We Are Associations Campaign
Ambassador Case Study

Rachael’s story is about how associations build lasting professional communities by creating meaningful member experiences, connecting generations and bringing an entire sector together around a shared purpose.

NAME: Rachael Corby
ORGANISATION: Australian Water Association
POSITION: Head of Member Engagement & Experience
INDUSTRY: Water Sector

STATE/COUNTRY: Australia
YEARS IN ASSOCIATIONS: 16 years
ROLES:

Present:

• Australian Water Association, Head of Member Engagement & Experience

Past:

• FCM Meetings & Events, Account Manager & Senior Project Lead
• FINSIA (Financial Services Institute of Australasia), Head of Sales, Marketing & Customer Engagement (Member Services) and Head of Events & Continuing Professional Development
• Domain.com.au, Marketing Project Manager, Brand and Communications
• Australian Institute of Company Directors, National Events Manager
• PwC Event Executive & Team Leader
• Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet – APEC Taskforce

WE ARE ASSOCIATIONS | ASSOCIATION PROFESSIONAL STORIES

The We Are Associations campaign celebrates the people behind associations. Through the stories of Association Professionals, AuSAE showcases the people, purpose and impact behind the organisations that strengthen industries, professions and communities across Australia and New Zealand.

Rachael Corby, Head of Member Engagement & Experience, Australian Water Association

Building Communities That Carry Knowledge Forward

For Rachael Corby, the power of association work begins with purpose.

At the Australian Water Association, that purpose is clear: to help build a sustainable water future for all.

What Rachael values most is seeing members and colleagues come together around that shared ambition.

“When passionate people are all working towards the same purpose, it’s something else.”

Across 16 years in associations, Rachael has built her career around member engagement, customer experience, events, marketing and community development. Today, she leads the Australian Water Association’s member engagement and experience function, supporting professionals and organisations across the water sector to connect, contribute and grow.

Her greatest sense of purpose comes from helping members achieve meaningful things in their careers.

This is particularly evident in her work with young professionals. At both the Australian Water Association and FINSIA, Rachael has developed and launched mentoring programs and created professional development pathways through volunteering.

She is proud of helping emerging professionals access the relationships, guidance and opportunities that can shape an entire career.

For Rachael, association work is not simply about delivering services, but rather about building the structures that allow people to participate, develop and contribute to something larger than themselves.

CREATING IMPACT

The Australian Water Association brings together people, ideas and conversations to support a sustainable water future.

For several years, its role has centred on facilitating connection across the water community. Its new strategy builds on that foundation with a bolder ambition: to play a lead role in transforming the sector.

The strategy focuses the association’s activities, partnerships and programs towards greater collective impact while building on what it does best - bringing people together, sharing knowledge and creating meaningful connections.

Rachael is seeing the results firsthand.

The association is experiencing record event attendance, strong membership growth and increasing interest from members wanting to become volunteers.

For Rachael, this demonstrates that people are inspired by the association’s direction and want to contribute to the next chapter of the sector.

“Our members want to support the strategy and be part of making it happen.”

Events and online networks play a major role in creating this engagement, but the association’s volunteer community is equally important.

The Australian Water Association has a network of approximately 400 volunteers who help shape activities, share expertise and advocate for the organisation.

Its approach is grounded in a simple principle: by members, for members.

These volunteers do more than support programs. They help create a sense of ownership and belonging, ensuring members are active participants in the community rather than passive recipients of services.

WHY ASSOCIATIONS MATTER

Rachael believes the greatest misunderstanding about associations is not necessarily what they do - it is that many people do not know they exist at all.

Unless someone works within a profession or industry supported by an association, they may never encounter the concept.

Yet associations often support the systems and professions people rely on every day.

The Australian Water Association represents 684 corporate members and over 6,000 individual members working across the infrastructure, services and expertise that provide safe drinking water and wastewater systems to communities.

Despite this reach, associations are often required to continually explain their relevance to government, funders and prospective members.

Rachael believes associations should be recognised as fundamental industry infrastructure.

Within the sectors they represent, there is also a tendency to underestimate the complexity of association work. It may be viewed as administration or event delivery rather than the strategic work of building capability, coordinating fragmented sectors and preserving institutional knowledge.

Association management demands a rare combination of skills.

Professionals must bring commercial acumen to acquisition, retention and revenue diversification; understand governance, Boards and constitutional constraints; design experiences for diverse member groups; and lead volunteers through influence rather than authority.

“Association management builds capability across marketing, customer experience, volunteer strategy and governance simultaneously.”

For Rachael, the Certified Association Executive credential demonstrates that the sector has recognised and formalised this specialist body of knowledge.

She also believes associations run on deliberate and continuous member value design.

Each renewal, volunteer contribution and decision to remain engaged represents a vote of confidence that must be earned.

Association Professionals must understand the different needs of their members and design experiences that remain relevant across diverse groups - from individual practitioners to major national organisations.

Associations also create opportunities for organisations and individuals who may compete or operate separately to collaborate on shared challenges.

They build capability that no single organisation would necessarily fund alone, preserve knowledge beyond individual careers or political cycles and create standards that strengthen entire industries.

Without the Australian Water Association, the water sector would lose the only organisation that brings all parts of the water sector together.

“A sustainable water future cannot be achieved by one organisation alone. Together, we can make a difference.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Rachael hopes future water professionals inherit an industry where knowledge does not disappear when experienced people retire.

She wants mentoring, cross-generational connection and shared professional standards to be embedded within the sector rather than left to chance.

Associations are uniquely positioned to carry knowledge, relationships and expertise forward deliberately from one generation to the next.

“If we get that right, the next generation will have access to expertise, community and career pathways that took the current generation decades to build.”

For Rachael, this is one of the most important long-term contributions associations can make.

By building strong member communities today, associations create the knowledge, confidence and professional pathways future generations will need to address increasingly complex challenges.

Rachael’s story is one of many that demonstrate the power of Association Professionals. Together, they are strengthening industries, supporting communities and helping shape the future across Australia and New Zealand.

We Are Associations.

ABOUT RACHAEL

Rachael Corby is Head of Member Engagement & Experience at the Australian Water Association and an experienced association professional with a career spanning member services, customer engagement, marketing and events. Over 16 years, she has worked across professional associations and commercial organisations, building communities and designing experiences that support member participation and development. Rachael is particularly passionate about mentoring, volunteering and creating career pathways for young professionals. She believes associations have a critical role in connecting generations, preserving sector knowledge and helping members contribute to a shared purpose.

ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

The Australian Water Association is Australia’s largest water network, bringing together professionals and organisations from across the water sector. Through knowledge sharing, professional development, advocacy, events and industry connections, the association supports its members to contribute to a sustainable water future. Its diverse community includes water utilities, government, consultants, researchers, manufacturers, suppliers and individual professionals working across all areas of the water cycle. By convening the sector around shared challenges and opportunities, the association helps build capability, strengthen collaboration and support positive change across Australia’s water community.

www.awa.asn.au