Listen to my story.
02:19 MIN
Transcript
My journey at Clayton Utz has been a whirlwind experience, taking me from Sydney to London and from court rooms to international arbitration. And right now I'm focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate advisory.
Recent assignments included advising a major ASX-listed property trust on a hostile takeover of another property trust, and a secondment to a leading Australian commercial bank on a remediation program. Every day presents new challenges and problems to solve, and I particularly enjoy analysing and understanding the commercial context of each situation.
But my volunteer work with a range of community activities through our Community Connect Program is also really enjoyable. As part of this I help coordinate Clayton Utz's relationship and we work with The Footpath Library. This is a not-for-profit organisation that engages with homeless people through books.
Each week I organise volunteers from Clayton Utz to attend services in Martin Place with some of Sydney's homeless. We’ll chat to them over coffee and tea and give them books to keep. I also organise opportunities for staff to donate books, and work with The Footpath Library to explore other ways which Clayton Utz can help out.
As you can imagine, I find this all of this extremely rewarding. But one of my favourite volunteering experiences would have to be going to the Tiwi Islands, near Darwin. As part of Clayton Utz's relationship with the Red Cross, I help deepen the connection between the remote indigenous communities and Red Cross. Armed with paint, hula hoops, footballs, and most importantly, disco music, I spent a week with young Aboriginal people. I was outrun on the AFL field, sung along to local Tiwi music, and was humbled by their incredible dance moves. What stood out with these children was their unbridled enthusiasm and cheeky and carefree attitude. Their joy and energy were infectious too.
These types of volunteering activities are an energising break from my corporate legal work. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to demonstrate my true character, blending career objectives with a desire to make a difference to communities in need.