Introducing the Amazing Kaushini!
Over the past few weeks I have been inspired by the amazing things many of our members are doing across the various pillars. I recently caught up with Alumni and Community Manager, Kaushini Fernando from Carey Grammar. Kaushini is a dynamic and highly motivated marketing and customer engagement expert with seven plus years’ experience in managing end-to-end projects, programs, marketing campaigns and events for alumni and a diverse range of communities within the education sector. As the Co Chair and Director of Women In Colour, Kaushini is an inspiration to all.
Spotlight on Kaushini Fernando
When and where did your career in education begin?
My first role in education was at the RMIT ‘JobShop’ within the Careers and Employability department. This dedicated area focused on providing students and Alumni face-to-face career support such as resume and cover letter reviews, mock interviews, jobs board and how to get involved in extracurricular activities to build employability skills. I loved helping students build these very important skills and was soon transferred to a different team to focus on building student employability skills through volunteering and building engagement programs.
I love working in education and have now been in various organisations in Higher Education and the School sector including Deakin University and William Angliss Institute, Melbourne Girls Grammar and now at Carey Baptist Grammar.
What interests you most in terms of Alumni?
I enjoy creating engagement programs for young Alumni with the purpose of building their skills to prepare them for life and work. Whether it’s career related, personal or professional development, entrepreneurial or social justice; there is a huge opportunity to provide services and programs that will directly impact Alumni to have success and become well rounded professionals.
What do you find the most rewarding part of your career?
Working in Alumni Relations is incredibly unique as you can share knowledge and tips about your projects to other schools and you are in no way competing as their Alumni will always be different. It is rewarding having a network of talented Alumni professionals at your fingertips who you can email or call to bounce ideas around or discuss pain points with. I enjoy building my professional and personal network and the Alumni sector is a great space to do just that!
Who is your biggest role model in terms of leadership?
A leader I aspire to be like is Robbie Austin (currently Strategy Lead/Project Manager at RMIT). I have known Robbie for about seven years and though he was only my manager for a short time, he has made a huge impact on me and my leadership style. He taught me the importance of having a people-first approach when leading a team; where employee experience and wellbeing is a priority. He had a very tough job leading a large department through the pandemic, where almost all roles were made redundant. His leadership and strength passed through to all the managers and team leaders and we were all able to handle this difficult time with great resilience. I’m very lucky to have him as a mentor and a person I can email or text any time to ask a question when I am stuck and need advice.
What aspect of Alumni Relations do you love the most?
My favourite part of working in Alumni Relations is showcasing incredible Alumni doing great things in life and work. Not only to inspire future generations and the community at large, but to celebrate individuals who go above and beyond to make an impact. I have come across so many Alumni stories that have brought me to tears, met Alumni who have incredible businesses and have seen the impact of philanthropic work that has been years in the making.
I love the moment I come across stories about Alumni on the news or social media and telling friends and family that they are an Alumnus of the school I work at!
We noticed your amazing work in creating a mentoring program. Can you tell us about this?
Mentoring is definitely a hot topic within the Alumni space – everyone wants to do it but resourcing can be an issue. I have previous experience working on formal mentoring programs which included an expensive platform and dedicated staff managing partnerships. It’s fantastic to have, but not always realistic with limited budgets, time and staff resourcing.
I wanted to create a mentoring type experience which was fast, free yet impactful for students and Alumni. The program I created invited Alumni from different industries, age groups and stages in their career to come back to school to share their career journey and life experience since they had left. The bite sized format included three Q&A style sessions over a month and it was targeted specifically to Year 11 and 12 students. It was inspiring to hear Alumni stories (the good, the bad and the ugly) and allow students to freely ask relevant questions which related to their current stage including subject selection, exam advice, university preferences, relocating interstate, finding a part-time job and more. This model can be easily replicated with the help of internal staff members including Year 11 and 12 Co-ordinators and school careers staff.
Describe yourself in five words:
- Creative
- Organised
- Passionate
- Bubbly
- Sweet-tooth!
For anyone embarking on a role in Alumni Relations what advice would you give them?
Working in Alumni Relations can sometimes be quite isolating, especially if the ‘Alumni Team’ is one person! Don’t be afraid to connect in with alumni managers/co-ordinators from other schools who are generally happy to catch up and share knowledge. I have made some incredible connections through LinkedIn, Zoom and in person. Educate Plus has great resources and events to connect people together.
