The end of the year seems to have come around very fast. It is always a good time to reflect on what has happened and what has characterised the year. For Cultural Synergies it has been an exceptional and very engaged year with a broad range of work. This has involved work with new clients, developing new products and services as well as working with clients who we have had a long history with. The year has also seen us expand our offering to include digital programs and assessment tools and led us to explore new ways of working. We have also worked with several associates this year which has allowed a more collaborative and extensive reach.

We genuinely appreciate the profound trust that our clients have given us to work with them and bring us into their organisations to collaborate and develop inclusive and culturally intelligent workplaces.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to all who have interacted with and supported us in numerous ways over the year.


Next year will be a year of shifts and changes as my family and I relocate to west coast of Australia to the city of Perth for a year. We have decided to spend some time with our adult daughter who is based there and explore a different city which most certainly has a slower pace. Perth also provides a terrific access point to Asia so it is highly likely I will be in the region more frequently in 2023. I am looking forward to a change of scenery and newness!


From all at Cultural Synergies – we wish you a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2023 ahead.

 

 

Captain Mona Shindy’s story is one of love, faith, courage, tenacity and, at times, of extreme bias. She takes the reader through her childhood, growing up in Sydney with hardworking immigrant parents who wanted nothing more than for their children to do well in life and be happy. From an early age, Mona travelled the paths less trodden – not only by women, but by women of Muslim faith. At the age of twenty, she joined the Australian Navy – one of few women and the first female of Muslim faith to wear the navy uniform. As an engineer, her 32-year career of active service with the Navy saw Mona rise through the ranks, leading many sailors and officers both at sea and ashore. She spearheaded organisations charged with developing, delivering and sustaining Navy assets, state of the art weapons systems and technologies. She made an outstanding contribution to Navy and the defence of her nation but, more importantly, she was instrumental in instigating and effecting change when it came to female integration and cultural diversity inclusion within this traditional, white, male-dominated arena.

Shattering Identity Bias is Mona Shindy’s story but more than that, it is a story that will give hope and strength to all minority groups. It will help employers better harness the power of diversity and address the challenges that it brings. For every reader, Mona’s story will paint a stark picture of the reality of the world we live in.