• Charles Sturt University launches Alumni Podcast Series to share stories from its distinguished alumni members
• Series to explore the unique careers of six alumni and is hosted by Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor John Germov
• First episode to air on SoundCloud on Thursday 22 April, with four more episodes to follow, one every fortnight

A new podcast series will be launched by Charles Sturt University later this week to showcase the career stories of several of the University’s outstanding alumni.

The Alumni Podcast Series is the first podcast series Charles Sturt has created that focuses solely on members of its alumni and is hosted by Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor John Germov.

From world leaders in speech pathology, to creatives using their skills for social good, to an IT professional who has supported relief operations during some of the world’s largest natural disasters, the series will explore career stories, expert advice and insight from six alumni.

“It was a pleasure to chat to our podcast guests and hear about the many impactful initiatives and projects they have been working on since graduating from Charles Sturt University,” Professor Germov said.

“Our alumni are doing incredible things all around the world and this podcast showcases just a few of those diverse stories.”

The first episode will air on SoundCloud on Thursday 22 April, with the remaining four episodes airing on Thursday every fortnight.

The episodes and guests featured in the series include:

• Episode one: Join leading two leading speech pathology experts for a discussion about language development and communication disorders and the advice they have for parents, teachers and speech pathologists. Dr Sarah Verdon is currently Head of Speech Pathology at Charles Sturt University and Dr Kate Crowe is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Iceland and Adjunct Research Fellow at Charles Sturt.

• Episode two: Global marketing and communications leader Mr David Ohana will discuss how studying at Charles Sturt led him to land the United Nations as a client and ignited his passion for social-purpose marketing. David has worked with some of the most influential organisations and names in the world – from Google and the UN to Ban Ki-moon and Beyoncé. He is currently the Director of Communications and Marketing for Minderoo Foundation and Tattarang.

• Episode three: Ms Alison Michalk will share how her days as a student environmental officer at Charles Sturt ignited her passion for ethical business. She will talk about how she ensured her business, Quiip, works for the social good and will share advice for how other business owners can do the same. Alison will also discuss the work she has done to support workers in Australia’s online moderating industry.

• Episode four: Hear how theatre media graduate, Mr Toby Finlayson, turned an idea he had while studying at Charles Sturt into an award-winning, charitable organisation that he’s now the CEO of and has been operating for almost two decades. Toby will discuss the incredible work of Desert Pea Media, an organisation that works with First Nations communities in regional and remote areas of Australia to use contemporary storytelling techniques and audio-visual media to foster important social and cultural dialogue.

• Episode five: IT specialist and United Nations disaster responder and program officer Mr Andrej Verity will discuss how his information management and technology skills have supported many of the UN’s disaster relief operations. These include disaster relief for earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, typhoons in the Philippines, and floods in Pakistan. He will explain the critical role data and information management play during relief operations, from creating maps to help search and rescue teams, to consolidating critical information for key decision makers.

Help Charles Sturt recognise other outstanding member of its alumni by nominating them for the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Awards Program.