Diverse Leadership Program is Shaping Australia’s Future Leaders

Pratik Sigdel, originally from Nepal and now residing in Launceston for nearly 5 years, told Tasmanian Times,

“I have had a great opportunity to join the Diverse Leadership Program 2025 by the Multicultural Council of Tasmania. I strongly believe that this program will help me to grow into a leader who values and promotes diversity and inclusion in not only the workplace but also the broader Tasmanian community.

“I had heard about the program from friends who had previously participated and their insights about the program were very motivating. They encouraged me to join it as they experienced a positive impact in their personal and professional career.

“During the first workshop in Hobart, I got a chance to listen to the stories and real-life experiences from different people from various backgrounds. Their stories and the guidance from mentors have been fruitful to my leadership journey and I feel proud to be a part of this program.”

“When I saw the advertisement for the Diverse Leadership Program, I was very excited and submitted my application without a second of delay,” said Alice Youyin Yu.

“I came to Tasmania to pursue my Master of Professional Accounting degree in 2009. I was extremely lucky to secure a part-time administration role with an IT company while I was studying full-time.

“It was just five months after I landed in Hobart and in the interview, the general manager asked me, ‘There were 35 candidates, and all of them are local Tasmanians, except you – an international student, and English is not your first language. Give me a reason why I should hire you, and not those 35 local candidates who have perfect English and local cultural background.’

I replied, ‘Yes, I understand my English might not be as fluent as locals’, and I am still adapting to Australian culture, however, my English skills are sufficient for effective communication with clients, suppliers, colleagues and other stakeholders’.”

Yu explained that she was very hardworking and can multitask well and that she was studying her Master of Accounting which may also benefit the company.

“At the end, I was very lucky to be hired and after working there for one year, the company sponsored me for a visa, which allowed me to obtain permanent residency,” she said.

Since then, Yu has been working as a professional accountant with her CPA qualification in various roles and industries to include senior management roles for nearly 10 years

“However, I am still struggling to progress my career,” she said. “I feel this leadership program will shed light on my current career bottleneck.”

“I understand there are techniques and skills I can learn from this program to improve my leadership capacity and to help me identify my strengths and weaknesses for further growth.

“Compared with my 150 classmates who did the MPA with me in 2009, I was one of only five international graduates who secured an accounting role soon after graduation. Very few migrants or international graduates had good jobs and permanent residency straight after their studies.

“As is widely reported in the media, migrants and international graduates face significant employment struggles, mainly due to language barriers, cultural differences, visa limitations, recruitment bias, discrimination and a lack of mutual understanding.

“The Diverse Leadership Program is perfect as an icebreaker or a bridge to connect talents from different ethnic backgrounds, to promote diversity in the Tasmanian community, and to assist new migrants in engaging with others and developing leadership skills,” said Yu.

“The DLP is not just about individual growth, but also about building a stronger, more inclusive Tasmania community to have leader from diverse backgrounds.

“We have just started this program with one session so far, and all participants are so grateful, excited, and full of strong energy to share, inspire and cheer for each other. We are all loving it.

“In my opinion, it is because the DLP is offering us practical tools and strategies to build strong leadership skills. More importantly, DLP provides us a unique opportunity and a supportive environment to where we feel being heard, seen, respected and empowered.”

“Multicultural Council of Tasmania’s vision is to build ‘a culturally and linguistically diverse and harmonious Tasmania, that is just, fair and inclusive’.

“With the collective efforts from all stakeholders, we can speed up the positive change and ensure that diversity is genuinely embraced and supported,” said Yu.