Captain Mona Shindy, CSC, RAN (Retd)
Using lived experience to command change
Mona draws on her journey, leadership and advocacy to challenge systemic barriers and create pathways for overlooked individuals to belong and lead.
- Conspicuous Service Cross
- Telstra Business Woman of the Year
- RAN Captain (Retd)
- FIEAUST · CPEng · GAICD
The story
From a migrant child to Navy Captain — and beyond.
Mona Shindy joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1989 and served as a permanent member until transferring to the Reserves in 2021, retiring from full-time service as an Australian Navy Captain. After earning an electrical engineering degree with honours, she qualified as a Weapons Electrical Engineer and served on vessels on active service.
Her career is uncommon by any measure: advanced degrees in commerce and politics, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Chartered Professional Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Australia, and a recipient of the Conspicuous Service Cross. In 2015 she was named the national Telstra Business Woman of the Year for her work as an engineering executive, program manager and change agent.
As a professional engineer, mother, project manager and strategic leader, Mona creates linkages and meaning for others through her life experience — around leadership, courage, inclusion, resilience and change.
She now serves as CEO, author, board director and speaker — and as President of the Mona Shindy Foundation Inc, translating a lifetime of breaking barriers into practical opportunity for the next generation.
Credentials & honours
A record of service and distinction.
Qualifications
- MAMaster of Arts — Politics and Policy, Deakin University
- MComMaster of Commerce — Org. Governance, Leadership & Change, UNSW
- BE (Hons)Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical), Honours, UNSW
- DSSCDefence Strategic Studies Course, Australian Defence College
- GDipGraduate Diploma in Control System Engineering
- ADipAssociate Diploma in Management
- DipDiploma in Export Management
- GAICDGraduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
- CPEngChartered Professional Engineer (EngExec) — FIEAUST
- CPPDCertified Practising Project Director — AIPM
Honours & awards
- 2015Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) — Australia Day Honours
- 2015Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year
- 2015Runner-up, NSW Premier's Award — Woman of the Year
- —Australian Active Service Medal (clasp Iraq 2003)
- —Australian Operational Service Medal (Border Protection)
- —Defence Long Service Medal (three clasps)
- —Australian Defence Medal
The experiences that shaped the Foundation
How repeated barriers became the impetus for the Mona Shindy Foundation.
A journey through service, scrutiny and perseverance — and the decision to turn lived experience into lasting impact for others.
Learn moreThe challenge
A ship built for men.
When Mona became one of the first three women posted to HMAS Canberra, the ship had no accommodation designed for women. A locker space was converted into sleeping quarters.
1989–1992
What it revealed
Belonging begins with systems, not slogans.
The physical environment and established practices assumed every sailor would be a man. Inclusion had to be designed into the institution itself.
The challenge
Competence under scrutiny.
Mona has described male colleagues questioning her engineering qualifications, resisting her authority and, at times, giving her incorrect technical information that undermined her in front of senior officers.
The early years
What it revealed
Talent cannot flourish where bias controls access.
She had to prove her competence while navigating conduct that obstructed her development. The barrier was cultural, not a lack of capability.
The challenge
Between communities.
As a minority migrant, Muslim, mother and military woman, Mona was trying to belong to all her communities while not always being accepted or understood by them.
Across decades
What it revealed
Identity should widen leadership, not disqualify it.
Moving between cultural, religious and institutional expectations showed how easily overlooked people can be asked to fragment who they are in order to belong.
The challenge
Visible work. Visible backlash.
As the Chief of Navy’s Strategic Adviser on Islamic Cultural Affairs, Mona worked to strengthen understanding and engagement. Her visibility also brought hostile correspondence, accusations of disloyalty and controversy that contributed to the closure of the official @navyislamic account.
2013–2016
What it revealed
Representation without institutional protection is fragile.
The work of inclusion made her a target. It revealed the tension that arises when institutions appoint people to create change without fully protecting the people doing it.
The challenge
Service and motherhood.
Mona spent six years at sea, sometimes away for three months at a time, while raising three children. Naval career models were not built around people carrying primary-care responsibilities.
Six years at sea
What it revealed
Opportunity must account for real lives.
Commitment should not require people to conceal the realities of care, family and community. Equitable pathways recognise the whole person.
The challenge
The Foundation takes shape.
Mona created the Mona Shindy Foundation to turn the lessons of her own journey into practical support for people facing poverty, racism, Islamophobia and barriers to belonging.
2025
What it revealed
Lived experience can become a pathway for others.
Decades of service, scrutiny and advocacy became a platform for storytelling, educational access and leadership opportunities for overlooked individuals and communities.
The challenge
Silenced for political dissent.
Mona was removed from the Multicultural NSW Advisory Board after sharing LinkedIn posts about the genocide in Palestine. The decision shows selective silencing for political dissent - particularly of women.
2026
What it revealed
Fair process must be visible as well as promised.
The experience fractured Mona's trust in institutions that claim to champion inclusion yet follow the same systematic silencing found in regressive hierarchal organisations.
Speaking & advisory
Bring Mona to your stage, boardroom or policy table.
Mona tells the extraordinary story of hard work, resilience and success — from migrant child to Navy Captain and beyond. Her keynotes explore leadership, courage, inclusion, resilience and change, creating linkages and meaning for organisations and individuals pursuing their own success.
Every engagement funds the Foundation’s work — your stage becomes a student’s scholarship.
On the stage
Recent appearances
Keynote Speaking
Mona delivers compelling keynotes grounded in lived experience, sharing powerful insights on leadership, courage, inclusion, resilience and change.
School & community engagement
Diversity, inclusion & belonging; youth leadership and social justice.
Government program design & delivery
Policy-aligned programs meeting government strategic objectives.
Strategic advisory & policy consulting
Senior advisory across defence, diversity and social cohesion.
Leadership & training programs
Structured leadership development for institutions and cohorts.
Speaking & facilitation
Panels, facilitation and convening for summits and forums.
Get involved
Be part of the change.
Donate
Support scholarships, IT awards and engagement programs. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.
Partner
Corporates, government agencies, educational institutions and community organisations — partner on program delivery and funding.
Start a partnershipApply for support
Support is directed to individuals facing barriers to education, opportunity and belonging, identified through direct applications and referrals from trusted educational and community partners.
Express interestSpeak with Mona
For keynotes, advisory, media or board enquiries, reach the Foundation directly.
Get in touch