Awards recognise CDU’s leaders

The Director of the Northern Institute at Charles Darwin University and an Indigenous law student have been recognised for their outstanding leadership abilities.

Professor Ruth Wallace and Mark Munnich will compete in the national finals of the Australian Institute of Management’s Leadership Excellence Awards after winning in their categories at the Northern Territory finals.

Professor Wallace is a finalist in the Leader/Manager of the Year category and was nominated for creating a culture of excellence at the Northern Institute and for driving its development into a highly regarded and internationally recognised social and policy research institute.

She also was recognised for her ability to exercise strong leadership in a complex and multi-disciplinary setting, and for building the Institute’s profile among key stakeholders including government agencies, industry organisations, Indigenous communities and in the wider non-government sector.

Mark is a Yawuru and Gunggandji man from Darwin and a finalist for the Student Leader of the Year award. He said he aimed to promote higher education for Indigenous people in his role as a CDU Indigenous Student Ambassador since 2015.

“It’s not just about being a representative, it’s about championing higher education and aiming to encourage Indigenous people to study at CDU,” he said.

Mark is also a community legal educator at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency and is completing a cadetship with the Solicitor for the NT at the Department of the Attorney General. Among other achievements, he has received two New Colombo Plan mobility grants while at CDU and will join the Commonwealth Youth Parliament in Canada as an NT delegate in November.

The Leadership Excellence Awards ceremony will be held in Brisbane on 19 October.