We are looking for 10 ambassadors to help us raise tomorrow’s future Girl and Women leaders.

We ask our ambassadors to educate our future leaders. By telling your story you could be helping many girls who can dare to dream.

We ask our ambassadors to speak at some of our events. We ask you to share your wisdom, experiences, your setbacks, how you navigated problems and your advice to our leaders of tomorrow.

Did sport play a role in your journey?

Please tell us your stories, giving real life examples and provide an insight as to how you achieved your goals through your own journey.

We encourage you to promote our events so we can increase the size of our network.

We ask that our ambassadors support by attending events where possible.

MGIB Women Expression of Interest

Please contact Andrew Robinson

0413 888 643

Anna Wilkinson

Formerly a Managing Associate for international executive search firm Korn Ferry, Anna Wilkinson was born and brought up in England in a footballing family. She moved to Australia some 30 years ago. She settled on the Gold Coast in 2009 and quickly became part of the Magic United Family, with her son and daughter spending their formative years with the club. Both of her children – in their teens – continue to pursue their love of football and futsal.

Anna has remained close to the Magic club, spending time as a Director and playing for the Magic Mums football team for a couple of years.

Anna has over 30 years executive search and consulting experience, also undertaking strategic sourcing and talent identification for blue chip companies. Throughout her career she was lucky enough to work with senior levels in public companies as well as with smaller “up and coming” businesses. She has liaised closely with Boards, CEOs and senior leadership teams, with a keen focus on leadership skills, diversity and succession planning.

Growing up surrounded by football and loving sport in general, Anna has a passion for encouraging the development of leaders in business and sporting endeavours, valuing diversity of thought and the contribution of women to the conversation. Involvement in team sports naturally encourages teamwork that flows into your approach to work and life. Anna is supportive of the importance of grassroots football and the key need for community / family involvement. She loves watching children strive to be their best whilst also learning resilience; to be humble in their wins and accepting in their losses. In recent years she has come to appreciate the importance of placing life and health balance first in the face of competing demands.

Anna currently lives on the Gold Coast and is focused on her children and her Partner, but mainly her two dogs!

Anna is qualified with a BA (Honours) Degree from the University of Kent, Canterbury, England and a Master of Environmental Studies from Macquarie University, Sydney.

Zara Trengrove

Born on the Gold Coast, and refusing to leave this beautiful city, Zara has deep community roots, and it is not hard to see her love and passion for the city and its continued growth in business and sport.

Currently a Senior Consultant at Scriptus Consulting, she spends her days supporting both public and private sectors through meaningful change, developing new business services and products whilst finding new opportunities in an increasingly complex, disrupted, and challenging environment. 

With twenty years’ experience building and maintaining businesses within the Transport & Logistics sector, both within sales and marketing and business operations, Zara has worked for some of Australia’s leading personalised transport organisations and ASX listed businesses, whilst also serving on many Boards and Committees.

It was during her business dealings that she was first introduced to the Magic Group, giving Zara her first real taste for the fighting spirit and love for the game the Magic Group team hold.

Drawn to Magic Group’s obvious passion to nurture kids, looking up to their coaches and teammates, eager to grow their opportunities in both the game and life, all while building a safe and fun environment, it is easy to see why Zara remained connected to the Magic Group as it continues to go from strength to strength.

A parent of two very active girls, and a fiercely competitive child herself, Zara oozes empathy with energy, valuing sporting cultures that support all players regardless of talent and skill, creating team cultures which become transferrable skills ready to tackle their next sporting venue or be it the world. 

Lisa Ketjen

Corporate Partnerships Manager
Usher Group

Lisa’s daily life involves working hard to ensure Usher Group leads the way in industry. As an all inclusive company not limited by gender or age she continues to build strong partnerships & relationships on all levels with a focus on community.

She is passionate about seeing the number of Women apprentices growing at a rapid rate in joining the Construction Industry.

Lisa is an Advocate of Women achieving across all aspects of life whether in business or sport.

Lisa says; “The relationships in your network hold the key to your current capacity and future success. Your network is vital at all stages of your life”

Her achievements include;

  • Committee Member of the Bond University’s Women’s Network (BUWN)
  • Judge AWIC ( Awesome Women in Construction) Awards
  • Women in Construction Ambassador –Sydney Build Expo
  • ANZ BANK consider “Lisa Ketjen- One of the upcoming Women in Business”
  • Certificate of Merit in recognition of “Achievement for Women in Business”

Shelley-Rae Taylor

With over 25 years sales and marketing experience, Shelley-Rae Taylor works closely with business owners assisting them to achieve their goals.
 
Born in Vancouver Canada, Shelley grew up an athlete, playing baseball and volleyball, skiing, and representing her province in the sport of figure skating. Shelley-Rae received her degree in political science and criminology from Simon Fraser University in Brtitish Columbia Canada. Shelley has even laced up the boots and played a couple of years for the Magic Mums football team and now enjoys golf.
During a time in history where we have seen marketing move from an analog world to a digital one, Shelley consistenly stays ahead of the latest trends, offering up to date and relevant solutions to the marketplace. Her experience with the Yellow Pages Group in Canada and Australia and now for the past 16 years with the REA Group (realestate.com.au), Shelley-Rae is able to guide business owners on their digital journey to maximise results.
 
A mum of three who have all played football with Magic United FC through the years, Shelley-Rae loves to see the growth of girls football across the Gold Coast and particularly at Magic United FC where the program has grown to over 140 girls from the days of 30 when Shelley’s two daughters started to play.
“The growth of girls sport is awesome to be a part of and it only helps young girls see the possibilities that they can do anything in life whether it be in sports, business, community or the arts. 
 
I am a big believer in helping young people find out what they want to do in life through the network our family has developed over the years. It is hard for young people to truly know what they want to do in life but if we can introduce them to people across multiple industries, it helps educate them and lets them see what a career might look like before they decide to move into it. 
 
So many people in life insulate themselves and try and do things on their own but I have learnt over the years that it takes a community to achieve what you want in life, and there’s definitely strength in numbers.”
 
Like many professional business women, Shelley-Rae manages to balance her career, her family, and continues to give back across her personal and professional community. You will often see Shelley-Rae pacing the sidelines on the weekends as she continues to be huge supporter of Magic United FC, the Gold Coast Knights where her son plays, and football across the Gold Coast.

Melissa Usher

Ocean Road Magazine

After a career in dance and modelling Melissa has spent the last 13 years as the Fashion and Beauty Editor of one of the Gold Coast most respected local publications, Ocean Road Magazine.
Ocean Road’s involvement with Magic United has been long standing with her 2 boys Hunter & Noah both playing soccer as well as a long standing sponsorship of the club. Melissa is the joint owner of Ocean Road Magazine with her husband Brian Usher.

Katarina Kretek-Page

Originally from Czechoslovakia, Katerina emigrated to Australia as a teen, completing high school and proceeding to study Exercise Physiology and then Pharmacy at the University of Queensland. For many years she enjoyed a career as a community pharmacist while raising a her own family, understanding the importance of sports and team work brought to a healthy lifestyle.

Her involvement with the Magic group dates back to its inception, with all her three (now young adult) children having played football with the club.

Throughout her life, it was education, hard work and determination that allowed Katerina to achieve her goals. She focused on providing her children with the best possible education and became an educator herself. By acquiring further qualifications, she was able to share her knowledge with high school students for 5 years. Nonetheless, her passion for science prevailed and Katerina returned to pharmacy to care for the health of the local community.

As her children become young adults, she saw an opportunity in the market and developed a hydrating alcoholic beverage, now trading as Salty Lips seltzer.

The new-found interest in business also spiked the realisation of the importance of women supporting each other in their endeavours. Katerina is enthusiastic, fun-loving but driven and strongly believes that all women can achieve whatever they set their mind to, through passion, determination and hard work. As she says “Girl power comes from self believe and positive attitude towards life.” Thus she challenges all women to embrace life’s highs and lows and living life to the fullest.

To find out more follow her Instagram saltylips.au or
check out website saltylipsseltzer.com.au

Jessica Monro

Hot Tomato 102.9FM

An American expatriate living in the Gold Coast has built a successful career in media sales and management for over 23 years. Currently working for Australian Radio Network – Hot Tomato 102.9FM, she consults and assists clients in achieving their advertising and marketing goals. She nurtures client relationships and strives to deliver an excellent customer service experience while delivering results.
Although she didn’t play competitive sport, her father emigrated from Ecuador to the USA with a university soccer scholarship. As a child she loved watching him compete in the soccer club and learned that playing sport is a great metaphor for the wins and losses of life. Also, having two young nieces, she has a passion for mentoring girls in believing in their strengths and abilities and achieving their heart desires by using tools such as positive mindset, visualisation, goal setting, emotional intelligence and networking skills.
Jessica is honoured to join the distinguished MGIB Women Ambassadors and make a positive contribution to the women’s and girls teams. 

Rachel Hunter

Rachel Hunter is a Senior Client Manager for New Wave Accounting and Business Advisory in Mermaid Beach, Gold Coast. Rachel works with all types of businesses but has developed a specific niche in Advisory and in eCommerce businesses A qualified CPA (Certified Practising Accountant) with a Bachelor of Business from Griffith University and 25 years accounting experience, Rachel uses technical knowledge and relationship building in a unique way to ensure she always looks after her clients in the best possible way. Rachel says, “Most people would say I’m not your run of the mill accountant and I love how numbers can tell a story about the health of a business. I really enjoy creating strategies that can improve businesses margins, the bottom line whilst minimising tax.”

Born in Melbourne to a Mother who was a customs officer and a Father who was an Officer in the Australian Army, Rachel was often referred to as a cabbage patch kid on account of living in or around “Army bases or cabbage patches.” Moving across the world following her dad a retired a Lieutenant Colonel who then moved on to the Department of Defence and finished his career in Human Services, Rachel quickly understood the importance of clubs and groups that could provide her with a sense of belonging. From a young age right through until the age of 17, Rachel moved many times and attended nine different schools throughout her schooling. This meant that she had to grow up quickly and develop a resilience and confidence that allowed her to make friends in each of these new environments. In a world without social media, the art of letter writing and creating pen pals became essential.
When it comes to sports, Rachel’s Mum and Dad were both avid fitness enthusiasts
leading her and her brother into the world of athletics and sport. She ran in her first cross country at the age of six and recalls with a wry smile that she came second last. Her tenacity at a young age shone bright as she then asked her parents to enrol her in little athletics and the next year, she won the cross country in her age group. As the years continued, Rachel ran anchor for her relay team winning the Victorian Schools athletics championships in both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 metre events. In addition, netball became a passion, with Rachel representing her state in the Australian Catholic Girls State Championships playing against other states and the likes of Liz Ellis who later became Captain of the Australian Netball Team.
Now as an adult, Rachel enjoys fitness and watching football, supporting not only her son’s team, but all teams at Magic United FC which she has now done for many years.
Her family including son Joel, daughter Chloe, and husband Mark have all become a big part of the Magic Group participating in the business and social events and supporting the club at every opportunity.
When asked about becoming an Ambassador for the MGIB Women, Rachel simply stated, “I am grateful for the opportunity to support all of our girls and young women at the club in their journey through sport and navigating life, school and career. I hope that through my experience and my professional connections that I can assist as many young people as possible to achieve their dreams.”

MGIB Women Expression of Interest

Please contact Andrew Robinson

0413 888 643