Government House Ballroom. The finale of a transformative 10-month leadership development journey.

Participants were joined by their families, colleagues and organisational leaders, along with representatives of Leadership WA’s Partners, Sponsors and Scholarship providers; members of the Leadership WA Board; and special guests, including former CEO, Dominique Mecoy OAM. Each gathering to honour the graduates’ achievements, perseverance and growth throughout the Program.

The ceremony opened with a warm and grounding Welcome to Country by Trevor Stack, who acknowledged the Governor’s deep commitment to creating an inclusive Western Australian community.

His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM, 34^th Governor of Western Australia and Joint Patron, with Mrs Darrilyn Dawson, of Leadership WA, then took to the stage to commend the cohort for their commitment to leadership excellence.

The Governor acknowledged the personal and professional growth the Participants would have experienced during the year. Reflecting on his own leadership journey, he said one of his guiding principles is that: “You are a product of your priorities.” He then shared how this shaped his vision and focus when first commencing his tenure as Governor of Western Australia. He reminded graduates that courageous leadership takes risk and that leaders “with the most scars” are often those who have learned the deepest lessons, encouraging the cohort to embrace their mistakes and surround themselves with strong, supportive teams.

Angie Paskevicius, Leadership WA Board Chair and Candy Choo, Leadership WA CEO, further reflected on the cohort’s achievements across the year and the significance of the Program in cultivating reflective, insightful, collaborative and courageous leaders.

Each graduate was then called to the stage and presented with their certificate by the Governor before Fiona Winfield, Signature Leadership Development Manager, announced the cohort-elected 2025 Valedictorian. The honour went to Eleanor Hughes, Service Director Leadership at Department of Education.

Eleanor’s Valedictory address was a highlight of the evening. Honest and thought-provoking, memorable and relatable.

It featured a warm moment of tribute when she invited her Signature peers to stand and acknowledge the support they’d received from their loved ones and colleagues across the year: “Every Participant in this room has been supported by family, friends, colleagues and workplaces who stepped in, stepped up and made space for our learning.”

She spoke to the importance of understanding the depth of Aboriginal cultural knowledge and the responsibility leaders have in honouring, curating and sharing what they’ve learned this year. “When it comes to Aboriginal cultural knowledge, we will never know enough,” she said, encouraging her cohort to keep learning, questioning and doing better, wherever they are on their journey.

Her reflections echoed Candy Choo’s earlier words, that leadership is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to understand one’s purpose and contribute to a better future for Western Australia. Eleanor expanded on this theme, reminding her cohort of their shared responsibility to influence meaningful change.

She closed with the powerful words from the Uluru Statement from the Heart:

“When we have power over our destiny, our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds, and their culture will be a gift to this country.”

We extend our warmest congratulations to the extraordinary graduates of the 2025 Signature Leadership Program and offer our gratitude to all who supported the Program across the year, including our valued Leadership WA Partners and Sponsors, expert speakers, mentors, coaches and supporters.

For the gift of transformative leadership development, we extend a special thank you to our 2025 Signature Leadership Program Scholarship Partners:

• CBH Group for the two CBH Growing Leaders Program Scholarships
• Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport (DLGSC) for the Leadership in the Culture and the Arts, Leadership in Sport and Recreation and the Leadership in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities (CaLD) Scholarships
• Department of Communities WA for the LeadAbility Scholarship

Our thanks to Kylie Plunkett Photography for capturing so many beautiful moments and memories during the evening.

And finally, a huge congratulations to our 2025 Signature graduates. Here’s to you!

Purpose-driven, empathetic and courageous leaders. We warmly welcome you to your Leadership WA Alumni community.