Melissa Durden’s extensive administration and client support skills have been gained over the past fifteen years across various sectors including the Australian Federal Government and real estate and during her service in the Royal Australian Airforce.

As the Project Officer for Aboriginal Hostel Limited in Canberra, Ms Durden was involved in evaluating and delivering the Indigenous Youth Mobility Program. This role required cultural awareness to ensure participants felt supported throughout their course, which contributed significantly to their success. Ms Durden’s nurturing and helpful nature allowed her to make strong connections with the students; she felt immense pride seeing students achieve their goals there, and now she feels the same satisfaction at Capstone Editing.

Ms Durden’s commitment to her work was acknowledged by her peers when she was approached by the CEO of Aboriginal Hostel Limited to host the annual Naidoc luncheon, which 700 people attend. As an Aboriginal woman, Ms Durden was extraordinarily honoured and hosted the event with great success. 

Ms Durden’s lengthy real estate career encompassed a broad range of managerial and administrative responsibilities and required attention to detail, flexibility and efficient time management. Her support to clients and staff involved effective communication and prioritisation of requests to ensure deadlines were met, 100 per cent of the time. These skills and her dedication to providing exceptional customer service make Ms Durden the perfect person to lead our customer service team as our Client Support Manager.

As our Scholarship Manager, Ms Durden truly understands the pressures tertiary studies can have on an individual both personally and financially, having completed a Diploma of Justice Administration and in more recent times having undertaken tertiary studies in law.

Ms Durden speaks fondly of her military career; she recalls being deployed to various locations across Australia in response to natural disasters. She was involved in a range of duties but highlights evacuating the elderly during the 1998 Katherine Floods as one of her most rewarding. Ms Durden’s sense of dedication, discipline and empathy, which has been a constant throughout her career, was unmistakable when she joined the airforce at a young age.