Making a Difference

Charles Pakana is a proud Aboriginal man of Tasmanian descent. He's a journalist, broadcaster, podcaster and public speaker, and also the Founder and Owner of Connection Matters Radio.

In this episode, Charles and Steve discuss the importance of NAIDOC Week and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They also talk about how Charles came to travel Victoria, reporting positive Aboriginal stories that show the state, country and world the amazing resilience, innovation and determination of Aboriginal people.

Resources and links:

• https://connectionmatters.net.au/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Julie Eisenbise is currently Chair of Administrators at South Gippsland Shire Council and a Victoria Grants Commissioner. Julie has experience in Local Government as a Mayor and Councillor and has held various positions at RMIT University for over 15 years involving the management of local, national and international projects.

In this episode, Julie discusses the events involved in the removal of the councillors at South Gippsland Shire and why it was so significant, why cultivating trust and respect is necessary for building any resilient high-performing organisation, and her advice on how to deal with any potential conflicts of interest.

Resources and links:

• http://www.southgippsland.vic.gov.au/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Melissa Scadden is a Partner at Justitia, an employment law firm. In addition to advising employers across public and private sectors on employment law matters, Melissa has acted as a mediator and arbiter on numerous disputes and has worked with organisations, boards and elected councils to refresh their Codes of Conduct.

In this episode, Melissa shares the costs and opportunities associated with conflict in workplaces, discusses the steps to reaching an agreement, and how — when done well — dispute resolution can deliver outcomes that best meet the needs of disputing parties beyond mere compromise.

Resources and links:

• https://justitia.com.au/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-scadden-employment-lawyer/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Geri McDonald is the Director of Prevention & Wellbeing at Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, and is passionate about empowering consumers and their families to be active in their care and engagement with the health sector. In 2018, Geri was awarded and completed a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the role of patient navigation in cancer. And in 2020, Geri was recognised in the ProBono 25 people of Influence in the Australian social sector.

In this episode, Geri shares how socio-economic and cultural differences can impact patients, and the importance and meaning of patient-centred care in the face of unconscious bias.

Resources and links: 

• https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/geraldine-mcdonald-vic-2017/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldinefmcdonald/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Cici Edwards-Jensen (a pastoral carer and counsellor in grief and loss) and Mike Jensen (a consultant who specialises in cultural change in organisations) together walked the Camino via de la Plata, in Spain. Except this walk was more like a pilgrimage. In this episode, they talk about the why, and how, of that 1,100 kilometre, fifty-five-day journey. And they share how, over the course of that journey, they found a new view on life and work.

Resources and links:

• Happiness is That Way

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Dr Lyn Stavretis of Performance Wise Consulting, makes her living helping people in organizations get the most out of performance management. Performance reviews, performance management, performance conversations — we can’t live with them; we can’t live without them. In this episode, Lyn discusses how to do the process well (and how to avoid doing it badly), how to create a 'performance culture' in your workplace, and why a lacklustre performance review process can often do more harm than good.

Resources and links: 

• https://pwcg.com.au/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Liddy Clark is an actor, parliamentarian, unionist, cricketer and author. She’s starred as an actor on Australian television, on the big screen, and was even a presenter on the iconic children's television program, Playschool. In this episode, you'll hear about her love of the arts, the incredible impact she's had in her field, and how she became an accidental politician.

Resources and links:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/liddy-clark-a594a221/
• https://www.griffithreview.com/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Jenny Menzies is a Principal Research Fellow in the Innovation Hub at Griffith University, who is passionate about bringing clarity to the murky topic of federalism. At the heart of our democracy, it's the citizens who vote for and elect governments at all levels. But in these weird times of COVID-19, the respective roles of federal and state governments are not always clear. In this episode, Jenny discusses public policy, inter-government relations and federalism.

Resources and links:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-menzies-96638022/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Charles Pakana is a broadcaster and journalist, and a man of Aboriginal heritage. How do you measure the wellbeing of a society? Things like the GDP — or more subjective indicators such as satisfaction, happiness, and anxiety — are often used. But can wellbeing be addressed without thinking of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities when the annual Closing the Gap indicators have shown little, if any, progress? On this episode, Steve chats with Charles Pakana, and together they attempt to answer some of these difficult questions.

Resources and links:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/keirwells/

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.

Dr Attracta Lagan — from Managing Values — is a business ethicist, a speaker and a writer. Her life's work focuses on challenging business leaders to act on workplaces cultures. Ethics should be simple and about doing what's right. So why are ethics (particularly business ethics) such an issue for large and small organisations? And why are these issues so often highlighted in the media? Are those in the spotlight bad people, or can good people be ethically blindsided?

Resources and links:

• https://au.linkedin.com/in/attracta-lagan-64445514

Connect:

• More information about Civic Mind
• Connect with Steve Cooper on LinkedIn

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.