Profile
“Westfield Specialty and I have been trying to make sure we are opportunistic in the marketplace and that has allowed us to grow profitably and create a broader and more diversified portfolio”
Jack Kuhn
Westfield Specialty
Mandi Randell is the principal of Central West Leadership Academy.
After beginning her career back home in the US, she taught in Sydney for 10 years before being inspired to fill the gap in regional service and achievement for gifted children in Australia. This led to her setting up the academy, affording students in Dubbo, NSW greater prospects and a high-quality education program.
She says, “Regional students deserve the same opportunities but have to overcome great barriers to access them. I am determined to ensure that living in Dubbo is not a disadvantage for my students.”
The vision was to create a non-denominational K–12 school for high-potential students and its success has been the culmination of seven years of work.
One of Randell’s significant achievements has been to bring the International Baccalaureate (IB) to the school for Years 11 and 12.
“It’s not well known in this area, so building understanding and support for the program has been a challenge,” she explains.
“Bringing the IB will impact global mindedness in our students as Dubbo is a regional skilled migrant zone and about 35% of our school was born overseas. We want to build leaders who can thrive beyond just a regional setting, who have the social and emotional capacities that will enable their academic strengths to make them able to be critical thinkers and leaders in whatever community they choose to live in.”
Part of Randell’s mission is to provide her students with the confidence and strength to become leaders in their own right. To achieve this, the school places the same importance on social and emotional learning as academic progress.
She says, “I want students from Dubbo to see themselves as worthy of being in every room and having a seat at every table where decisions are made that impact their communities.”
Standout measures of success include the following:
8 George St
02 6882 4216
office@theacademy.nsw.edu.au
linkedin.com/in/mandi-randell-17234723a
theacademy.nsw.edu.au
Mandi Randell
Principal
Central West Leadership Academy
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“The biggest challenge is getting everyone comfortable with the pace that I’m looking for to drive our buildout and growth. How I deal with it is by being open and transparent, and responsive to questions or concerns”
Jack Kuhn
Westfield Specialty
2001–2004
2004–2006
2008–2016
2023
Present
Teach for America, NYC, NY, USA
2001–
2004
American International School, Sydney, NSW
2004–
2006
2008–2014: Newington College
2014–2016: Macquarie Anglican Grammar School
2008–
2016
Outstanding Business Leader, Dubbo Business Chamber
2023
Foundational Principal at Central West Leadership Academy since 2017
Present
Assistant Vice President and Senior Broker at MJ Hall & Company since 2018
Present
Milestones
Aug 2022
Milestones
Sept 2021
Feb 2022
Apr 2022
Jul 2022
Aug
2022
Suncorp Bank introduces Solar Home Bonus offer for customers who are choosing renewable energy for their homes
Sept 2021
Month-on-month market share growth commences
Feb 2022
Suncorp Bank wins the Canstar award for most outstanding value in investment loans
Apr 2022
Suncorp Bank wins Money Magazine’s Bank of the Year and Business Bank of the Year awards for the fifth year in a row
Jul 2022
Suncorp Bank’s turnaround times are the lowest they have ever been. The lender becomes Australia’s first certified carbon neutral bank for both its operation and transaction services
Aug 2022
Milestones
Another sign of the school’s success is that families and professionals are now choosing to remain in the area because of the quality of education. This will have a compound effect on Dubbo and the wider region.
“We need excellence and change now for the talented students sitting in our classes today,” Randell says. “For regional growth and to address massive skill shortages in our regional and rural communities, we need to grow a generation of skilled professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, etc., to fill skill gaps so that we can sustain our regional communities. Australia’s economic future depends on our regions thriving.”
As a committed leader, Randell lives and breathes the school’s values. She also doesn’t shy away from being hands-on and leading from the front.
“I walk the journey with teachers,” she says. “I lead the professional learning; I collaborate with teachers and executive staff on data, direction and student improvement. I am as much on the dancefloor as I am in the balcony.”
highest NAPLAN averages in NSW west of the Blue Mountains for all year groups over a three-year period
Year 11 cohort placed fourth in the 2023 NSW State da Vinci Decathlon Placings