from YAPRap November-December 2006
by Melanie Conlon, YAPA Feature Writer
The following young women were recently involved in the Young Women's Leadership Project - a project in the Western Sydney area, designed to help young women link up with professional and successful women in the community. Mentors are matched closely with the participants and they work together over the process of 8 weeks to develop their leadership skills and abilities.
Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) run the project and it is funded through NSW Premiers Department and the Office for Women.
The program works with around 60 young women each year who participate in an 8 week TAFE course promoting leadership skills. The young women involved were selected because of their potential leadership abilities and we have caught up with some of them to check out what they have been up to lately.
Joanne
When 19 year old Joanne participated in the Young Women's Leadership Project she was matched up with a mentor who was successful in the career she was pursuing. She spoke highly of her mentor and said she was lucky as 'they just clicked'. Lucky for both parties as now her mentor is her boss!
After the program ended Joanne was offered a job with her mentor's company involved with marketing and event management, which was just what Joanne had dreamed about doing. She seemed to really enjoy the experience and excitedly told about the trade shows she has been involved in recently and how she has also been able to link in with the event management company next door to further her experience. After the project finished Joanne was also associated with Auburn Council, and she assisted a leadership workshop for refugees.
Joanne said that participating in the project gave her the confidence she needed to go for her goals and build her skills in areas such as public speaking. She would like to have spent more time with community activities but at the moment she is concentrating on studying a Diploma in marketing at TAFE. She only has 4 weeks to go and is looking forward to finding full time employment in her chosen field.
When asked about who should take part in this type of project, Joanne recommends any female who may want a career in business, anyone who is not confident about achieving their goals or anyone who is willing to help other people. She associates this work with a "warm fuzzy feeling" and commented that it is motivating to see what successful people are doing in the community.
Joanne's philosophy - "treat others how you would like to be treated yourself".
Lavinia
Lavinia is only 17 and already making progress with her help in the Pacific Islander community. Lavinia is the 'Young Citizen of the Year' for Blacktown City Council and went on to host the 'International Youth Day' concert in Blacktown. She is a member of the Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW for 2006-2007 and is also a member of the Tongan Community Support Services.
Lavinia has been busy with the local PCYC by volunteering to teach Hip Hop Dance classes and representing her club at the NSW State Conference. She also reports for the 'Tonga O Taimi' newspaper which goes worldwide. Lavinia is lucky enough to attend many National Rugby League games to report on the action through the newspaper or on her myspace website.
Lavinia is not quite sure yet what she will do with her future but knows it will involve something similar to what she is already doing, you never know she may even end up in the Federal Police Force.
Deirdre
Deirdre is a 19 year old university student. She has a busy lifestyle which involves studying Commerce/Law and working part time as an accountant and tutor.
Somehow she found the time to participate in the project and then become involved in other community events since. Deirdre says that the project motivated her to become involved in the Youth Awards Committee with Baulkham Hills Council. She is in charge of organising the judging which includes forming judging panels, interviews with young people and taking photos. She describes it as heaps of fun and was actually referred to the Council by another young woman involved in the Young Women's Leadership Project.
Deirdre has also been involved in starting up a mentoring project at her university called Students in free enterprise. She said it runs similarly to the Young Women's Leadership Project whereby university students are again linked with mentors to help them out.
In what's left of her spare time, Deirdre also volunteers for the Guide Dog Association. She believes that it is good to do what you can for the community and commented that it feels really good to do it.
In the future, Deirdre dreams to start a career in property development, travel overseas and she aspires to gain some work experience in the United States.
Bernise
Bernise is another budding university student who dreams about completing her degree and starting a family one day. She reported that a strong Christian faith is what inspires her and that all women who are starting their career either in high school or university should participate in this type of mentoring project.
Bernise is passionate to help women in general as she grew up in Saudi Arabia from the age of 6-12 where women were not given many opportunities. She moved to Australia in 2000 with her family and promises to always appreciate the freedom and opportunities that women are accustomed to in Australia.
Friends recommended she take part in the Young Women's Leadership Project and she spoke about how mentoring opened her eyes to workplace culture and how hard people in her chosen field work. From working with her mentor she noticed how difficult it can be for some women to balance a successful career and family life.
Bernise is also involved in Students in Free Enterprise which is run by students to introduce women to female mentors in their chosen field. She said it is going really well and she has just become the Vice President of operations. Bernise will also be the new Director for the Glen Mervin Project which is a project designed to help young pregnant women with financial and literacy skills. This project has not started yet but will soon be run in partnership with Red Cross.
Ana
Ana is a 1st year university student, studying Commerce/Law. She participated in the 1st project group and then went on to begin employment with WSROC as the Administration Assistant for 1-2 days a week. Kellie, the new coordinator at WSROC reports that Ana has been keeping the Young Women's Leadership Project going whilst they were recruiting for a new coordinator.
Ana says the project gave her confidence to try new things and a way to introduce herself. Since the project Ana has participated in many community activities. She spoke at a book launch for Philippine read , a book about cultural awareness for Philippine youth in Blacktown. She spoke at Parliament for the Young Women's Leadership Forum where she talked about the importance of service and leadership and she attended Going Public, a national 2 day conference for women who are involved in politics or the public sector in Melbourne.
Ana is also involved in the university mentoring project Students in free enterprise with the other girls, specifically in mentor recruitment. As if that's not enough, Ana writes for Phillipine Women Community Health and attended the Filipino-Australian Women Achievement Awards!
Ana believes being a leader is all about serving others and she hopes to give a voice to people who may not be able to speak up for themselves. Ana dreams to complete her university degree and help others become involved in opportunities. She says she loves this type of work because it is meaningful and it's all about helping people and working for people, not for profit. She recommends any young woman participate in a project such as this to grow and increase their confidence.
Fatmata
Fatmata migrated to Australia in 2004 from Sierra Leone. She is currently studying Year 11 and once completed she would like to go to TAFE or University to study social work.
Fatmata enjoyed working with her mentor and the coordinator of the project. She reported that her mentor was kind and helped lead her towards her goals by advising her which steps to take. A school friend recommended the project to her and she felt that this could be a good way to gain some skills and experience to become a social worker and help young people.
Since the leadership project, Fatmata has been concentrating on completing her studies at school however in the future she would like to help people from different backgrounds and cultures and in particular new migrants to the community.
More information
A new program should start in 2007 - contact:
Kellie Darley at WSROC
02 9671 4333
http://ywlp.wsroc.com.au
