Business
16 December, 2024
Advocating for veterans
A LOCAL passionate advocate for veterans and their families has been named Partner Employee of the Year at the 2024 Prime Minister’s National Veteran Employment Awards for her dedication to advancing the careers of ex-servicemen and their families.
Eden Santos from Smithfield is a jack of all trades. She’s the engagement manager at Ironside Resources, a mum and a service wife – married to former HMAS Cairns commanding officer Alfonso Santos – and her lived experience has inspired her to support service families and veterans to find employment and pursuit their dream careers.
After three years in her role and helping dozens of families in the Far North, she was honoured with the Partner Employee of the Year award at the Prime Minister’s National Veteran Employment Awards last week.
“We help veterans who are transitioning out of the defence force and veterans who are looking for their next opportunity and need some help navigating the recruitment space,” Mrs Santos said.
“I support our veterans to find the best fit for them and help them through that recruitment process and I connect with our community to let them know what Ironside can provide for veterans.
“Being a defence spouse myself, my family has had seven interstate moves in the 20 years my husband and I have been married and we have four children so I understand the challenges these families face particularly in finding employment because we generally move every two or three years.
“I’ve had so many different roles because of all those moves, so you really have to champion yourself to a new employer to explain why you have those employment gaps.
“So I’m really passionate about helping veterans and their families imagine a different version of themselves and that’s my favourite part of what I do.”
Mrs Santos said she was extremely proud of the award and to be able to represent the Far North and its defence families on the national stage.
“I never thought that I would win this award. Coming from Cairns, I was up against people from capital cities, so to bring it home for Far North Queensland is just so exciting, and I’m so honoured,” she said.
“And to have an award that is specifically for partners of defence is so critical because we’re often the ones in the background while our partners get all the awards and do all the exciting things, we’re running the home front.
“Awards like this shine a light on the critical role defence partners, spouses and families play in the wider defence picture, there’s also a lot of support out there for defence families that allow defence members to have full and meaningful careers while their families thrive at home.”
For more information on support for defence families, visit https://bit.ly/3BcEtQm and for employment opportunities for defence families, visit https://bit.ly/4fT2nPL
