Troy Brown with Ray Kelly, founder of Ray Kelly Fitness, at the First Nations Leadership Forum in Cairns last month.
By Troy Brown
Last month I was fortunate enough to be one of a small group of GEGAC staff to go up to Cairns for the First Nations Leadership Forum.
That group was Bianca Baxter, Kanisha Hood, Kayla Harrison and myself, and Aunty May Pearce and GEGAC CEO Kenton Winsley came along with us as mentors.
The forum was full of great leaders, great speeches and, most importantly, great food.
The speakers talked about things such as their history and how they came to be the leaders they are, and they demonstrated practical skills to help us improve our presentation skills.
We had the opportunity to put these new skills to the test, and received constructive feedback from the speakers and other attendees.
This workshop was a great experience for us all.
As a young person just starting out in my career and still learning, there were great lessons to be learned from great leaders.
One leader I met was Ray Kelly, the founder of Ray Kelly Fitness, which runs weight loss and diabetes programs.
Ray Kelly is a proud Gomeroi man and one of Australia’s leading health professionals.
I learned about his Too Deadly for Diabetes program, which partners with local Aboriginal medical services to target mob with, or at risk of, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
This program has proven effective with each location witnessing a major improvement in clinical outcomes.
An independent study was completed on the program in Western Sydney, where participants achieved an average weight loss of 7.5kg and a reduction in average blood sugar levels of 1.7%.
The Too Deadly for Diabetes program is provided in many areas where the management of type 2 diabetes is often poor, and Ray provides training and education to GPs, nurses, and other health professionals working in primary care.
“Aboriginal people can turn diabetes around in 7 weeks,” Ray told me. His passion for this showed in the way he talked. You knew that it was genuine.
“Community need to know the significance of reducing the percentage of getting diabetes,” he said. “Anything is possible.”
Too Deadly for Diabetes is just one of the things Ray has done in his career.
He is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and with a Master of Teaching (PDHPE) and a Bachelor of Research.
He was employed as a trainer in the first 2 seasons of The Biggest Loser Australia, and is an award winning Exercise Physiologist.
Ray has trained many world class athletes, including 14 boxing World Champions, and was the Exercise Scientist on Fox8’s The Contender Australia series.
In 2009 Ray formulated a meal replacement shake and lifestyle program that would become one of the largest programs in Australia.
He instituted a chronic disease program at the Arnott’s biscuit factory in Western Sydney for their day, afternoon and night shifts, that saw 53 participants dropping a total of 643kg in 10 weeks.
Ray has also worked with GWS Giants AFL club, providing an online 12-week chronic disease program for 100 Giants fans who had previously been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or hypertension.
The participants lost a total of 1,612kg.
Ray Kelly’s work with the Too Deadly for Diabetes program has taken him to Aboriginal communities across Australia.
I think it’s fair to say that Ray has shown a significant amount of passion for his work in weight loss and healthy lifestyles.
Meeting Ray was one of my favourite experiences of the trip to Cairns.
It was great to be a part of, and much knowledge was passed on.