International operator Kinetic has announced that an early graduate of its Future CEO program will now start a senior leadership role in South-East Queensland.
Keely Abbot never pictured being a bus driver and was an executive manager at a nationwide retailer.
Through the Kinetic Future CEO program, Abbot’s last 12 months has seen her shift to working at Kinetic to now being appointed to manage a significant bus operation serving communities on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Abbot left her role as executive manager of store operations at Aldi Australia to try a new sector in the bus industry.
Out of more than 170 applications for the Future CEO program, Abbot gained entry and has been able to grow and develop her leadership in the bus sector.
Abbot says the experience has been life changing. She’s now looking forward to her key leadership role in South-East Queensland operations.
“Over the past 12 months I have been given the ability to further develop my leadership skills through professional development with the Lead The Way program while also gaining first-hand experience across the business, supported by transport industry experts,” Abbot says.
“Starting my transport industry career as part of the Future CEO program and the in-depth knowledge I’ve gained will serve me well as I embark on this next step in my journey.
“There have been many highlights along the way from working in operations control to assisting our dedicated mechanics in fleet maintenance but the best experience by far has been the conversations with children when driving a bus.
“On many occasions I’ve had young girls surprised to see me behind the wheel and ask me what it is like to drive a bus and their faces light up when I tell them it’s lots of fun and they can do it one day too.”
The Future CEO program is a structured 18-month initiative providing mentoring and exposure to all areas of mass transport operation.
Kinetic South-East Queensland and Tweed executive general manager Martin Hall says the industry insights gained by Abbot will allow her to use her experience to serve the Sunshine Coast well.
“Our Sunshine Coast operation is a key part of our business in Queensland and it is exciting that Keely will be playing an important role in our transition towards net-zero with 11 battery electric buses already operating serving the community from our Caloundra facility,” he says.
“The team are excited to have Keely coming on board in Queensland as she continues her pathway towards a senior leadership position with Kinetic.”
Kinetic head of people and culture Madonna Hegerty says Abbot’s success in the program is a positive step forward, but a lot more work is still needed to achieve gender equality in the industry.
“We are driving towards a 50 per cent female workforce, that is reflective of the communities in which we live and work. Programs like Future CEO and our Women Up Front driver training initiative are attracting women who may otherwise not have considered a career in our industry, and they are thriving,” Hegerty says.
“We intend to expand our Future CEO program during 2024 and, on the back of Keely’s success, encourage top talent from other sectors which are people- and community-focused to explore the opportunities we offer. Diversity of thought and leadership is critical to our success as we strive to shift gender inequality and increase female participation moving forward.”