Former Woolworths and Myer boss Bill Wavish attended a breakfast facilitated by the Dubbo Chamber of Commerce, which also included students from Clontarf who are making inroads into building better lives.

Mr Wavish told those in attendance of his ties to Dubbo through his wife, as well as his close association with Clontarf.

"My connection with Dubbo is that my wife's large Indigenous family, from the Kooma tribe, now comes mainly from Dubbo with about 25 of the Moore/Bayliss clan of 60 residing in Dubbo," he said.

"I am these days retired and spend part of my time on a combination of charitable, sporting and scientific bodies.

"Relevantly I am chairman and co-founder of the National Indigenous Culinary Institute, which trains and provides Indigenous chefs to most of the top restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne."

Mr Wavish highlighted the good work being done by Clontarf, highlighting the increase in school attendance rates as a result of the program.

He also identified Dubbo College Senior Campus captain Stephen Wilson as a prime example of what the academy can achieve.

"Stephen is here today. He says that three years ago he was attending school less than 50 per cent.

"Today he is school captain. He is such a wonderful role model for Clontarf, but more importantly, for the Indigenous community."

Dubbo Chamber of Commerce president Matt Wright said the breakfast was mutually beneficial for both businesses and the students.

"Something like this helps the kids with networking and hopefully getting opportunities with local businesses in the future," Mr Wright said.

"For the business people there they get to see an impressive group of individuals and in a couple of years' time they may find these people applying for jobs with them and they can say 'I met you at the chamber breakfast'.

"We had about 60-65 people there and the event was a great success."

The next chamber breakfast will be held on Wednesday, July 20, with Aurizon boss Lance Hockridge the special guest.

Ironically, Aurizon is a large corporate supporter of the Clontarf Foundation.