The link to local community: Meet Jenna

Jenna Whistler is a people person. It’s a quality she puts to good use as Murrin Murrin Operations’ Community Relations Adviser – a role that sees her engaging with and supporting the local community on a daily basis.

“A lot of my job is maintaining positive relationships, so I often reach out to stakeholders via email, call or text – just to keep in touch. They know they can contact me if they have an urgent need in the community that we can assist with,” she says. “I also try to maintain positive internal relationships as it's important that there is cross-departmental collaboration in our social performance objectives.”

Far from being stuck at her desk at the Murrin Murrin site, Jenna makes sure she’s actively involved with the community, including visiting the nearby towns of Leonora and Laverton every week.

“I go out and engage with Aboriginal community leaders, shires, organisations, schools and sporting groups,” she says. “I try to make sure we’re maintaining a presence and visibility. I believe being there is an important way to build trust with the community – you need to show up, let them know that you are there and ready to listen when they are ready to talk.”

This ongoing support is a big part of the reason why Jenna decided to go into the mining sector. After working in local government for more than 15 years, she joined Murrin Murrin in January 2023, hoping to continue to have a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

“The mining industry has the resources available to make a significant contribution to positive social change in remote communities and I wanted to be part of that,” she says. “I also wanted to continue working on the ground in communities and saw this as a career move to allow me to continue this type of engagement.”

While Jenna didn’t know much about Murrin Murrin when she first saw the job advertised, she was more than equipped for the role. After a “typical country-kid upbringing” on her family’s apple and beef farm in the small town of Dardanup, in south-west Western Australia, she earned bachelor degrees in anthropology and marketing at Curtin University in Perth. She then worked in various community roles throughout Western Australia, including for small, remote communities such as Mount Magnet, rural areas such as Capel and metro regions like Swan, Victoria Park, Wanneroo and Stirling.

“Studying anthropology equipped me with a deep understanding of diverse cultural perspectives, which is crucial for respectfully engaging with community stakeholders and Aboriginal communities,” she says. “And I was semi-familiar with the communities of Leonora and Laverton from my days working as the Community Development Officer at Mount Magnet. The Murrin Murrin role was also quite broad in terms of its scope, from managing social investment programs to cultural heritage and stakeholder engagement. That appealed to me, as I like having a diverse workload.”

A diverse workload is an understatement. Jenna’s work sees her managing Murrin Murrin’s social contribution program, including the community involvement program that she started in 2023, as well as working with local First Nations communities to increase staff knowledge and build a culturally safe workplace, hosting activities for NAIDOC Week and National Reconciliation Week, and assisting in directing the Laverton Cross Cultural Association, which runs the Laverton Aboriginal Art Gallery.

“I also get to represent Murrin Murrin at various events, including partner events like the Stephen Michael Foundation sporting carnivals or the Shooting Stars awards nights,” she adds. “Recently, I represented Murrin Murrin at the Leonora Golden Gift event, which included supporting the Blazers Basketball Tournament, attending the Art Prize opening, helping out at the bowls tournament and holding a stall at the markets.”

With such a broad scope of work, Jenna admits that it can be challenging to keep across it all. But that’s far from a deterrent. Nor are the 6am starts on-site (coffee and Coke Zero fuel her days).

“In the next five to 10 years, I would like to continue to learn about the mining industry and social performance and impact within the industry to ensure we are aligned with best practice approaches to community and stakeholder relations,” she says. “I love the northern Goldfields communities and would love to continue to work in them and support them.”