Choose your country
Tapping into your network is a valuable tool for any working professional and Rakin Hasan is the perfect example of how rewarding networking can be. A Golden Key Alumni, former President of the Macquarie University chapter, and currently a Senior Analyst in the Technology & […]
In the context of Golden Key’s efforts to support its network and boost its personal and professional development, I thought I could share a handful of lessons I have learned in my journey from graduating university to finding an entry point into the labour market. […]
Aloha. My full name is Gabriele Angelo Ciminelli and it has given people enormous trouble over the years! Though it might be a name that sounds like it is from the renaissance era, I can assure you I do love my name. To make things happier between you and I, I insist on you calling me Gab!
I joined the Golden Key National Honor Society on June 9th, 1997 after graduating from La Trobe University, Australia. It was a huge boost to my personal confidence at the time, but it wasn’t until my international travels brought me to Hawaii and Japan that I realized the true essence of its mission. Let me tell you a story.
I consider myself having a successful career. From Australia to Taiwan, to Japan and Hawaii, my travels have seen me work in some amazing roles (Leadership, Communications, Emotional Intelligence Trainer, People Strategist, HR Development, Technical Writer, Relationship Manager and Engineer) with top Fortune 500 companies (Ericsson, Nokia, Alcaltel-Lucent, Rakuten).
Along the way, I have won awards for employee of the year (2010 Hawaiian Telcom) to Leadership awards. I’ve managed small to medium-sized multicultural teams in Japan and even found time to invent a Japanese<->English SMS text message translation service found on most phones today.
Yet, there was one thing that constantly disappointed me in all my career positions: how people were being managed (or mismanaged). I repeatedly saw signs of micromanagement, employees being burned out, yelled at, mistreated and ultimately isolated. I experienced all of them to the point where I too became depressed and needed to consider turning things around, Mahatma Gandhi-style: “Be the change you wish to see”!
So, I consulted with 3 people at the time when my family and I were enjoying life on the beautiful Hawaiian islands: My Leadership mentor at the time, a Buddhist monk, and my incredible wife. To cut a long story short, my wife took me on an amazing spiritual journey (still on that path today); the Buddhist monk taught me how to live in the here and the now; my leadership mentor changed my life when he said, “Awards are a sign of a great achiever; but to be a great leader, you need to give back- what are you doing to give back?”.
Thus, in 2017, I founded the Silent Leadership Institute – a global training and coaching practice that focuses on executive coaching, coaching for unconditional self-compassion, providing essential soft skills programs in leadership, creativity, mindfulness, and well-being. The Silent Leadership Institute is based in Tsukuba, Japan, and offers online training and coaching across the globe.
My why?
I’m here to help people unleash a life they love through the art of self-compassion and mindfulness, whether at work or in their personal missions. Everyone deserves to love, live and learn.
By Gabriele Angelo Ciminelli
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrieleciminelli/
It’s not uncommon for students to take a study abroad year. It’s just that I was 37 when I took mine. I completed my first bachelor’s degree in 2001, joining Golden Key at that time, and then completed a second bachelor’s degree part-time by distance […]
As the sole Founder and Director of Clinics For Kids (CFK), I am proud to have grown CFK to include more than 20 professionals and health students. This includes researchers, doctors, medical students, dentists, dental students, optometrists, and nurses, including 4 Aboriginal Australian members. At […]
Perhaps the truest sign of real passion is what someone chooses to focus on whilst facing a life-threatening illness. My name is Michael Cowling, and I joined Golden Key in 1997, having been invited during the first year of my Bachelor of Information Technology degree at Griffith University. I immediately saw Golden Key as reflecting my own values of academy, leadership and service and since then I’ve always been proud to be a member.
I stayed at Griffith for my honours and PhD, and then built a career in Educational Technology as ‘Professor Tech’, establishing a lab called The CREATE lab. This has provided training on innovative technology to hundreds of K – 12 teachers through the award winning ‘Weaving Technology into the Fabric of the Classroom’ workshop series and thousands of students through our CSIRO supported school incursions. I am currently an Associate Professor in Information & Communication Technology at CQUniversity Australia.
My whole life changed in October 2019, when a routine colonoscopy at the age of 40 revealed stage 3 rectal cancer. A quick round of chemo radiation followed, with surgery scheduled for March 2020 along with 6 more months of chemotherapy.
I considered hiding from the world, taking all my annual and long service leave and keeping away from work, but it didn’t seem right. Instead I decided to keep on working. I understand those who do, and everyone should make their own choice, but I wanted to remain true to myself, so I just kept on going.
Apart from a month off for surgery and days off when the chemo made me feel sick, I kept up my teaching and research, and even kicked some goals during the pandemic. Taking all my classes online and starting new research, and many have since said they didn’t even know I was sick!
In the midst of it all I applied for the Universities Australia Award for Teaching Excellence. I was delighted to find out in March 2021 that I had been awarded in the category of Physical Sciences, recognising me in their words as “among Australia’s most outstanding university teachers”.
I could have disappeared from the world, but that’s not who I am, and doesn’t reflect the values of a Golden Key member in academy, leadership and service either. So instead I decided to remain true to myself, and in doing so feel I lived my best life and came out the other side in remission, ready to continue to face the world.
Bio: Associate Professor Michael A. Cowling
Associate Professor Michael Cowling (sometimes known as ‘Professor Tech’) is an award-winning technology strategist and communicator committed to fostering thoughtfulness in technology for students, educators and the general public. He is an Associate Professor in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at CQUniversity Australia and has been a leader in educational technology (and member of the Golden Key Academy) for over 20 years. In 2020, he was the winner of the Universities Australia Award for Teaching Excellence (Physical Sciences and related fields).
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/macowling/
“As an international student, what you really crave for is home away from home, and my university and the whole committee of Golden Key has been my home away from home.” Malavika Kanoria began studying a Master of Business Administration (International) at Deakin University in […]
By Connor Simpson Marisa Duong joined Golden Key in 2017 after discovering the society through her Bachelor of Philosophy degree coordinator. Marisa was seeking the opportunity to develop her academic career and explore fields of research that interested her. After learning more about Golden Key’s […]
Golden Key strives to encourage its members in three aspects: Academics, Leadership and Service. Kitty Hoi Yan Wong, a Golden Key member since 2017, perfectly encapsulates the values of Golden Key, and her work in Community Service has proved truly impactful to her local community.
Kitty Wong is the Community Service Officer for the University of South Australia Golden Key committee and has become an integral, hardworking member since she first joined the group in 2018.
Throughout her journey at Golden Key, she has successfully led multiple community engagement projects such as Daffodil Day for Cancer Council, Christmas Books and Toy Appeals with the Smith Family and has been a critical reason for the success of TEDxUniSA 2019, an event run entirely by students to share ideas and innovations with the world.
Kitty says since joining as the UniSA Golden Key Community Service Officer she has helped make Daffodil Day, Christmas appeals and TEDxUniSA annual projects the UniSA committee takes part in.
“These are basically the three events that I am mainly involved in, but of course, as a committee member, I help out with other events that are run by our group,” Kitty says.
Kitty was first interested in becoming the Community Service officer because she is motivated by the feeling of doing something meaningful and contributing back to the community.
“I want to help run these community service projects because I think volunteering is a core part of my values. I like to volunteer for the community and Golden Key is a great platform to help me explore these amazing opportunities.”
As well as her work on the GK Committee, Kitty is also a passionate community leader, who is a first aider of St. John Ambulance. This as well, as all her hard work in multiple community service events led to her being ‘highly commended’ for the South Australia International Student Award – Community Engagement in 2018, and the winner of said award in 2019.
Kitty says she is honoured to receive this award and was surprised to have been recognised in such a way.
“Receiving this award to me, feels like my hard work for 2018 and 2019 has been recognised. By receiving this award, I have the opportunity to share my story and share my values with other people, other international students, other local students in Adelaide,” she says.
“I think the most I get out of having this award, is I am able to share my stories and values and experiences with other students and be a motivation for them to step up.”
“If I can give the advice to any students, if you start at University, if you have the opportunity to be involved with Golden Key, just do it. What is important is you need to be involved. There is so many opportunities for you.
“If you have the opportunity, just step out and catch it. Step out of your comfort zone and just put up your hands for everything that is in front of you.”
The Canadian Golden Key Leadership Summit, also known as CANCON, was held in Montreal this year February 23-25, at the Marriott Chateau Champlain.
What does being a GK member really mean?
5 ways to get more from your GK membership