Stories from ELGP Alumni – Louise Forster

Congratulations to ELGP Alumni Louise Forster for recently graduating with a Master of Business Adminstration (MBA) from the University of Western Australia (UWA).

At Southcare we are about empowering people and enriching lives, so it has been terrific to support Louise through her journey. 

Here are some words about her experience…

In late 2012 I made two decisions that would ultimately change my life. I applied for the Emerging Leaders in Governance Program (ELGP) and I applied to the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Master of Business (MBA) Program. I thought, ‘if I get into one of them, it would be amazing’. I got accepted into both, and my world changed overnight.

The 2013 ELGP was the inaugural year, thanks to a state Social Innovation grant. It would see the start of a now five-year journey supporting the program, and promoting emerging leaders in governance. Joining the UWA MBA started a journey studying, meeting peers, building business networks, travelling to Europe, joining committees, participating in an international case competition and much, much more. The two programs even crossed paths, with many of my MBA peers being accepted into subsequent years of the ELGP and two MBA peers and I doing a Service Learning Project with Dr Nicky Howe at Southcare.

The learning, personal development and life-long friends I have made through both programs are hard to put into words. Both have taken me on a leadership and governance path I could not have foreseen, and I hope to continue on that journey for many years.

Graduating from the University of Western Australia with a Master on Business Administration on 14 March 2017, I reflected back on this incredible journey and feel very fortunate to have been given these opportunities and glad that I can give back, through my board roles and other ways, to support my local community.

If you’ve ever thought about doing something to learn, grow and increase your ability to make the world a better place, I say ‘just do it’!