Episode #8

Kate Cornick

Change: How We Prepare Students For Work

Is our education system equipping students well enough to bring their best to the workforce? CEO of LaunchVic Kate Cornick believes that students need to have some extra skills on top of just having a particular knowledge about a subject when they graduate. Stay tuned for more!

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Guest Profile
Kate-Cornick-Headshot-1

Dr Kate Cornick

CEO, LaunchVic
Location: Melbourne Australia

ABOUT KATE

Dr Kate Cornick is the CEO of LaunchVic, the Victorian Government’s startup development agency. Kate is deeply passionate about the role of innovation in our economy and society more broadly, and has considerable experience in technology innovation across startups, academia, corporates and government.

Most recently, Kate led the development of human resources technology startup Rision Ltd, creating new products, partnerships, sales and ultimately a listing on the ASX. Kate is a telecommunications engineer and was involved in policy development for the NBN. She has held the positions of Senior Telecommunications Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff to Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and has also worked as a General Manager at NBN Co. Kate Cornick undertook her PhD in optical telecommunications at the University of Melbourne and, as part of her studies, spent time at AT&T Research Laboratories, USA.

Kate sits on a number of boards including the Victorian Government Innovation Expert Panel, The Charles Sturt University Council and the AIIA Victoria Council.

ABOUT LAUNCHVIC:

LaunchVic is the Victorian Government’s $60m initiative to accelerate startups, drive new ideas and create jobs in Victoria. LaunchVic works in partnership with entrepreneurs, industry, business, the community and educational institutions to strengthen Victoria’s entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem.

Video transcript

“If I was going to make a significant change in education, I would conduct a summit and invite all the leading educational academics and the key policy makers from around the world. I would bring together all the seminal research papers, include all the key books that have been written over time in education, all the thought leaders and bureaucrats. Then, I would encase them in a steel container, and put a sign on that container that says ‘do not open until 2025.’ Then, I’d kick it under the desk.

Then, I would actually allow students working with responsible caring adults (including their parents), to come up with new models of education – because to change one thing in education is nowhere near enough to make the sort of impact that we need.

We need to redesign multiple complex systems of education where each individual student is at the centre of their own learning plan. That’s how I change education.”

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