Just over a month ago she returned home to the Central West, keen to make a difference to her career and life.

She has taken up the role as the new general manager with not-for-profit group based in Bathurst, the Western Research Institute (WRI).

Ms Mason was born in Wellington, but “a few decades” ago made the move to Sydney where she completed her schooling and university.

It is also where she took up her first job as a primary school teacher.

Education has been a theme that has run through her career ever since, even when she was employed as a 23-year-old waterfront director at a summer camp in New Hampshire in the United States.

As one of the few staff members who could swim, she said she was a shoo-in for the job.

Because of New Hampshire’s geographical location on the United State’s east coast bordering Canada, it is cold and many camp attendees could not swim.

“They’d all be good skiers, but not good swimmers,” she said.

Since then, she has worked in a UK book shop, been employed as a cook in a Canadian childcare centre, and by her own admission “done a fair bit of adventuring and travelling”.

“Travelling and exploring and being out in the world is one of the themes for my life,” she said.

“I also speak Spanglish, really, really ordinary Spanish,” she said.

Ms Mason admits she worked out early on that she did not want to be a teacher forever, but often recalls that the skills she learnt there have been used in many workplaces since.

“It’s amazing working in the corporate world. Half the time I think ‘gee, I’m using all the skills that I used to use as a teacher’,” she said.

“It’s the basic behaviour management and psychology stuff.”

She comes to the WRI from her former position as head of the Commonwealth Bank Foundation, the bank’s philanthropic program that focuses on financial literacy education.

During that time she designed the bank’s flagship StartSmart program which is now delivered to more than 500,000 school-aged children across Australia each year.

In that role, Ms Mason was responsible for a triennial budget of $50 million.

“I’ve had a really varied career and I think that’s one thing that’s a strength,” she said.

“The skills we all have are applicable throughout different careers.”

And now the chance to work for a not-for-profit back in the Central West is, Ms Mason says “amazing”.

“I do look forward to actually being able to make a contribution,” she said.

“Whether that’s looking at the social impact of something that’s been happening that a not-for-profit’s been doing, or whether it’s actually helping a team pull together a strategy or actually implementing a strategy.

“People have always been part of my career, that’s been the focus, so what I’ve done every day has, in some way, shape or form had an impact with people.”

And luckily for her, the WRI’s work will take her across the region, which she thinks is a fantastic opportunity to reacquaint herself with the Central West.

She may have only been in her new role since Easter, but for Ms Mason it feels like coming home.

She returns with a swag of national and international experience across a range of industries, and said she can’t wait to get involved with her community.

“I think there’s always been a country girl at the heart. I used to visit the country and live in the city, but I’m really glad to be flipping that around now,” she said.

“I’m really so excited about living in a place that has all the things that you would want from a city without any of the hassle, without any of the pollution.

“I feel like I’ve come home, which is great.”