Frank Mitchell

​I'm a proud Whadjuk-Yued Nyoongar descendent, parent, husband, and son. I grew up in state housing in a little town in the Southwest. While I was fortunate to have a loving family, the area in which I grew up had numerous obstacles, including high unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction, suicide, and mental illness. After surviving suicide, losing three close friends at the age of 20, and becoming a father at 22, I decided I needed to live my life with purpose and make a good difference in the lives of others.

At 25, I was offered an electrical apprenticeship, which turned out to be a watershed moment in my career. With my drive, motivation, and leadership abilities, I advanced from electrician to site supervisor, project manager, and, finally, co-owner and Director of Wilco Electrical by 2015. In 2019, I co-founded my second company, Kardan (called after the Nyoongar word for the Marri tree), with Dwayne Rowland. Kardan offers a wide range of services, with a significant emphasis on construction, but its primary goal is to achieve social effect.

I think that success comes with responsibilities. Once I became a business owner, I made it my mission to pay it forward by providing those with potential but limited opportunities with the same inspiring experiences that changed my life. From a team of eight in 2015, we've grown to 50 Aboriginal upskilling opportunities in the construction sector by June 2024, including apprenticeships in electrical work, carpentry, painting, tiling, welding, HVAC, plastering, as well as admin traineeships and trade assistant roles. We've also granted more than $10 million to Aboriginal-owned subcontractors.

Many businesses, like Resource Services Group (RSGx), were drawn to Kardan and Wilco's initiatives due to their success. My third business venture, Baldja (which means 'Standing United' in Nyoongar), was founded with their support. Baldja is a collaborative business between Kardan, Wilco, and RSGx, with a 51%/49% ownership split between me and RSGx. It offers services in the resource, renewable energy, high-voltage distribution, defense, and water infrastructure industries. Our objective is to create specialist Aboriginal upskilling opportunities in the mechanical and electrical construction industries.

One of the things I'm most pleased of is the 10% profit share we've built into Baldja's structure, which is thought to be the only guaranteed profit-sharing plan of its sort in Australia. Ten percent of all projected revenues from Baldja's progress claims are directed to a separate account that is only dedicated to assisting Indigenous personnel in Kardan, Wilco, and Baldja at times of actual need, such as rental assistance, tool purchases, or funeral flights.

In just 9 years, I've seen so much progress, and my team and I are more excited than ever to keep extending our social impact and make a difference in the years ahead.