Former teacher and NGO volunteer Prudence Slaughter is now the head of government services at Envoy Advanced Technologies. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
When Prue Slaughter arrived in Canberra in 2017, she was called a “cleanskin” – someone who’d seemingly appeared out of the woodwork with no context.
“It’s true, I guess – I had come from Cambodia with no ties or connections,” she laughs. “No-one here knew me at all.”
Today, she is head of government services at Envoy Advanced Technologies, a software solutions company that’s actively building its profile in the nation’s capital. It’s a role Prue secured in large part due to her standing in the community and network of connections.
Her journey from there to here was not typical. It began when, after an impressive 13-year teaching career, she decided it was time for a change – but her employer flatly refused to accept her resignation.
Prue had been living and working in the little town of Ayr in North Queensland, where she taught economics and, more recently, information technology.
“I had to teach more than one subject and was offered either IT or home economics,” she says.
“The idea of being around all those stoves in the heat of North Queensland was not appealing. I chose IT.”
And she was good at it, eventually overseeing the formation of the school’s first LEGO League for robotics and taking teams of students to China to compete.
As an alternative to quitting, the school suggested she take extended leave. But instead of a vacation, Prue decided it was time to take her teaching skills to places where she could have the biggest impact.
She travelled Europe and the Americas but eventually decided to go a bit off the beaten track, volunteering in developing countries such as Sri Lanka when it reopened following the decades-long civil war.
“When I reflect on my professional life, my resume looks eclectic but there’s been a common thread. I like roles that allow me to bring change that has a positive impact on people,” she says.
“There’s a lot more of that kind of work in developing nations.”
Prue taught monks in Kandy and Ambalangoda in Sri Lanka, before heading to Cambodia where she volunteered for Khemara, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that worked with local women and children. There she wrote strategic plans, ran projects, managed donations from international donors, and told the head of the organisation to put her salary towards future grant applications.
While Prue was working in Cambodia, a 21-year-old French volunteer tragically drowned. Prue was on the scene when social enterprise Projects Abroad came to manage it.
That proved the catalyst for joining the organisation – though she didn’t give up her work for Khemara.
“I like to multitask,” she says.
As one of a team of six, she managed teens and young adults who took on volunteer projects in countries such as Ethiopia and Romania. But when she unexpectedly unearthed corruption in Cambodia, the situation became unsafe and she decided it was time to leave.
Prue returned to Australia and took a role at Soldier On, a Canberra not-for-profit organisation delivering holistic support services enabling current and former Australian Defence Force personnel and their families to lead meaningful civilian lives.
She quickly moved up the ranks starting as executive officer to the then employment manager, and found herself shaking hands with the senior politicians and bureaucrats of the day. She moved on to head up employment and education, then became pathways program director, before partnership director under then CEO Ivan Slavich, interim CEO when Ivan left and finally, deputy CEO.
By then she had become quite well connected in the Canberra community, particularly in the defence sector.
One evening at a dinner for the Australian Defence Industry Awards, she met James Milson, managing director of Envoy Advanced Technologies.
As it turned out, Prue’s particular patchwork of experiences working across different areas of government services and her network of connections made her the ideal candidate to fill the head of government services role.
“The strength of any organisation is based on its people. I’ve worked at a lot of places; enough to see that James had built a team that works together in seamless collaboration, with a culture that’s second to none,” she says.
“Not only are they absolute technical experts at what they do, they take on problems nobody else wants to. They look at it sideways, they ask questions nobody else thinks to ask, and they work fast. That’s how they’ve kept so many of their clients for 10-plus years.”
Prue says in a place such as Canberra, her role is more than straight-up business development.
“Canberra is a people town. You need to build relationships based on trust, integrity and truth,” she says.
“I want people to recognise and trust the Envoy brand. We’re not here for a quick win, we’re here to build a long legacy as an alternative from your standard off-the-shelf software solutions.”
For more information, visit Envoy Advanced Technologies.
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