Elizabeth Thomas grew up on the North West coast of Tasmania and left school before she was 16 years old. In 1979, she returned to school to complete her Higher School Certificate where she received several awards from the University of Tasmania (UTAS) for academic achievement.
“I credit those awards with giving me the self-confidence to enrol in a Bachelor of Arts degree, a life changingdecision.”
“I graduated in 1983, majoring in Political Science and Sociology. After graduation, I worked in managerial positions in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne before returning to Tasmania in 1994. This is when I had the privilege of being appointed as the second female Public Trustee in Australia, the first in Tasmania, as well the youngest and one of the few non-lawyers to hold the position."
“I ambitiously set about managing a significant shift in corporate culture in order to commercialise the operations of the then Public Trust Office to transform it into The Public Trustee, a self-funding and commercially viable Government Business Enterprise. I held the position of CEO until 2003 and as a Director until 2009, and I have been fortunate to receive a number of professional and industry awards in recognition of the success we achieved in those early years."
“The Public Trustee experience formed the base from which I have been able to launch a successful independent business consultancy specialising in strategic and business planning, change management and leadership coaching and development. I am also an active independent director on a number of boards and commissions including the Tasmanian Gaming Commission and the Retirement Benefits Fund and UTAS Foundation Boards. I have also been involved in establishing Common Ground Tasmania, an innovative social housing project for low income and homeless Tasmanians."
“An Arts degree taught me to write fluently, think strategically and argue logically. They are the core skills on which I have built, and continue to build my career. I still draw on the foundation stone of that knowledge.”