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Workshop Speakers

Find the workshop options, speakers and bios

Member Workshop: Stream 1

World Culture, Cultural Competence and Global Citizenship:

ABOUT YASHWANT:
Yashwant Prakash Vyas is the primary adviser to the Texas A&M University Chapter of Golden Key. He is
pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Higher Education Policy and
Administration along with graduate certificates in Public Management and Nonprofit Management from the
Bush School of Government and Public Service. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical
engineering with minors in mathematics and leadership studies from Texas A&M University and graduated
as a leadership scholar.


A select few national and international recognition include the US Funds for UNICEF’s member of the year
award, Phi Beta Delta David Merchant International Student Award for Achievement, Golden Key
International Honour Society Outstanding Academic Leader Award, Golden Key International Honour
Society Advisor of the Year Award, 2017 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher
Education Student Scholar, and Hesselbein Global Academy for Leadership and Civic Engagement Fellow.
Other university recognition include New Advisor of the Year Award, Eppright Outstanding International
Student Award, Margaret Rudder Community Service Award, Diversity Service Award, and Buck Weirus
Spirit Award from Texas A&M University.

Chapter Adviser - Texas A&M University, USA

Yashwant Prakash Vyas

Actively participate in your life:

ABOUT NKATEKO:
Nkateko joined GK in 2009 and has since served in the exco and now serves as the UP Chapter advisor.
She is self employed and passionate about people development.


ABSTRACT:
Life gives us what we negotiate, not what we deserve. We all get dealt different hands but there are some
tools that we can each use to build the life we want for ourselves. What does it mean to actively participate in
your life? How does it look for you? This is just a start but join me to find out.

Chapter Adviser - The University of Pretoria, South Africa

Nkateko Mathebula

Member Workshop: Stream 2

Chapter Leadership 101

ABOUT JUSTINE:
Justine serviced on the Swinburne Golden Key executive committee for 6 years.

She held various positions:
President (2017-2108); Vice-President (2015-2107); Academic Officer (2014-2015);

Professional Development Officer - Team Leader (2012-2014).

Justine was also a member of the 2016 Asia-Pacific
Conference Steering Committee. During her term as President of Swinburne Golden Key, Justine led her
chapter to achieve the esteemed ‘Key Chapter Award’.

 

She has received various awards for her demonstrated active leadership and community service initiatives with Golden Key.

Justine’s achievements include:

  • ’Victorian State Finalist - 2017 Community Leader of the Year’ in the Australian Leadership

  • Excellence Awards from the Institute of Managers and Leaders

  • Winner of the ‘2017 Woman of Achievement Award’ from Zonta Club of Melbourne’s East;

  • Golden Key Scholarship Recipient - ‘2014 Asia-Pacific Postgraduate Study Award’; and

  • Global Goodwill Ambassador (Australia).


Justine holds a Master of Commerce (Marketing) degree from Swinburne University of Technology. During her studies she completed ‘Leading Teams’ elective, part of the Master of Science in Leadership Program (GLP - Global Leadership Program), delivered jointly by
Swinburne University and Northeastern University, Boston, USA.

ABOUT MICHAEL:
Michael received his Bachelor of Information Technology at Griffith University, where he is currently
employed as a Senior Analyst. Michael has over 14 years of experience with IT, which includes his role as
webmaster for the Griffith University Golden Key chapter, 2016-2018.

 

His practice of analysing a position is reflected in his skills to know when to apply for a job, how to keep the job and, most importantly, when it’s time to move to the next one. His extensive knowledge includes being aware of the pitfalls when job hunting as well as career building assets. Michael has presented to audiences both nationally and internationally and has co-developed a podcast focusing on technology, personal development and career advice.

ABOUT ANISHA:

Anisha Ravindran, the 2018-2019 (and recently reappointed for 2019-2020) Asia Pacific Representative on the Council of Student Members (COSM) was elected by the student population to serve Golden Key on an international scale. Through the COSM, she has been actively involved in a myriad of key regional and global projects such as assisting the Board of Directors with the Publication of Positive News Stories Project, and is particularly passionate and focussed on identifying strategies to enhance Golden Key's global brand and profile with the support and assistance of Golden Key Chapters and members in the Asia Pacific region.

 

Anisha is a long-term ongoing Committee Member and former President of the University of South Australia (UniSA) Chapter, having served 2 years as Chapter President (2016-2018). Throughout her tenure, she has successfully led her Chapter to receive numerous awards including the highly esteemed Key Chapter Award last year and was heavily involved with the establishment of the Golden Key South Australian Alliance. A budding Pharmacist, she is currently in her 5th and final year of the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) and Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science double degree program.

Former Chapter President - Swinburne University
Former Chapter President - Griffith University
Asia Pacific Member, Council of Students
Former Chapter President - UniSA

Justine Hall

Michael McGuiness

Anisha Ravindran

Enacting a Beacon of Change:

ABOUT RAKAN:
Rakin Hasan is a former President of the Macquarie University Golden Key Chapter. He is currently working
as an Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers and has extensive business experience across different
industries. He is also passionate about career development and believes in empowering graduates and experienced professionals to unlock their true potential, overcome barriers and identify different ways to access their desired markets and networks. He is an experienced mentor, and an accomplished presenter at
professional development events and workshop and has previously presented at a number of Golden Key
summits.

Auditor, Private Client Division, PWC, and Former Chapter
President, Macquarie University

Rakin Hasan

WHAT IS SYNAESTHESIA?:

ABOUT BRUCE:
Bruce Meatheringham is a 3rd year Bachelor of behavioral science student majoring in psychology &
Neuroscience. Bruce is also a 2018 Autism CRC Future Leaders program graduate. Bruce has done
presentations on synesthesia at Autism SA to Occupational therapists and speech Pathologists.
Bruce has also presented on Autism Sensory Experiences and guest lectures at Flinders University in the shared topic DSRS4109/DSRS9063 Autism Spectrum Disorders on The Causal Relationships of Different
Sensory Experiences In Autism. Bruce was the 2018 guest speaker for the Northern Territory Australian
association of special educations for their AGM. Bruce has made a film about synesthesia see “Synesthesia
(2010) dir. Bruce Meatheringham- MAPS Film School” on Youtube.

Flinders University

Bruce Meatheringham

Member Workshop: Stream 3

Creatures in the Jungle:

 

ABSTRACT:

Negotiating is a necessary part of life. From dealing with family and friends, buying a car to dealing
with your life partner, managing different perspectives is essential.


That being said, the relationship between any two people and the negotiations undertaken will be
subtly but importantly different from any other dialogue or rapport between any two others in the
world. Understanding the particular context in which your issue arises is essential to successfully
advancing your own interests.


Part of this is having a sense of who you are dealing with. Damian Ward has spent 25 years
negotiating both for himself and for clients as a dispute lawyer. Damian has seen much of the good
and bad in how negotiations take place. In this workshop Damian will discuss a number of personality
or behaviour types, and identify their animal equivalent in the jungle. He will help explain, in simple
terms, the impact of each of these “creatures in the jungle”.

Partner, Mills Oakley

Damian Ward

Mental Health Support for everyone? Think
Again...:

ABOUT NICOLE:
Nicole David is a student at Griffith University, Gold Coast and studies in the School of Medical Science. She is the incoming Chapter President for Golden Key: Griffith University Chapter and has been very active at her University and in the local community in Gold Coast.

She volunteers her time with Mental Health organizations such as Lifeline and believes in the importance of being vocal about this topic. She also volunteers with the Council of International Students Australia and one of their major aims for 2018-19 is to encourage a meaningful discussion about Mental Well-being. She is passionate and highly involved in the Mental Health field and actively promotes the importance of sound mental health for a holistic well-being is .

 

Having gone through, like many other students, mental ill health herself, she understands the importance of resilience, mindfulness and other measures that are integral to recovery and even prevention. She has completed the Mental Health First Aid certification, and was introduced to proactive methods of helping fellow students while also being empathetic and culturally sensitive. Her key aim with the workshop is to to challenge our thinking about preconceived notions pertaining Mental Health.

Chapter President - Griffith University

Nicole David

Member Workshop: Stream 4

Positioning yourself in today's competitive
job market:

ABOUT GORDON:
Gordon Zeilstra is currently a partner with Gotham Growth Strategies, a company focused on helping
companies accelerate growth and increase profits with new innovations in sales, product and partnerships.
Gordon is also a founder and investor of next generation applications in the area of Human Capital
Management (Recruitment, Staffing, Corporate Learning, Leadership Development). Gordon is a former
Vice President of SAP Asia Pacific.
Page

Director, Golden Key Board of Directors
Partner, Gotham Growth

Gordon Zeilstra

China spotlight: improving employment
outcomes for students returning to or from China:

ABOUT JASVIR:
Dr Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh is an University Teaching and Internatioanl Research Award wining
Lecturer at the Department of Management, Sport and Tourism, La Trobe Business School. Dr Singh’s
expertise is in higher education specialising in internationalisation of higher education (mainly exploring international students’ issues internationally) with published journal papers and presentations at numerous international higher education conferences. Dr Singh has received numerous grants from La Trobe. For instance, recently Dr Singh received AUD 300.00 from the LaTrobe Research Education and Development
unit to hold an event titled “Do you care? Early parenthood and caring responsibilities for early career
researchers”, a grant from the La Trobe Social Research Assistance Platform to transcibe 30 audio
interviews for my project ‘An Exploratory Study of Employment Perceptions of International Students in
China’.


In June 2018 Dr Singh received the LaTrobe RFA Collaboration-Ready scheme grant to conduct the
research project titled “International Education and Graduate Employability: Perceptions of Postgraduate
International Students Studying in a Research University in Malaysia”. In May 2018, Dr Singh received a
grant worth AUD 5,000 from the China Studies Research Centre, La Trobe University to explore the
employability perceptions of international students in China.


In 2017, Dr Singh received a grant from the La Trobe China Studies Research Centre to explore the
employability experiences of La Trobe alumni in China and in 2016, Dr Singh received the La Trobe
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) grant to explore undergraduate international students'
blended learning experiences. She is a member of ACEN and IEAA. She also has extensive Australian
teaching experiences at La Trobe, Monash and Melbourne University where she has taught range of
Management subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As a testament of Dr Singh’s teaching excellence, in 2018, she received a College level Teaching Award from La Trobe University and is
recognised as the Best Presenter and received the Best Presentation Award at the Global Higher Education
Forum, Malaysia.

Lecturer, LaTrobe University

Dr Jasvir Singh

Losing your inhibitions. A journey from
career crisis to career success:

ABOUT PRATISHTHA:
Pratishtha Purohit is a career, success and life coach. She currently works as a Career Consultant with the
Tertiary Education Commission New Zealand and volunteers as a Professional Development officer for the Golden Key Waikato Chapter. She partners with migrant clients international students to explore the limitless possibilities within themselves and help unleash their real potential with transformational coaching and mentoring. Pratishtha moved to New Zealand 7 years ago, following a life changing head injury that fractured her skull and left her with a lifelong disability leading to loss of 3 out of 5 senses, complete loss of smell, taste and hearing on the right side, and with that she also lost her very successful career and confidence. Before her accident, she was a very successful retail professional and worked for many
international luxury brands, both in India and internationally. After facing this major career crisis, handling anxiety, depression and grieving for her loss, she decided to embrace her imperfections and challenge her fears. Moving to a foreign country and starting all over again was daunting, and with a weak academic background, completing a Master’s Degree was a far-fetched dream.


One thing the accident did not take away was her resilience and desire to live. Within 1.5 years, a girl who
failed and dropped out thrice now turned out to win two international scholarships, obtained outstanding
academic achievement and an International student award, and getting an invitation to be a part of the
Golden Key was the total game changer and boosted confidence. Pratishtha knows what it means to lose
confidence and to challenge your inner fears. She is currently dependent on hearing aids but does not let her disabilities define her capabilities. She loves sharing her experiences and learnings to mentor and support
others, and expertly weaves these experiences into her career coaching practice to help her clients identify
and realise their true potential.

Chapter Committee Member
The University of Waikato

Pratistha Purohit

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