On Saturday October 28th, the inaugural participants of the Eyre Peninsula Leadership Development Program came together for a final time. The program is funded by Primary Industries and Regions SA, facilitated by Regional Development Australia Eyre Peninsula, and designed and delivered by Champions Academy.
Over the past 6 months participants have taken part in approximately 60 hours of learning, including taking part in 3 residentials at Streaky Bay, Wudinna and Thuruna with Sarah Prime (Founder of Champions Academy), and completing the Human Learning Collectives online RELISH framework with Shelley Wild.
Each Residential had a different theme:
- Residential I: ‘Creating Community Champions’
- Residential II: ‘Fostering Champion Communities’
- Residential III: ‘Championing a Cause’
Participants also heard from a variety of guest mentors including Bernard Salt and a number of locals, with 9 coming along to our final residential at Thuruna to mentor our participants on the topics of:
- How to survive committees and get stuff done (basic governance)
- How to foster social and economic prosperity and raise community morale through events (planning, promoting, delivering and debriefing)
- How to up your PR game and build a Comms Toolbox (developing and conveying a narrative through public speaking; socials; website; brand/logo)
- How to be a Rainmaker and attract resources to get a project off the ground (case studies of different models, ie private equity and entrepreneurship; grants, volunteerism, and matched funding; fundraising through philanthropy/sponsorships/donations/events)
Following a morning of program consolidation, participants were lucky enough to hear from 6 local community leaders including RDAEP Chair Bryan Trigg, CEO Ryan Viney, and Executive Committee Members Sue Chase and Heather Baldock, along with District Council of Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson, and Bendigo Community Bank Port Lincoln Chairperson Rob Donaldson.
After completing the learning both online and face-to-face, we came together with invited guests to celebrate the achievements of each and every individual in the program. We would like to thank those who have supported the journey including Sarah Prime for designing and delivering the program, those who were quest mentors at each Residential, local leaders and mentors, along with the participant’s personal support networks. We heard an inspirational keynote from winning business author, entrepreneur and global presenter Andrew Griffiths and celebrated each and every participant for their achievements throughout this program. A special mention goes out to Brooke Pugsley who was the recipient of the Bendigo Bank 2023 Emerging Leader Award.
Finally, a big thank you to the Honourable Clare Scriven, MLC, Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development for funding the programs across the State through the Department of Primary Industries and Regions. We were very grateful to have the opportunity to host the Minister at the final Residential where we heard directly from our participants about what they have gained from the program. To Bendigo Community Bank Port Lincoln, thank you for providing sponsorship for the program.
We would also like to thank everyone who was in attendance on Saturday evening to celebrate the participants. It was a spectacular ending to their journey in this program.
