Bupa takes out top CareerTrackers award
Bupa has been recognised for its commitment to providing career pathways to young Indigenous people.
There was a buzz through the air at the 8th Annual CareerTrackers Gala Dinner when Bupa was presented with the prestigious Corporate Plus Award for 2018.
The award is the highest recognition an employment partner can receive.
It is given to an organisation that strives to create best practice in the implementation of the program by working closely with CareerTrackers to innovative and strive for excellence. This is given to a corporate that has truly embraced CareerTrackers vision and goes above and beyond in embedding the program across their business.
CareerTrackers is a national non-profit organisation that creates internship opportunities for Indigenous university students.
Carol Corzo, Bupa's Head of Inclusion, accepted the award on behalf of Bupa's interns, their managers, the Reconciliation Action Plan program and everyone who has been involved in supporting the company's CareerTrackers interns.
“We should be proud of Bupa’s involvement and leadership in this award winning CareerTrackers program and I want to say a special thank you to all of those who have brought it about," says Bupa Australia Chief Executive Officer Richard Bowden.
The celebrations continued with four Bupa interns recognised for their outstanding academic achievement with Distinction plus averages; Keisha Nash, Medical team (who is about to embark in postgraduate Medicine); Tatiana Estrada in Customer Growth (Psychology); Chelsea Lennon, BMVS (Health Promotion); and Samual Fisher, Customer Growth (Psychology student).
Natasha Ward, who was one of Bupa's first interns, delivered an inspirational key note speech on ‘identity and belonging’ to the 2,100 people present. It was a powerful and moving oration on the intergenerational impact of the stolen generation on identity and not knowing ‘who your mob is’.
Natasha shared the story of her heritage, how she navigated high school, her path to higher education and her plans for the future.
On the basis of this speech, Natasha has been invited to give the same address at the 10th Anniversary of National Apology to the Stolen Generation in Canberra on February 13th 2018.
The CareerTrackers program has been a key achievement of Bupa's RAP program and over the past three years has grown rapidly from 2 to 16 interns by summer, 2017.
Bupa's commitment to the program was formalised by signing a 10x10 agreement, in 2016, meaning it will host at least 10 interns each year for the next 10 years.
