LEI celebrates success of 20 years in business

On Monday 7 June we celebrated 20 years of the business registration of Land Equity International. Tony Burns, a founder of the business and Managing Director Kate Rickersey (15 years with LEI) look forward to reflecting on and sharing some of our stories, history and forward thinking on land administration in the coming months as we celebrate our successes and the longevity of our consulting practice.

We are very happy to be supporting and promoting the global theme for the 2021 International Women’s Day:  ‘Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World’.  Here at LEI were pursue equality from within the organisation with women making up 2/3 of our leadership team. We are fortunate to have many long term staff who are driving us in our mission. We strongly believe in being an agile and flexible employer, offering full and part-time employment and flexible leave options to balance parenting duties and pursue higher education qualifications.

October in Wollongong and Spring has sprung. Reflecting on my time with LEI during my final month as an intern, there is much I will be taking away, not least being my first experience of working in an office. This introduction to working in International Development has left me with a new-found confidence that it is a path I want to pursue. The benefit of having been involved in a variety of different projects with LEI is that I have been able to pinpoint those areas in which my interests lie. I am leaving LEI with a much clearer and focussed idea of which path of specialisation I wish to follow. This is no easy task as I have found so many of the areas exciting and ultimately interconnected.

3 months as an intern at LEI has flown by, and the various tasks I’ve been involved with at LEI have certainly given me a chance to get my ‘boots muddy’, in relative ‘desk-based’ terms! August brought the high winds to the Illawarra, but we can see the signs of Spring. After successfully applying for a visa extension, I am to continue working at LEI for an additional month. Pleased to be staying in Australia and, feeling more settled here, I am excited to see what opportunities the next year will offer. This month outside of the office I have visited the Fo Guang Shan Nan Tien Temple, surfed with dolphins and have been getting more involved with locally-based community projects such as the Wollongong branch of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC).

As an organisation, we at LEI are very grateful to all our project staff and partners who have continued to work tirelessly in this difficult pandemic environment.  During this time, with people being so physically isolated, it is easy to feel disconnected. While the ‘virtual world’ has provided some respite from this isolation, through zoom meetings and the like, it somehow doesn’t fully make up for those familiar face to face connections, visiting offices and having conversations over tea or  coffee. It is also daunting and unsettling when passing time is dominated by “doom scrolling” [Scrolling news articles on the COVID count and second wave surges where it is all bad news].

A few months back, you may have noticed our advertisement for a new Team Leader. John Meadows, LEI Director and current MRLG project Team Leader, will move on from the project in October, and return to his roots in the UK from where he will continue with his role as an LEI director, as well as  business development and land administration and registration specialist. In reflecting on his experience in leading the MRLG project, John commented that:

I have now been interning at LEI and living in Wollongong for two months. Despite the coronavirus continuing to linger on the Southern Coast, I have had plenty of opportunities to explore some of the Illawarra’s beautiful coastline and enjoy both the local beaches and pubs, maintaining a healthy social distance of course. As a keen, albeit still-learning surfer, the winter storms that have hit the south-central coast in the last couple of weeks were exhilarating. It’s a different level to the surf back home in England, and I have no shame in being terrified by the monster swells rolling in. However, I am proud to have had a paddle out in what were the biggest waves I’ve ever been in and even more pleased to have made it back to shore in one piece!

It has been almost 4 weeks now since I moved to Wollongong and started as an intern at Land Equity International. Having migrated from North Queensland, the first thing I noticed was my lack of adequate winter clothing! Learning the ropes at LEI has been a steep learning curve, nevertheless, a challenge I am relishing and already finding extremely rewarding. Despite lock down not fully lifted, I have quickly come to love Wollongong as a city, particularly the beauty of its bush walks and stunning coastline, perfect for any person with an interest in the outdoors.

*Thank you for all who applied. This position is now closed*

Over the past few months we’ve worked with a local digital design team and are pleased to invite you to revisit our website. It boasts a fresh new look, improved site navigation and for us, greater usability to share our news and project updates. We hope you enjoy browsing … www.landequity.com.au.