Leah Sutherland was last week announced as a recipient of a Diploma of Event Management Scholarship as an up-and-coming event manager. The NSW Government handed out 20 scholarships to successful recipients in partnership with peak events industry body Meetings & Events Australia (MEA).
Leah spoke with The Times about the scholarship and how proud she was to receive the honour. “It was a real honour to be announced as a scholarship recipient. It’s a really great opportunity,” Leah said. Leah said that the news came as a surprise when she was notified via a phone call.
“The phone kept ringing and then I finally answered and that was the reason. It was really funny,” she laughed. “Hopefully I can help the community and we can help the events grow bigger, especially Fields of Gold and Wattle Time. “We can take the events to the next level.”
Leah’s training with Meeting & Events Australia starts next Tuesday, and she has already had an online meet and greet online this week. She will be undertaking the study of her Diploma of Event Management for the foreseeable future. Leah was selected alongside Lucy Targett and Jacqueline Collins who were also recognised in the Cootamundra electorate as talented individuals.
“It’s excellent for our region. It’ll really help,” Leah continued. “Nobody’s really had events for the last two years, so tourism’s gone down. “The businesses have struggled. So, it’d be great to get some really good events back hopefully starting next year and to build everything back up again.”
Tim Warren