Ebony King named 2026 Emerging Leader of the Year

Leadership doesn’t always arrive with the job title first. For Ebony King, it has been built through a willingness to step up, seek feedback and keep choosing opportunities to grow.

Ebony, from Riverton and Cannington Leisureplex, City of Canning, was named the 2026 Emerging Leader of the Year at the WA Aquatic & Recreation Industry Awards, proudly supported by event Platinum Sponsor Jonas Leisure. The award recognises young professionals demonstrating commitment, passion and the potential to become future leaders of WA’s aquatic and recreation industry.

Ebony’s progression has been rapid. Beginning as a Swimming Teacher in 2022, she moved through Senior Teacher and Swim School Programs Officer roles before gaining experience in senior customer experience and acting Swim School leadership positions. In March 2026, she was appointed Team Leader Customer Experience.

However, her nomination highlighted that the path wasn’t entirely linear – and that is an important part of her story.

After unsuccessfully applying for the Team Leader Customer Experience position in early 2025, Ebony actively sought feedback and took on opportunities to strengthen the areas she needed to develop. That included a secondment as Senior Customer Experience Officer and, later, a deliberate return to the Programs Officer role to gain deeper experience leading teams and managing Swim School operations. When she applied for the Team Leader position again in 2026, she was successful.

Along the way, Ebony has repeatedly shown a willingness to step forward when needed. On one occasion she was given less than 30 minutes’ notice to deliver a presentation on complaints handling at an all-staff conference. On another, she stepped in at short notice to represent the City of Canning at an Australian Swim School Association training session when the scheduled presenter became unavailable.

Her leadership has also been tested through complex operational situations. During acting Team Leader periods, Ebony helped guide Swim School staff through significant centre renovations and changing work environments while maintaining service delivery and supporting her team.

Since moving into Customer Experience leadership, she has introduced clearer communication and expectations across frontline and supervisory teams, championed the Leisureplexes’ Values in Action program and brought greater structure to internal marketing activity. Her nomination reported an increase of 20,000 Facebook views from February to March, followed by a further increase of 6,000 views on Instagram.

Ebony’s journey is a strong example of emerging leadership being about more than simply moving upwards. It is about being willing to learn, adapt, take responsibility and sometimes choose the harder opportunity because it offers the greatest chance to grow.

LIWA Aquatics congratulates Ebony King on being named the 2026 Emerging Leader of the Year and looks forward to seeing where her leadership journey takes her next.