HostPlus Scholarship Winners Speak at Company Conference

A pair of International College of Management, Sydney (ICMS) HostPlus Scholarship winners recently spoke at the company’s annual conference held in Melbourne at the end of last year, attended by around 200 HostPlus Trustee Office staff.

HostPlus is an industry superannuation fund for the hospitality, tourism, recreation and sport industries in Australia. Founded in 1988, the fund has grown to be one of the largest in Australia with over one million members, more than 170,000 employers and $37 billions in funds under management.

HostPlus is one of over 1000 industry partners aligned with ICMS, located in Northern Beaches, NSW, Sydney. The company is a key partner in the ICMS Scholarship Program which this year awarded 82 scholarships worth approximately $1.2million.

Among the range of internal and external speakers at the HostPlus conference were ICMS students Madison Mader and Meg Christensen. The two students were winners of the Hostplus Hospitality Management Scholarship and the HostPlus Sport Management Scholarship respectively. Each scholarship included tuition waivers of $17,600 and a 14 week internship within HostPlus.

“I, personally, am a huge advocate of the ICMS scholarship program. However, the broader HostPlus community is likely unaware or don’t fully understand the value of these programs,” HostPlus executive manager Helen Wood said.

“As the national industry fund for Hospitality, Tourism, Recreation and Sport, HostPlus believes in true partnerships with our chosen sectors and we recognise the value of supporting and bringing high quality talent into these industries, especially given the widely publicised staff shortages particularly in the hospitality sector.”

Wood invited Mader and Christensen to speak at the conference about why they were embarking on a career in their chosen sector, why they had applied for a HostPlus scholarship, and about their aspirations for the future.

“There is no one better equipped to discuss the personal and professional value of our scholarships than the recipients themselves,” Wood said.

Mader spoke of how the HostPlus scholarship provided not only welcome financial assistance towards attaining her degree, but also of the invaluable connections and opportunities presented to her as a scholarship winner.

“Being the recipient of the 2016 HostPlus hospitality scholarship has been the catalyst for opportunities ranging from volunteering at the HotelsWorld conference in 2016 to working with multinational, successful hotel brands, further creating a launching pad for a promising career in the hospitality industry,” Mader said.

“This experience has developed myself both personally and professionally through meeting influential people who have identified and nurtured my potential, acting as both life and career mentors. This scholarship opportunity has been invaluable and has had a profoundly positive impact on my college and career experience.”

For more information about the ICMS Scholarship Program, click here: http://courses.icms.edu.au/rs/380-RYP-368/images/ICMS_scholarship_2018_spread.pdf

Photo: Meg Christensen receiving her scholarship from Darryl Courtney O’Connor, Chairman and Foundation and Ann Whitelock Courtney O’Connor, Chairperson, ICMS Professional Scholarship Program