Justeen Kirk from GHD

Justeen Kirk and her family.

For the past year, Justeen Kirk has called Wagga Wagga home.

With a background in project management, Justeen relocated with her family from Canberra to manage GHD’s office in the Riverina – a world leading professional services company providing engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services to private and public sector clients.

Here Justeen gives an insight into GHD operations and why it chooses to support Committee for Wagga.

Certified with the Australian Institute of Project Management, Justeen Kirk worked for the Federal Government for 15 years, including managing internal building projects for Parliament House, before commencing work with GHD in Canberra.

“When the opportunity to move from Canberra to Wagga came up, I thought, ‘what a great adventure’. It was also an opportunity to take a leadership role in a more family friendly environment.”

As part of her role with GHD, Justeen manages 13 employees in Wagga Wagga and one in Griffith. The team focuses on civil engineering, project management and environmental assessment and compliance.

“GHD has more than 9,000 people working in 200 offices across the globe. We’re delivering projects in 136 countries and this year celebrate our 90th birthday. GHD is privately owned by 25% of its employees, which is a real point of difference. As a shareholder, I have skin in the game. I am continually working hard to ensure my team delivers the right outcomes for our clients and our company.

“In the Riverina, we've got engineers, environmental scientists and project managers. As a small regional office, we focus mainly on the delivery of civil and environmental projects for local council, state government and private sector clients.”

Part of GHD’s mission is to create lasting community benefit. For Justeen, that is why it makes sense for GHD to be a member of Committee for Wagga.

“We want to enhance the community because our people live here. By working for GHD, we feel we can better the community. We can make a difference because we understand the local issues.

“Committee for Wagga’s core purpose mirrors what we're trying to achieve. As an organisation, Committee for Wagga lobbies government, large businesses and regional leaders to make our community better. Where they touchdown in the community, they want to make it better too. Our values really align.

“Being members provides an opportunity to spread our message while offering the might of GHD to the Committee. We draw on ideas from right around the globe, so on many projects, there’s a really good chance that someone in GHD has already done something similar and we can draw on our network. It’s another way we can contribute.

“I think having an independent organisation to drive ideas is important – good intentions don’t build bridges. An organisation like Committee for Wagga, which has the community's best interests at heart, helps drive the community forward in a positive targeted way.

“I think that if companies like GHD can support organisations like Committee for Wagga, then the Committee can achieve so much more.”