Profile
Amrita Ahuja, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Westbourne Grammar School, counts the launch of the Institute for Leadership and Growth this year among her proudest career achievements.
“I have really enjoyed shaping the work and seeing it develop, but it has very much been a collective effort,” she says.
The Institute has been a chance to bring together leadership development for staff, students and parents, and to think about how the school can create more opportunities for people to grow.
“I see leadership as a service, not a status,” Amrita says. “My role is to create clarity and remove barriers, to help people do their best work.” She credits principal Dr Adrian Camm, for the opportunity and support to develop the idea, and colleagues across Westbourne for their own impact along the way.
“Contributing to other people’s growth gives me energy,” she says. “Knowing that my work helps amplify our students, staff and parents drives me to continue challenging myself to do better.”
Amrita attributes much of that impact to her ability to hold the bigger picture without losing sight of the detail. “I enjoy taking something complex, working out what really matters and then figuring out how to make it happen,” she explains. She also acknowledges noticing the strengths and ideas that other people bring and looks for ways to draw those into the work. This has been central to the development of the Institute for Leadership and Growth, which has brought together the expertise and contribution of people across the school.
The work that landed Amrita on The Educator’s Hot List for 2026 is not without its challenges. She points to ensuring change is meaningful and sustainable as central to how she sees her role at Westbourne. “I spend a lot of time listening, understanding different perspectives and bringing the right people into the conversation,” she says. She tries to be clear about why change is needed, involve those affected in shaping the response, and create enough space for people to adapt.
Over the past 12 months, Amrita has focused on how the school responds to emerging opportunities in technology, AI, staff development, and teaching and learning, while keeping a clear focus on what makes the greatest difference for students and staff.
“Keeping students at the centre provides a useful lens to inform decisions and helps ensure that innovation remains purposeful rather than simply being new for the sake of being new,” Amrita says. She hopes the lasting effect is young people who are more adaptable and open-minded, and educators who have ongoing opportunities to learn and a stronger voice in the school and the sector.
Leading by example, for Amrita, means fronting up rather than stepping back. “I try to model curiosity, ask questions, seek feedback, listen to diverse perspectives and be open about what I don’t know,” she says, describing a habit that fits her definition of leadership as a service to other people’s growth rather than a display of status.
300 Sayers Road, Truganina, VIC 3030
03 9731 9444
info@westbourne.vic.edu.au
linkedin.com/school/westbourne-grammar-school
westbournegrammar.com
Amrita Ahuja
Director of Strategic Initiatives Westbourne Grammar School
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Bio
Milestones
2011–2016
2017–2019
2020–2024
2023–2024
2025–Present
Joined Westbourne Grammar School as a Senior School teacher of Accounting, Business Management and Economics
2011–2016
Appointed Director of Commerce, taking on her first formal leadership role at Westbourne
2017–2019
Progressed through executive leadership roles from Deputy Head of Senior School to Head of Senior School, with responsibility for student experience, staff leadership, curriculum and school operations
2020–2024
Completed a Master of Education (Leadership and Management) at Deakin University and the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Company Director Course; appointed to the Board of Satellite Foundation in 2024
2023–2024
Appointed Director of Strategic Initiatives, working across the school to drive innovation, organisational improvement and the implementation of major school-wide priorities
2025–Present
Milestones
“I know this seems pretty simple, but [my philosophy] is always doing what’s right for clients and not what is best for me”
Collin Bruce,
Dominion Lending Centres
“I had to crawl my way out of debt and build up my mortgage business. I never forget that feeling, and I try to never take a new lead for granted. Every deal counts”
Collin Bruce,
Dominion Lending Centres
The professional philosophy that underpins all of it is strikingly basic – and Bruce knows it. “I know this seems pretty simple,” he says, “but always doing what’s right for clients and not what is best for me. I never have to worry about something coming back to me from a previous client.”
He has helped clients through years-long credit rehabilitation without earning a cent along the way. He has never placed a client in a product he wasn’t prepared to fully stand behind. The result is a practice built on trust generating its own momentum: repeat business and referrals that arrive without prompting, from clients who know the difference between a broker who serves them and one who services a transaction.
In Alberta, where Bruce has built a particularly strong market presence, his name is amplified by a heavy advertising campaign across television and radio – channels he values not simply for reach but for credibility. The ads, he notes, help legitimize him in a market where clients are choosing who to trust with some of the largest financial decisions of their lives. Alongside that visibility, he has cultivated deep relationships with builders and financial planners, creating a diversified pipeline of leads that insulates the business against the inevitable swings of the rate cycle.
The operational side of the business has evolved with equal deliberateness. The appointment of a dedicated ‘Director of Wow’ – a role conceived to ensure every client interaction exceeds expectation – and the adoption of Dominion Lending Centres’ Gold Rush CRM platform have together driven a meaningful uplift in repeat client business over the past year.
The present year of 2026 brings its own complexities. With clients emerging from a period of historically low rates and confronting sharply higher mortgage costs, Bruce has tilted his focus toward refinancing – helping existing borrowers navigate a transition that, for many, has been genuinely painful. He is also investing in AI tools to sharpen lead generation and streamline internal processes, a measured embrace of technology from someone who has never confused efficiency with the thing it is meant to serve.