Alison Hayden spent the first 23 years of her working life with the Commonwealth Bank. She completed a bachelor’s degree in business and took 12 months long service leave to complete a Graduate Diploma in Education at NDA. She then worked as a Secondary Teacher of Accounting and Finance and other business/information technology related subjects for about 15 years in both rural and city secondary schools. She took a break from teaching from time to time and worked in Broome WA  in a finance role for a charitable organisation. It was during her time in Broome that she gained experience in managing finances for charitable/not-for-profit organisations.  In 1997, she also had the opportunity to work for one year as a Teacher of English at a university in Wuhan in China. An interesting experience.  Although now retired, she continues to use her knowledge to support four not-for-profit/charitable organisations in maintaining financial records and also engages in contract work for the Department of Education in WA. A busy but enjoyable life.