Message from the Council (May 2024)
Thursday, 23 May 2024
Exciting new Events:
Our recent  Business and Finance Network event was a great success which brought together Carey alumni working and studying in the business and finance industries.
 

We sincerely thank 7-Eleven CEO Angus McKay who generously gave up his time to be our guest speaker in the evening. Angus delivered an inspiring address, discussing the importance of being authentic and adapting to change and provided his insights into what makes a successful leader. He was a highly engaging and insightful speaker whose messages resonated with all in attendance. 
 

The event was a wonderful opportunity for alumni of all ages to strengthen their professional network, connect with potential mentors and clients, and find a sense of community within their professional industries.
 

We are greatly appreciative to MVA Bennett who generously hosted and sponsored this wonderful evening. In particular we wish to acknowledge their Managing Partner Andrew Ellem, Partner Richard Thomas and Executive Assistant Anastasia Aldred who put in  a great deal of time, thought, effort and planning to ensure that this event was a great success. 

We also recently hosted our first ever Coffee Catchup event at Melbourne University.
Carey alumni studying at Melbourne University could drop in to the Professors Walk Cafe, in between lectures and tutorials, to have a free coffee and muffin. It was a lovely opportunity for alumni to catch-up with old friends and connect with other Carey alumni within their university community.

We extend a special thank you to OCGA Honorary Chaplain Reverend Gerry Riviere who attended this event as a special guest. Everyone loved catching up with their beloved Rev, who was able to provide some warm words of wisdom and advice to recent graduates facing new challenges as they enter an exciting new chapter of their lives. 
 

These events were at heart achieving the same goal; bringing the OCGA community to Carey alumni in the environments they are now navigating and allowing them to connect with other Carey alumni and find a warm sense of connection and community in these new environments. 

A big thank you to all the OCGA Council Members and the members of our Young Alumni team who attended and supported these fantastic new events. 
 

Following the success of these two pilot events, we hope to be able to run more industry-specific network events and university campus coffee catch ups soon!

AGM Updates:

The 2024 OCGA Annual General Meeting was full of reflection and renewal.

We proudly reflected on some of the recent achievements of the OCGA Council in the areas of Governance and compliance, including the introduction of five new Child Safety Policies and Procedures, and training for OCGA Council Members in Child Safety, Critical Incident Management and Governance. 

We were also delighted to welcome several passionate and highly competent members of our community into new roles on the OCGA Council. 
 

We are delighted to announce the election of Jessica Darmos as Vice President of the OCGA! Jess graduated from Carey in 2018 after serving as Gadsden House Captain and is currently completing her final year of a Law/Arts Degree at Monash University. 

Jess has served with distinction for the past two years as OCGA Secretary, during which time she has been responsible for overseeing the rewriting of our rules, the drafting of our Equality and Diversity Policy and the introduction of new Child Safety Policies and Procedures.

We are thrilled to have such a passionate, capable and driven leader take on the important role of Vice President and cannot wait to see what Jess achieves in the role!
 

At the AGM, we sadly farewelled Rob Coombes (1984), who has served with distinction as Treasurer of the OCGA for the past eight years. Rob has done an outstanding job managing the finances and investments of the OCGA and we thank him for his dedicated service and all the time, passion and expertise he has provided to our Association.

We are delighted to announce the election of Nicholas Tonkes as our new Treasurer. 

Nicholas graduated from Carey in 1998, having been involved in debating, hockey, and music. Since graduating, Nicholas has worked in Management Consultancy, Investment Banking and Wealth Management. Today Nicholas is a Partner at a global management consulting firm. Nicholas previously studied at The University of Melbourne and the London School of Economics and Political Science in the fields of economics, finance and accounting.
 


At the AGM, we were also excited to welcome aboard Ayesha Singh as a new Council Member. 

After graduating from Carey in 2011, she went on to study a Bachelor of Laws/ Bachelor of Science. She worked as a Solicitor at Herbert Smith Freehills, before moving on to work as an in-house Legal Counsel at NAB. She currently is the Legal Counsel at Opal.
 

We were also thrilled to welcome Charlie Connell-Tobin and Sienna Sheppard as our newest Graduate Representatives serving on the OCGA Council. 

Charlie and Sienna graduated in Carey's Centenary year after serving as School Captain and Year 12 Captain respectively. They have already played an instrumental role in planning events including our recent Young Alumni Night and Senior School Musical Alumni Night. 
 

We were also excited to welcome Sebastian Gilford (2017) onto the Council.

After graduation, Seb went on to study a Bachelor of Commerce at Melbourne University, during which time he served as President of the Commerce Students Society. He now works as an Associate at EY.

We are also delighted that at our AGM, Josie Haris-Wetherbee and Jasmine Millar were re-elected as General Council Members and look forward to the impact they will have upon the OCGA community during their next three years in office. 

We are delighted to have a diversity of such talented, passionate and capable alumni joining our Council and look forward to seeing what this wonderful team accomplishes together.