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What is Mindshop Excellence?

Mindshop Excellence started in 1993 with a group of year 10 students from Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia. Since then, the program has had over 5000 students across Australasia, the USA and UK. Industry is keen to work with schools in providing students a better understanding of work and its role in society. The traditional Mindshop Excellence program is a 5-day employer hosted work experience program for year 10 students (typically 15/16 years old), where a group of 4-6 students act as a consultancy team for the host to solve a real issue of concern for the company. The students are trained in several powerful problem-solving tools and processes and during the week, apply these tools to the issue, reporting back to the company, the school, and their parents on the final day of the program. This collaborative effort has been some amazing solutions to many hundreds of issues. Over the years, the traditional 5-day face to face Mindshop Excellence program has been refined, on special request, to suit a variety of student groups. A simplified 2-hour problem solving/visioning workshop has been conducted for classes of very young Primary Aged students. A one-day leadership program is available for a small or a large group of Senior High school students, with tools encouraging good communication and team building skills and games to challenge the problem-solving process.
More recently, Mindshop Excellence developed an online problem solving course where students are expertly guided through the same tools and processes they’d be taught in the traditional face to face program with the ability to apply the tools to a real issue of importance to the student.

Our Board

In 1995 the Mindshop Educational Trust was established to coordinate these programs. The below are current board members donate their time to support the evolution and growth of this remarkable program:

CAMERON GEDDES

Chairman
Cameron started his career as a SCUBA instructor whilst having a sabbatical from university. He then completed his physiotherapy degree, specialising as a paediatric respiratory physiotherapist at a teaching hospital in Melbourne. In these roles he developed strengths in the areas of complex problem solving, critical decision making, supporting the transition of knowledge into performance, and maintaining high performance in a complex and uncertain environment. His ability to coach and mentor student or patient influenced the ultimate outcome and he took this philosophy and applied it to supporting the enhancement of teamwork and leadership skills in high performing teams. He is passionate about helping people achieve their potential by coaching them to harness their strengths and focus their effort constructively.

DR CHRIS MASON

Founder
Chris is the founder of Mindshop which means he has been part of Mindshop longer than anyone except Julie! His claim to fame is that he is good at the Mindshop tools. Chris has been a student all of his life and he has a degree in business and a PhD in industrial/organizational psychology.

Julie Mason

Founder
Julie has been involved in the coordination of the Mindshop Excellence Program since 1993 and for over 20 years took the role as program director, liaising with schools, facilitators and host organisations as well as establishing strategic alliances with various Industry Groups and Educational Networks. Julie now shares her insights and wealth of experience through her role on the Mindshop Excellence Advisory Board.

Greg Humphries

In corporate life, Greg was a global IT executive with over 30 years’ experience in the leadership of enterprise systems across the US, Asia and Europe. Greg has been involved in facilitating Excellence programs since 2012 and has been amazed and inspired by the student’s enthusiasm to learn the Mindshop tools and their un-blinkered approach to seeking solutions. With special interests in diversity, process and planning he looks forward to working with the other leaders of the Excellence Trust to ensure the success of the program for years to come. Greg squeezes his Excellence role in between his passion for cars, music, photography, and wine.

Peter O’Donnell

Peter is the Executive Director of Southern Cross Farms where his responsibility lies with Strategy Development, Investor Liaison and Acquisitions. Peter is also involved in many community organisations. This includes being a member for the finance committee of the Mildura Specialist School, Director of Mildura Airports Pty Ltd and Board member of MASP. Additionally, he is co-founder of the Kokoda Youth Leadership Program. He is also a coach of football and basketball teams in his spare time. Peter is married to Andrea and has three children - Jack, Will and Kate.

Emily Splatt

After obtaining a Bachelor of Social Science in 2004, Emily joined the family business to help over a thousand Mindshop members around the world to achieve greater success. Back in 1998, Emily participated in an Excellence Program with Caulfield Grammar School so understands how rewarding the week long program is. When not at Mindshop, Emily’s passion is in travelling and spending time with her young family and friends and has completed an MBA.

Sue White

Sue White is Head of Careers at St Kevin’s College, Toorak. She has worked as a Careers Practitioner in a variety of school settings over the past 18 years and is passionate about providing young people with the resources, programs and personal resilience to make informed career pathway decisions. A life-long learner, Sue recently completed her Juris Doctor with La Trobe University. In addition to her full time role at St Kevin’s, Sue has 5 children aged from 21 to 28 to which she is devoted. Her other interests include walking, reading, sport, travel and socialising with friends.
Contact
excellence@mindshop.com
Address
Unit 8, 20 Cato Street, Hawthorn East, Victoria, Australia 3123
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