The CEO for a Day campaign is aimed at giving Indigenous people the hope and belief that they too can be a CEO of any organisation by offering the chance for 10 Indigenous people to shadow 10 high-powered CEOs.
Kristy, who is a descendant from the Yulluna tribe in Mount Isa, started her own crane hire business, Wakaya Group, in Brisbane in 2012.
“After a few years as a tradeswoman I developed a love for cranes and worked my way up in the industry to an open class operator,” Kristy said.
“In 2009 I fell pregnant with my first son and feared losing my job in construction, however my employer supported me and I worked up on a 160 tonne track crawler crane until my son was due.
“In 2011 I fell pregnant with my second son and worked up until the completion of the job.
“At eight months pregnant and with the loss of my wage, I decided to start my own business in crane hire.”
Programmed CEO Chris Sutherland said he was learning as much as Kristy through his involvement in the CEO for a Day campaign.
“One of the reasons why I’ve gone into this program is that I can learn a lot about Indigenous employment and Indigenous communities, as much as Kristy can learn something about what it takes to run a business,” he said.
Kristy chose to work with Programmed because the company was in the same field as her business and she knows that labour hire is a very tricky workforce.
“I want to start a training package for my Indigenous students that come through our training program, where they get more on hands experience,” she said.
“So I’ll send them out with a crane crew or I’ll send them out on site to work in the field for two to three weeks.
“Once they finished the course, which is usually only a week long course for crane riggers, that they’ll have that experience behind them and be the best of the best to go into the position.
“I think this training course will break down the stigma that indigenous students are a risk.
“I want to make a real difference.”
