Michelle Sutherland, Founder

Michelle is from Paisley, Scotland and spent the first half of her career in the private sector in various roles in IT, Change Management, Sales, Marketing, Employee Engagement, Internal Communications, very much following the path that was encouraged by society. Although, she decided to embark on a different path and started her first business outside the traditional private sector in 2009 and it showed her what was truly possible through focusing on people, well-being and community building. Because of the success of that first business she was given the gift of time to explore the start up world as well as the not for profit sector and social enterprises. As well as calling Australia home for twelve years and having the opportunity to explore & experience so many different cultures and ways of living, being and working in Asia.

With these personal and lived experiences Michelle moved toward embodying being a Social Entrepreneur. Work and projects that felt more aligned with what she actually cared about: helping people reconnect with themselves, with each other, the world around them, something bigger than the day-to-day cycle we find ourselves in.

She's founded businesses that put people and the planet first, built wellbeing spaces for rest and reflection, and supported communities to come together around shared purpose. That work sits across her own consulting practice, Definitii, a Social Enterprise helping companies become B Corp certified and now Dùthchas College.

Dùthchas College grew from her own struggles in the traditional education system as a young adult and continuing to witness so many others struggle in the same education systems that exist today. Over the years Michelle began to grow a love for Education, realising that when wonderful education places are created people will thrive. Michelle has been inspired by many educational systems around the world from Rudolf Steiner Schools, Green Schools, Montessori schools and lastly & more recently Schumacher College.

Michelle developed this belief that community matters, education can be delivered more impactfully, that connecting with our Motherland is crucial, that belonging is something worth building, and that the most useful thing you can offer someone is a safe space to think, feel, be and find their place & purpose in this beautiful world.

When Michelle returned to Scotland and came across the word dùthchas, it named something she recognised in her Celtic heart and ancestry. That deep sense of connection to where you come from and what you owe back to it. That's what this college is rooted in and that is what will likely take this lifetime and many others remembering & embodying.

Now more than ever is a time to remember dùthchas.