Marcella Ketchell is a passionate advocate for remote communities in Far North Queensland. Here, she shares a bit about the important work she does and what leadership means to her. This is an edited transcript of RBW: A podcast sharing inspiring First Nations women’s stories. To hear more, visit tomorrowmoney.co/rbw 

My name is Marcella Ketchell and I’m the executive officer for Meriba Ged Ngalpun Mab, GBK. We’re the leading employment and training organisation for the Torres Strait Island region. I’m based in Cairns. I have most of my staff in the Torres Strait. I’m proud to say that in our program, we have a 100 per cent First Nations workforce.

I’ve spent most of my time living in Cairns, but when I was younger I did live on Thursday Island and spent a bit of time in Townsville.

I’ve done uni through UTS, I’ve got a BA in Adult Education and Community Management; I’ve got a Diploma in Community Services – financial counselling.

On my mother’s side – Cape York Aboriginal from the Kaanju clan; on my father’s side, Torres Strait Islander with links to Badu Island and Mer as well.

Larisha: Can you tell us a bit about your career and your roles now, now that you’re the boss lady?

Marcella: Well, it’s taken a long time to get here. You have to jump a lot of hurdles, a lot of challenges and learn along the way what good leadership looks like.

I got my first job when I was 15, I think, working at Target. So, I worked through most of my schooling years at Target and then I did a traineeship, like a Cert 3 in education, for 12 months. Very low pay back then. I realised after I finished my traineeship I could have earned more on Centrelink.

Then, I did a few different jobs through community-based organisations. It felt like I was getting nowhere.

When I was ready to leave Cairns and move down to Brisbane, I got a support officer role in employment and training. I was there for about six years and really loved the employment and training industry.

I was then fortunate enough to do a financial counselling traineeship through ICAN. I loved it. I loved learning about the laws around consumer rights and advocacy. I was able to complete that diploma in that time with ICAN, I think maybe it was about 18 months. I was there a little bit longer.

Then, I went into health for a while. I was in health, then worked my way up into a management role in health, then came out, went back into community-based organisations, then did a few stints once again in government departments – just short contracts.

Now, I’ve been with GBK as my employer for two years – three years at the end of the year. I was promoted to Executive Office of Meriba Ged Ngalpun Mab from July last year.

Larisha: What does good leadership look like for you in this role?

Marcella: For myself, it’s understanding the dynamics and complexities of the service delivery and of the area, the region you’re working with. It’s also acknowledging and respecting the complexities and challenges of working in the region that you work in.

Working in the Torres Strait is quite complex because all the communities are separated by water. It’s not a matter of jumping in your car. It’s actually very costly and expensive to travel around the Torres Strait and first of all, making sure you’re able to support staff appropriately – giving them good ability and leadership to do their roles. Also, building their capability and enabling them to do the roles competently, allowing them to feel confident in their roles and positions in the community. So, that’s one of the challenges for myself.

I try to keep, as much as I can, contact with the leadership staff in Meriba Ged Ngalpun Mab. I don’t shy away from talking to other staff, but also ensure they’re following proper reporting lines and protocol.

Even though I live in Cairns, it’s important to make sure I get out to communities and put my feet on the ground and have rapport and being able to engage appropriately with community. Otherwise people would think you’re in a leadership role for an important program, but making decisions on behalf of community without knowing what things are like, what the challenges are, what the complexities are.

Walking the talk is very important. When you’re advising staff of your expectations, it’s important to make sure you’re doing the same yourself.

To hear more from Marcella Ketchell, visit https://tomorrowmoney.co/rbw/