Leadership program empowers participants

Ms Harris works in administration for Cadell Food Service, Echuca and heard about the program through her colleagues who had participated in previous years.

Ms Harris said she took the opportunity to become more confident in leading.

“The biggest thing (for me) was to grow some confidence in leading,” she said.

“Sometimes you need some other avenues and different perspectives from other people to help you with your journey and to keep pushing you along.

“I’ve gotten so much value out of it and listening to the different speakers, they actually provide a bit of their story and how they got to where they are today. Everyone's journey is so different, so you take pieces from that.”

The program is delivered in a hybrid format, both in-person and online, and helps participants build essential skills, broaden their regional understanding, and helps them recognise opportunities to mobilise their wider community.

The in-person sessions are also hosted around the region, focusing on different issues that impact local communities, such as homelessness, local governance, technology advancements and more.

Ms Harris said the program had been especially useful in recognising the different ways she could advocate for others.

“It's like a tool belt, it's ultimately giving you lots of different tools and perspectives on the things that you will find along your journey,” she said.

“Especially when we talk about bias. It's something that's not regularly talked about — what privilege you have in your life and how you exercise that and advocating for people that might not have as much privilege.

“It's really important to challenge yourself in the way that you think and how you can advocate for others."

Much like Ms Harris, Ms Rees heard about the program through her job at Murray River Council, and was chosen as the council’s nominee this year.

Ms Rees said the program was more than a training program and had taken her on a more personal journey.

“'I’d heard so many great things about it, more as a leadership journey than a course or a training program,” she said.

“It's more an evolution of yourself through (the program) and about being a leader in your community where you're based and where you live.”

She added that the knowledge she'd gained through the program was especially relevant to her work as an economic development officer for Murray River Council.

“In my role specifically, because I work as an economic development officer, it's given me great insight into the surrounding communities,” she said.

“I've learnt so much about... the challenges, the opportunities and what we can do to support.

“I think (participating) in this project, we can take what we've learnt and give back to the community.”

The program began in March with the Fairley Leadership intensive sessions that will wrap up in June.

Following the intensive sessions, two-day workshops will be held where regional hubs will collaborate on impactful, ongoing projects.

In October, a Regional Mobilisation Summit will be held, where participants and stakeholders build on the region’s mobilisation efforts together.

The cohort will then graduate from the program in the final week of October during a two-day event.