OHA Stay Connected Podcast
OHA Stay Connected Podcast
Haileybury Voices - Russell Davidson (OH 1986)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Welcome to Haileybury Voices, the official podcast of the Old Haileyburian Association — the show where we go beyond the blazer.
Our very first guest, our very own Russell Davidson (OH 1986), Director of Development and Alumni Relations, exemplifies leadership, legacy, and connection. A proud Haileyburian, driving force behind the OHA, leader within the Haileybury Foundation, Ironman finisher, and long-time football umpire, Russell shares his journey from school days to shaping one of the world’s leading alumni networks.
In this episode, he reflects on:
• His Haileybury journey and the lessons that have shaped his life
• Leadership, discipline, and growth through sport and professional milestones
• The life-changing impact of the Haileybury Foundation
• Building the OHA into a thriving, globally connected community
Welcome to Halibury Voices, the official podcast of the Old Halibreans Association. I'm Pav.
SPEAKER_02I'm Shankar. This is a show where we go beyond the blazer, sharing stories, lessons, legacies of amazing Halibury alumni and the people who have created this community. But before we get into it, this is our very first episode, Pav.
SPEAKER_01Very exciting, mate. Very exciting. And I think uh I think the guests and alumni that are listening are going to be in for a great show.
SPEAKER_02I think so. And I think that this person is going to be a stellar.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Everything hailibry, ex uh ex-student, ex-teacher, driving force behind the OHA, leader in the Halebury Foundation, everything there for us to learn a lot about Halibury and learn from his experiences. 100%. So we're ready to introduce their guest. Let's go. As mentioned, our guest, our first guest, embodies everything Halebri. A proud Hailiborian, a driving force in the OHA, and a leader in the Hailibri Foundation. He's also, believe it or not, an Iron Man finisher.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_01And I have a suspicion he was an AFL umpire, football umpire. He says he's not, but let's find out. Let's dig into that a bit more. So shall we introduce him? Let's go. Russell Davidson. Welcome to Halibury Voices.
SPEAKER_00Lovely to be here. Thank you very much for having me.
SPEAKER_02Russ, let's jump right into it. Your time at Hailibury, what stands out for you?
SPEAKER_00My time at Hailibury was a fantastic time. I made a lot of great friends, had a lot of fantastic teachers. It commenced uh as a very in a very intimidating environment. Um I found Hailebury to be a very traditional place, a lot of uh formality as well, and a place that was uh incredibly highly disciplined. The teachers were very, very professional. Um I hadn't really come from that sort of an environment, obviously, in a primary school. So it was quite an imposing environment, but one that I really enjoyed uh and one that I flourished in over the six years that I was at Haylebury.
SPEAKER_01We forgot to ask Russ, what year were you?
SPEAKER_00I graduated PAV in the class of 1986 back in the Ice Age.
SPEAKER_01Oh beautiful, very so speaking back in the Ice Age, so when you look back into the Ice Age, what were what were the the experiences, the people, and the skills that you learned that you carry on with you today in your personal and your professional life?
SPEAKER_00Um lots of experiences, lots of great people. I was I was influenced by some terrific mentors. I referenced people like uh Bob Farrell, uh Peter Carlson, uh Jim Brown, um, and it was a great time to mould me into the man that I was to become. Again, um strong disciplinarians um that educated us um very black and white. Hale Bree was a very black and white school at the time. There certainly wasn't the um the breadth of opportunities that are available now, but it was a time when you were were challenged academically. You had to be on your metal. Um we were in great uh had great some great friendships with a with a a range of different people, and you met people from different cultures, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and different parts of walks of life as well, which again in this day and age you've got to carry on with you, and you've got and that's what what you learn um so much about yourself in those particular instances.
SPEAKER_02Nice one. Now, Russ, you've gone on to play a major role within the OHA and also the Hailibury Foundation. What has that journey meant to you?
SPEAKER_00Um, it's been a great journey. I I I started out um my uh working career at Hailibury in 1996. I graduated as a teacher uh from Deakin University, um, and my first job offering was as a teacher here at Hailibury. And I had seven years here, and I also had a year uh on exchange in Toronto, um, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Um I then had seven or eight years away from the school um as working in business with a couple of friends of mine at a company called Camp Australia Shankar, and um and then it came back here to work with uh the OHA and uh in the Halebury Foundation in the role as director of development and alumni relations, which I'm obviously currently in. Uh that's been a 17-year uh journey for me in this second stint at Haylebury, um, and I've thoroughly enjoyed that. Um it really the role started off. I took over from the famous Scotty Doran, and um who who went back into that role as head of Castlefield at the time, and um what began is a fairly embryonic um alumni association with no reference at all to the Halebury Foundation at that particular point in time has grown into this really um big role which encompasses so many different areas of alumni relations. Um I've met people from all over the world who I've been able to learn from but also educate in that space as well. Um, yeah, I've been really proud of the role that we've played and and and the programs and services that we've developed over a long period of time. Um met so many different people, love meeting people, meet new people all of the time, and um it's been a it's been a great ride. And that, you know, particularly with the Hay Libri Foundation, in you know, I think there's been 61 students now that we've um provided Hay Liberty Foundation scholarships to over the journey, thanks to the generosity of our donors, um, we're changing lives forever. And hopefully, hopefully we're changing alumni lives forever as well, knowing that they are a part of this big and proud family-oriented organization.
SPEAKER_01So you're speaking, you speak about the OHA community, played a big role in in building and shaping it. What does the term once a Halo Bureau and always a Halo Bureau mean to you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll just take you back on that point for a second, Pav. I've I've helped to shape it, but I've been assisted over the journey by uh great people, um, fantastic members of staff. Um I've been I've worked with um seven or eight OHA presidents over the years as well, who have all been brilliant, um, and and a and a lot of council members who have really supported um those presidents and also our office uh in the role that we play today. So don't get me wrong, this is not a one-man band, this is a huge team effort, um, and I've been thoroughly well supported by uh the senior executive here at the school as well. But what once a Haylo Burian, always a Haylo Burian uh PAV means is that you are part of a community and you are part of a family. When you leave this school, you can have as much or as little um connection with the institution as you like. Those who wish to have a lot of connection will do really, really well. Whether that's through joining a sporting club, whether that's through seeking mentorship, whether that's attending social events, or whether that's simply contacting the office to find out what programs and services are available, or if there's any industry professionals within the network that might be able to support uh you in in your particular field of business or activity. Um we are here to serve, we are here to help. We never forget, it doesn't matter if you haven't been connected for 35 or 40 years, you are still welcome to come back and utilize the services of our organization, which is thankfully and very appreciably funded by uh Halebri.
SPEAKER_01Let's fast forward a little bit, Russ. Let's talk about your journey after school. Where did it begin and what were some of the key milestones of your career?
SPEAKER_00So after I left school, have I undertook an accountancy degree that lasted about a year and a half. I wasn't ready for that. My dad uh was an accountant, in fact, he was the accountant here at Hailerbury, and that was always the path that I thought I was going to go down, but I never really gave that a lot of thought. Um, and after 18 months, I needed to do something different. So I actually went to work uh for Asandra Finance in Spring Street in Melbourne, and I spent three and a half years there, and it was fantastic. I had a great time. I'm not sure how much work I did or how much I contributed to the organisation, but it was a fantastic social time. 35, 40 years later, I still connect with those people uh today, which they're great people and really enjoyable. Um, but I after that period of time I thought we need to do something here with your career. Uh my parents had paid all that money at Hailerbury, and here I was 18 months after leaving um leaving school and and or sorry, 18 months after um walking away from uh from a university course and and really nothing to my name. So I enrolled in a teaching uh career at Deacon University, was successful in getting in and it was fantastic four years and I was lucky enough to get uh a teaching job at Hailerbury, walking straight out of that particular university. I was uh I was head of sport for a term um at uh at at Newland and then headed over to uh to Castlefield for the remainder of that year in 1996, and then spent the next six or seven years at uh teaching at at Hailerbury, teaching physical education, uh teaching humanities, um, coaching a lot of sporting teams, which I thoroughly enjoyed as well. I mentioned before that we had a year in Toronto, one exchange, where a lady came and lived in in our house, and we went and lived in her house, and her friends became our friends, and vice versa. And that was awesome as well for my wife uh Simone and I at the time in 2001. Um I came back in 2002 and shortly after I left Hartherby to pursue a career at a company called Camp Australia, which is owned by a couple of uh close friends of mine, Andrew and Anthony Phillips, and uh and they were very entrepreneurial. Um, and I uh helped to establish their sport coaching business. Um I operated their um their events business as well, uh, and they became very successful long after I left in the field of childcare as well, uh having and they sold that business for a a considerable sum. Um but that was a great period of time, and I learned a lot in that time working in a family business, the disciplines of business. So I was well um suited, I thought, to come back into this role when it did become available, and I started back here in 2008 in the uh in this role as direct director of development and alumni relations.
SPEAKER_02Very good. I guess when you look back on your career, what are some of the challenges that you face but help shape you though?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was I I mean I wasn't a strong academic at Haylebury, so um I was never going to get um uh a hugely high mark to get me into the best courses in in law or medicine or anything like that. But again, that wasn't my my passion. So I've always had to work really, really hard um over the years to get the best out of myself, and that is both in the sporting industry and also in the in the working industry as well. Um so I was shaped very much by um all of those experiences that I've mentioned before, certainly Hailerbury from a disciplinary point of view, uh Camp Australia absolutely from a work ethic point of view, um, and um and making sure that um you you dot all your I's and and cross all your T's. Um from a sporting point of view, um I always went by the philosophy of no pain, no gain. So you had to work hard in order to get the results that you you'd uh so desired. I know we'll talk about the sporting stuff a little bit later on. Um and then certainly from a teaching point of view at Hailibury, that was just great. I mean I just loved connecting with kids. I wish I had done that from a really early age. I I love I loved um uh teaching, I I loved educating, and I loved communicating and uh and I learned some great lessons at Hailibury from some uh tremendous mentors that uh remain friends to this day.
SPEAKER_01So, Rice, you mentioned sport played a big uh role in your life, uh particularly I believe football umpiring and endurance marathons, triathlons. Um how has that uh played a role in your career?
SPEAKER_00Look, the umpiring side of things, Pav has been a huge part of my career. Um I started umpiring when I was in school actually, so we're going back 40 40-year involvement in that particular sport, and it's something that I remain uh passionate about today. I'm the head coach of the uh the senior umpires on the Mornington Peninsula. I do a little bit of work with uh the VFL and the AFL in a consultancy role in particular with uh with female umpires. So that's something that's always um been with me. Um I'm very fortunate to have um to have been an umpire, and I'm very fortunate to have continued on in this career um both as a um uh a running umpire and also a coach as well. Um I've made lots and lots of great friends, but I've learned so many lessons as well, and I feel as though when you're when you've been involved in a in a sport for that long, uh it's incumbent upon you to to give back to that particular sport which I'm I'm doing at the moment.
SPEAKER_02Having been an umpire and also going through your Iron Man phase, what did that teach you about discipline and mental um fortitude?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, look, if you're not prepared to work hard, forget doing it. Um, you know what what I did learn, I did you mentioned an Iron Man, I did an Iron Man in 2015 at Port Macquarie and a number of sort of triathons before and after that time as well. One thing I did learn from that though is you don't have to be the fastest to get the most out of yourself. Um, you know, I was riding a bike one day along the P and Highway, and a guy came up to me and he said, uh mate, if you're not doing 20 hours a week to train here, well, you're not going to finish that Iron Man. And I worried about that for a while. But what I also realized, and what the other advice that I got was just do what you can, when you can, you'll be okay. Uh, and if you're fulfilling um your expectations to your uh your levels, you will you will absolutely get there. Um and that was it that was a tremendous experience, it was an experience of uh of hardship, of pain, uh, but there's no better experience at the end of the day when you cross that finish line and realise that uh you've accomplished your goal.
SPEAKER_02So, Russ, during your time as an umpire, what was the hardest aspect?
SPEAKER_00The hardest part for me was probably trying to climb the tree because once you got to a certain level, um I was at a VFL level and aspiring to get into the AFL level, you're in amongst 25 or 30 of the state's best umpires. So trying to get into the top two or three was the greatest challenge, and I think the best I finished one year was number four or five, and and that meant I was just outside getting an AFL contract.
SPEAKER_01So, Russell, like what what do they what's the criteria? What what did they assess you on in to be in that top two or three?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, back then there was a range of criteria which still probably exist now. The only difference to that is uh we're not bouncing anymore. So bouncing was a strong part of the criteria, which I wasn't very good at, Pav, I might say. Um but obviously your decision making, critical, uh, communication, uh match management, uh, and obviously positioning and running as well were were key areas of the of the criteria.
SPEAKER_02Is there a key moment that sticks out for you where uh you always look back on?
SPEAKER_00Um I've had I had a lot of great times in as an umpire, and and probably more my my best times were after I left the VFL when um when I went to the the VAFA and did 10 years and held a record for a while for most number of grand finals. And um, but probably from a downside point of view, I I umpired a preliminary final I think in 1996 and um I didn't have the best game that I could have had, um, and I wasn't selected for the following week's grand final, and that might have been uh the start of the end for me, unfortunately. But um again, always look back on it with great pride and and having done 106 uh VFL games and uh a huge number of finals as well, and then and then uh having the career that I've had at uh in the BAFRA and then obviously still uh going into the coaching. You you can't afford to look uh back at those negative times. You always look forward uh at the positive times and the great connections that you've made in the game and the connections that you continue to have to this day.
SPEAKER_01And favourite match you umpired?
SPEAKER_00Favourite match I umpired. Um I probably have to say the first game I ever umpired on the MCG uh was a I think an AFL reserves game. Um Essinon played. I support Essendon obviously, and um that was a great thrill to be able to go out and umpire that game and had a pretty good game that day from memory, and then obviously sit back and uh and watch the senior game a little bit later on.
SPEAKER_01Thank you very much, right? Nice awesome. So the the OHA is recognized as as a as a powerhouse, like one of the leading school alumni communities in both Australia and Southeast Asia, I believe. Why is that? What what makes OHA so so strong in that sense?
SPEAKER_00Well, we work very hard at it, and all of the other school alumni associations and organizations do as well, Pav. Um I'm not sure if if powerhouse is the right word. We we certainly don't aspire to be number one, and I'm not sure how that gets measured anyway, but what we look for is respect from our community. Um, and the important thing is that we our community needs to see that there is an active alumni association and organization that is going to support them on a variety of levels, um, whatever their persona type is, whatever their interest levels are, whatever they desire to do from an activity point of view, we need to be there for them if we possibly can be. Um I think the reason we've been successful, if you like, over a period of time is we've worked really hard on it. We haven't always said, let's do the same this year as we did last year. We've always challenged ourselves, we've made a huge amount of mistakes, but the best thing about making a mistake is you are closer to your next level of success or your next success. So we are um yeah, we'll make mistakes. Um we we try new um things, new programs, new services, new events. If they don't work, we we quickly move on. We hope that um the feedback that we're getting means that most of the decisions that we make are the right ones and that will lead to a successful outcome. We have huge engagement, not only in-person engagement, but also uh digital engagement as well. And we think a little bit outside of the box, we think creatively regarding some of the programs that we we put out there. And I'm really proud to say that there's been so many uh alumni organizations and schools over the year that have copied what we've done. And we don't try and protect that. In fact, we think that's fantastic. Um and I travel around the world, you alluded to that, Southeast Asia, uh, a moment ago, um educating people, speaking at conferences, providing solutions to uh some of the programs that they're running and some of the issues that they might be facing with their particular programs.
SPEAKER_02And what's that like now going across the globe and being able to share that information? What's that like?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's great. I mean it's satisfying. It's um um, you know, I'm I I mentor a number of people uh around the world um and we catch up regularly to just discuss how their particular programs are going. That's not something that I need to um attach to my resume or anything like that. I enjoy doing that, but I enjoy it because the OHA program is well recognized and people around, particularly around Australia, know exactly who Hailibury is, but they certainly know who the OHA is as well.
SPEAKER_01Speaking about the OHA, uh who's in the who's in the office that helps you?
SPEAKER_00I've got a great uh team in the office and uh and they all work incredibly hard. Christina runs over 50 events every year, both for the OHA and Hailibury Foundation. James is our digital expert, social media data. Uh he's the one that uh sends out all those messages across uh all of our platforms and does a brilliant job at that. And Kylie is the real mainstay in our office. She keeps me very, very honest, but she's uh the real the one that's really personable with our alumni and and connecting and writing all the stories for our various publications. So it's a great team, everyone's got a fantastic role and uh and we do it well together.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. I mean and you can see the results coming through.
SPEAKER_02100%. Now, Russ, uh you have played a major role within OHA and the Halo Brief Foundation. What does that all mean to you in terms of I guess dealing with people, uh understanding leadership through that lens?
SPEAKER_00Well, I enjoy making a difference. Um, so every day you come to work, you aim to make a difference, whether that be uh within your alumni network, whether that be with your staff, whether that be with uh the Hay Library Foundation, where we're supporting uh students who really would never have dreamt of coming to our school had it not been for the generosity of our donors. So um it makes me proud to see the work um that we've done, but there's a lot more work to go, Shankar, and um and there's a lot more uh bridges to cross. Um and until we've done that, I won't rest.
SPEAKER_01Very cute. What's the most rewarding part of seeing the OHA and the foundation grow?
SPEAKER_00The most rewarding part about seeing the OHA and the Foundation grow is that Haylebury is such a uh a world leading school that we need to be able to follow and show that we're a world leading alumni association and and and a foundation as well. Now, look, the foundation's only been going for 15 years. We've got a long way to go there, and in fact, um we were fairly slow in getting this off the ground philanthropy. Haylebury off the ground. We know that many other schools had philanthropic uh foundations 70, 80, 90, 100 years ago. Um, we're getting there, but that's okay. Uh, we're moving along at our own pace, and and and over time there will be a a significant number of projects that we can look to uh to be able to support those particular projects as well.
SPEAKER_01So, just for all our listeners out there, what exactly is the foundation? What what what is its key purpose?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, great question, Pab. The Hatherby Foundation is an entity that supports three funds the Scholarship, Building, and Library Fund. Um, at the moment, the majority of our donors contribute funds to the scholarship uh program, and scholarships are advertised about 14 months in advance of any academic year, and students whose family incomes wouldn't generally not allow them to attend Haylibree apply for those scholarships. We receive over 150 applications for Haylibury Foundation scholarships each year. We shortlist, um, we put our donors, donors who are contributing uh significant sums of money towards particular scholarships in front of those students, and we interview them. And at the end of the day, we come out with um, I think it's this year we've done 14 scholarships for 2026. They are students from really diverse backgrounds, again, who wouldn't have been able to afford a Halo Bree education, and it they are life-changing, making significant differences.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing work. Now, Russ, for the current alumni and future students coming into the alumni, how can they tap into that network and benefit off that network?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so our we're our door is always open. Um, once a Halo Bureau and always a Halo Bureau, and we've spoken about that. We we encourage members of our alumni to utilize our services and to utilize our office uh as much as they they need or they wish to. We have a huge array of individuals, members within the alumni network that are willing to give back. We have 22,000 members living all over the world. In this day and age, it's very easy to connect with anybody. So we'd certainly encourage anybody that's looking for a mentor in their preferred industry. We encourage people to uh attend events and activities, particularly networking and business style events, to understand the the length and the breadth of the network and what is actually on offer within that particular network. Individuals who utilize the network, individuals who attend events, individuals who network within our OHA network succeed. Um it is such a vast opportunity out there. I certainly encourage our young alumni to invest in the network as well. Um if they're in their second, third, fourth year university, looking for internships, looking for advice on their first job, looking to meet contacts within the network, please give us a call, send us an email. It's a vast network of people who want uh to help out fellow old Hailiburians.
SPEAKER_01And Russ, just on that, how can they contact uh the old Halibury Association?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so stay connected at hailibri.com.au. Pab is our uh generic email address.
SPEAKER_01Great. And finally, Russ, let's talk about legacy. What's the legacy that you want your contributions to Haylibree to be?
SPEAKER_00Well, I just want to see this program continuing to grow and be relevant, but also I'm increasingly um aware that we need to ensure that um we remain visible within Hay Library. One of the things I've been proud of over the years is that we have so much uh connectivity from our current staff members, teachers at the school wanting to utilize our services or wanting to be put in contact with fellow alumni. And what that shows me is that we are we're not just sitting in our offices, in our little alumni offices there, we are actually getting out and in the in the broader world, and people are really aware of who we are, and our staff are flat out day in, day out, answering queries from people within the Halebury community, but also the staff members that that teach and work here at Halebry as well.
SPEAKER_01Fantastic. Alright, Russ. Bit of fun now. The quick spitball round. First thing off the top of your head. You ready?
SPEAKER_00I'm ready, Pav.
SPEAKER_01Alright. School captain or class clown? Uh neither. Football or cricket? Both. Coffee or tea?
SPEAKER_00Coffee.
SPEAKER_01Morning or night? Morning. Umpiring or Iron Man? Umpiring. Melbourne or Sydney? Melbourne. Favourite teacher.
SPEAKER_00The late Shane Downey.
SPEAKER_01Most memorable subject.
SPEAKER_00We got up to a lot of trouble with the late Harry Knox in German, so I'd have to say that one.
SPEAKER_01First job after school.
SPEAKER_00I was an indoor cricket umpire.
SPEAKER_01Springers?
SPEAKER_00Springwale indoor sports.
SPEAKER_01Best advice you've ever received.
SPEAKER_00No pain, no gain.
SPEAKER_01Biggest career risk.
SPEAKER_00Probably leaving teaching.
SPEAKER_01Best moment at Halebry.
SPEAKER_00Seeing our foundation students thrive when they wouldn't otherwise have had that opportunity.
SPEAKER_01One word to describe leadership.
SPEAKER_00Collaboration.
SPEAKER_01One word to describe education.
SPEAKER_00Transformational.
SPEAKER_01Favorite Halebry tradition.
SPEAKER_00Uh the school song?
SPEAKER_01Toughest lesson learned.
SPEAKER_00Probably rejection from the AFL.
SPEAKER_01Proudest achievement.
SPEAKER_00Family?
SPEAKER_01Favorite place on campus.
SPEAKER_00On stage in the Aikman Hall?
SPEAKER_01Your happy place outside of work.
SPEAKER_00In the sunshine.
SPEAKER_01And one word to describe the OHA community.
SPEAKER_00Vast.
SPEAKER_02Brilliant. Russ, thank you very much for your time and sharing your story. That was absolutely wonderful.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Schenka. Thank you, Pav. It was great to be here.
SPEAKER_01And thank you for everything you've done for the OHA community and the foundation. And we look forward to seeing your legacy grow in these spaces.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_02To all our listeners, thanks for staying connected.
SPEAKER_01Because once a Halo Burian, always a Halo Burian.
SPEAKER_02And remember, we go beyond the blazer because every Halo Burian has a story worth telling.