Nicole Billante – a female leadership legacy I n 2019, Nicole Billante became the first woman appointed to a permanent executive academic leadership role at Christ’s College. that I have been able to be a role model for the boys at College,
Today, she urges all young men “to work towards true equity”, no matter the environment. “We are not all the same. We do not come from the same experiences or the same starting points. However, that does not mean that we need to be at odds with each other for any of our differences, whether it be gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, or religion.” Nicole says that throughout her nine years of teaching at College, she has encouraged her students “to be the best boys and men you can be”. “We make a conscious decision as women to work in boys’ schools because we believe in developing
having shown that there is no difference in leadership and women are equally capable in every way,” she says. “Now, there has been a whole generation of boys through my five leadership years at College. No one at this school knows what it is like to not have a woman in the leadership team. So, I do not feel like I am treated any differently. Initially, it was a palpable difference. Whereas now, I am really proud to have been in that space where boys can have a positive female role model in leadership and not even question it. It is just a given.”
It only took about 170 years. “It was certainly interesting stepping into leadership as a female,” Nicole says. “When I became an Assistant Principal, there was a definite difference in how the boys treated me compared with their approach to male assistant principals.” College’s Deputy Principal – Teaching & Learning has now been appointed Principal of Iona College, one of the country’s highest-achieving schools. “Today, I am particularly proud
COLLEGE 2024
147
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs