Leigh Pointon

Every graduation ceremony, the best part of that was listening to the student speakers and you know, them talking about how the pathway opportunity had changed their lives. 

My name’s Leigh Pointon, I’m an Executive General Manager with the University Partnerships Division Australasia. I’m responsible for a portfolio of partnerships consisting of pathway colleges and branch campuses, both onshore and offshore. 

When and how did you come to be working with Navitas? 

I started in 2000, so this is my 24th year. Seen lots of growth and lots of changes. 

First started working with the business as a sessional academic teaching diploma classes at a college, Griffith College, previously known as Queensland Institute of Business and Technology prior to its rebrand. And yeah, I moved through two different roles within the college and education management and then took on the role as Executive General Manager just as the pandemic started to hit globally in 2020. 

What is one of your favourite memories working at Navitas? 

So, I actually don’t have one favourite memory working at Navitas. I think the best experiences that I always am so privileged to have had is graduation ceremonies, every graduation ceremony. The best part of that was listening to the student speakers and you know, them talking about how the pathway opportunity had changed their lives. And during their speeches, they would also talk about how they were going to go on and change the lives of others. So, it’s an incredible privilege. And so, you know, how many of those I went to over 24 years and I still get to go and sit in and listen to student speakers and they’re obviously representing all of the other students that have come through the campuses and had their lives changed. So, a real privilege. 

The other thing is just incredibly fun, so much fun. And that comes from the people that we work with in the colleges and the corporate offices and all over the world. So, I mean, that’s, you know, a great memory, but it continues because every day brings fun and excitement and new changes. 

How has working at Navitas made an impact on your life? 

Well, I guess I can’t have worked at one business for 24 years and it had no impact on my life. In fact, if I think about the fact that I’ve had my children growing up alongside working with me, working with the business, my family and work life have been inextricably linked. And in actual fact, my kids don’t know their mother having worked anywhere else apart from Navitas, so they haven’t had a lot of that sort of variety. And so realistically they’ve known known nothing else apart from me being employed at Navitas. 

So, my time at Navitas has really afforded me so many privileges personally. And I think most of that is about working with some amazing people and building relationships with not only my immediate colleagues, but working with so many amazing people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with globally as part of different functions within Navitas. So, it’s been a real privilege.  

And essentially I’ve sort of grown up with having those amazing friendships and, you know, learnt about their journeys along the way. And they’ve had children and they’ve got married. And, you know, with some of the colleges we talk about, you know, the babies that have grown up as part of being Navitas babies for many, many years. And so, yeah, it’s been, it’s been a real privilege to experience those fantastic relationships with people over the years. 

It’s been an amazing journey for me in learning from some really, really fantastic female and male mentors over the years. And I think that’s one of the really important parts of being with a company as long as this, but also with a company that has those opportunities and makes those connections between business units and other corporate areas of the business, not only in Australia, but also in the UK and the US and, you know, various places all over the world. So, it’s not often that you actually get that opportunity to learn from so many people in so many different roles and experience their journeys as part of their time with Navitas. So it’s yeah, it’s been incredible. 

What are your key professional achievements during your time at Navitas? 

Many, really. Predominantly the opportunity to work with such amazing people. That’s definitely been a real opportunity that’s contributed to my achievements. 

However, moving from a teacher, in through to management and then running a college and becoming an Executive General Manager with a number of partnerships in my portfolio has been a real achievement. And I’m really proud of that.

But I couldn’t have done any of those things without the people that I’ve worked with. And they’ve contributed such an enormous amount in terms of who I am as a colleague and a leader. But the other part of working in Navitas and my achievements, they’ve definitely come from the values of the company. And I’ve seen enormous change over the last 30 years. 

But the reality is the values have stayed the same and have contributed to, not only my development and who I am as a colleague and a leader, but also to the way that people work and behave together across the business. And I think, you know, the things that haven’t changed are the really strong commitments that from, you know, 30 years ago, Rod and his colleagues’ commitment to, you know, always believed that if we did the right thing by students and ensure that they had really fantastic outcomes and also our partners, the rest will look after itself. And it’s a pretty simple formula. 

However, it’s one that has stood us in in really good stead and you know, helped us get through some of the most challenging times in the sector, which are never not challenging and uncertain. So, those types of values and belief in what we do has been a really positive driving force and it’s definitely something that has given me purpose and has also helped me to thrive and the reason why I’m still with Navitas after 24 years.