Imagine Your Future Campaign
In 2021, 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s launched the “Imagine Your Future” campaign showcasing the journeys of seven Old Girls to inspire future students as well as the school’s current cohort.
This year, 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s added a further eight remarkable Old Girls to the campaign, who are all traversing diverse career pathways. Their inspirational journeys, along with those of the original seven, invite our current and future 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s students to imagine what their future might look like with the benefit of a 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s education.
Mel Buttle (’99)
Mel Buttle is a comedian, writer, and television and radio presenter, and is co-host of Foxtel’s The Great Australian Bake Off alongside Matt Moran, Maggie Beer and fellow comedian Claire Hooper. Mel also writes a weekly column for The Courier Mail in the QWeekend Magazine. Mel graduated from 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s in 1999 and says one of the best pieces of advice she has received in her career journey is to be a lifelong learner and develop a diverse set of skills.
Isobel Roe (’08)
Journalist Isobel Roe is one of the youngest reporters for the ABC’s flagship radio news and current affairs programs. She has been at the ABC for most of her career, starting in radio and television reporting in the ABC’s regional Queensland bureaus, before moving to a television reporting role in Brisbane and then to radio current affairs in Sydney, where she now lives. Isobel says that 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s taught her loyalty, commitment, hard work and the value of strong female mentors.
Shea Morrison (’96)
Graduating from 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s in 1996, Shea started her career working in radio advertising for Southern Cross Austereo and Nova. After the birth of her first child and feeling the effects of sleep depravity, Shea co-founded The Goodnight Co. with a mission to help others to create better days, with better sleep. Shea is also the host of successful podcast ‘Sleep with Shea’, which is now in its eighth season. She also runs a full-service marketing agency, Collaborative Media Group.
Talitha Dowds (‘01)
Talitha is currently the Programme and Project Management Advisor for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Mali Unit, in Bamako, Mali in West Africa. She works in support of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) within the UN's Mali peacekeeping operation, called MINUSMA. Prior to Talitha’s posting in Mali, she worked for the UN in New York, Geneva and Lima. It was at 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s that Talitha first discovered her interest in international relations.
Fiona Kerr (’05)
Fiona is a data scientist, leading the product analytics team at Atlassian, an Australian global software company. After graduating from 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s, Fiona studied finance and maths at university. She says that 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s was a place where she first discovered her interest in maths and where she was encouraged to find her voice and make a difference.
Ashley McCarthy-Griffiths (’12)
Ashley is a Site Improvement Engineer at BHP, leading the strategic performance of a mine site to deliver against safety, production, cost and culture commitments. She works closely with executive leadership teams and front-line staff to identify and understand their current challenges and strategic priorities. She strives to be a role model and raise the profile of STEM by breaking down the associated stereotypes to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to consider a career in STEM. Ashley says 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s nurtured her passion for solving complex problems, something she calls on day to day in her role.
Alice Litzow (’11)
Alice runs her own stretch wear manufacturing business and fashion label called AlcieMay, creating gymnastics, dance and activewear garments. Alice first discovered her love for fashion while at 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s and commenced her TAFE studies in fashion and design while she was in Year 11. Today, the 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s rowing shed proudly wear zooties designed by Alice.
Suzie Golledge (’11)
Suzie is a lead animator, running her own animation business, Tugboat Studio. It was at 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s that Suzie first discovered animation as a potential career. The aspiring artist was encouraged to pursue her love of drawing and creating flipbooks in combination with her fascination with human movement and went on to study a Bachelor of Animation after graduating from school.
View the video stories of these inspiring 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s Old Girls here.