Founder and chairman of Bastion – Australia’s largest independent marketing agency – Fergus Watts has stepped down from the board of The Reach Foundation to take on the role of CEO.
With a 20-year strong connection to the Foundation he now helms, Watts is excited to continue the legacy Jim Stynes and Paul Curries created when they started Reach in 1994.
In a career that has spanned time as a professional AFL footballer, through to being the founder of Australia’s largest independent marketing agency, Watts credits his involvement in Reach both as teenager attendee and then as a trained facilitator as the foundation he needed to navigate the ups and downs of his career.
Having first experienced Reach through a Heroes Day facilitated by Jim Stynes himself, as a teenager Watts experienced firsthand the life changing experience that the Reach Foundation’s programs can deliver.
According to Watts, his focus now is to realise a long term and effective solution to the youth mental health crisis currently taking place in Australia, through a proactive and preventative approach.
“Rather than waiting for mental ill health to manifest, we need to focus on the promotion and prevention of mental health in young people earlier on, by giving them the tools to navigate life’s challenges and thrive.”
“We need capacity building earlier in life with wellbeing at its core,” said Watts.
Discussion about this post