Lee Burton
Bachelor of Social Science (Community Work) graduate
A desire to help people in the community reach their full potential has seen USC graduate Lee Burton become the Executive Director of one of the leading community housing providers in Queensland.
Lee, who manages seven staff and 200 tenants as part of her role with Brisbane-based provider Better Housing Projects, says she wanted a career that would allow her to become a strong advocate in the social and community sector.
Having studied housing and business at a postgraduate level, Lee returned to undergraduate study to learn more about community and social welfare, and why policy review happens.
Upon completion of a Bachelor of Social Science (Community Work) at USC, Lee applied for the Better Housing Projects position and took up her role in 2005.
"Housing is a human right and if someone has a safe place to live, there are a lot of benefits that flow from that," Lee says.
She says the skills she gained during her USC degree have helped her meet the challenges of policy formation and advocacy.
"My USC degree helped me with the presentation skills, confidence and analytical skills I needed," Lee says.
"Right now I am working on making sure our policies reflect our business and on an expression of interest that could bring in A$300,000 a year in funding.
"There is also a lot of emotional investment in the role, and as a non-profit organisation we need to make sure that our staff understand our tenants and that we build relationships with other community organisations."