Leadership News: ANNOUNCEMENT – NEW DIRECTOR APPOINTED
Our Executive Board is delighted to announce that Dr Madeline Shanahan has been appointed as a new Director. These are exciting times for Extent Heritage, with Madeline bringing fresh ideas to the company as it grows and diversifies.
“Madeline brings a keen strategic mind to Australian heritage practice,” says Jim Wheeler, Director.
Dr Madeline Shanahan is ‘Maddie’ to us, a heritage practitioner with 17 years’ experience in Australia and Ireland, whose specialisations include history, archaeology and interpretation. Maddie has particular skills in the management of large multidisciplinary teams.
“Management in heritage is both challenging and rewarding,” says Maddie. “I have learnt a great deal about people and relationships, as well as organisational structure and culture. Our profession is staffed by deeply passionate and talented people who are often under extraordinary time pressures, so the organisations that succeed are the ones that value and invest in their people. I plan to bring this people-centred approach to my role on the Board, ensuring that we continue to build strong relationships with our staff, colleagues, communities, clients and regulators”.
Madeline’s deep love of the past is demonstrated through some of her career highlights. She holds a PhD in archaeology from University College Dublin and is the author of two books and a range of other publications. She is also on the Masters Advisory Board at the University of New England (where she is an Honorary Adjunct Lecturer), the Executive Committee of the Professional Historians’ Association (NSW/ACT), and the Editorial Advisory Bord of the international journal, Post Medieval Archaeology.
“History is never far from my thoughts,” Maddie says. “My love of it, and a desire to celebrate the stories of our communities, sustains me. History helps me to understand context, and to find the connections between people, places and objects. This rounded view of the past, drawing on multiple disciplines, is what led me to heritage interpretation, where I work with clients and communities to tell their stories. I have led diverse interpretation projects, from major infrastructure schemes, to exhibitions in small homesteads.”
Our CEO, Ian Travers, who is based in the Melbourne office added that, “the chance to work with people like Madeline is one of the best parts of the job. Maddie is both a consummate cultural heritage professional and an inspiring leader, and we are hugely excited about the role that she will play in the ongoing success of our organisation.”
We will leave the final word to Maddie who says, “I am incredibly excited to take on this new role. It is an opportunity to grow my leadership skills and to learn from my fellow directors. It is also an opportunity to advocate for areas I am passionate about: teams, people and culture, as well as public history and interpretation. Mostly though, I am excited to have an opportunity to give back to a company that I love, which I believe in, and which has given me so much.”
Thanks Maddie! We can’t wait to share the journey with you…