Our Community Partners

The New Face of Governance, Prospectus for Community Partners

Over 38 Community organisations partner with Southcare Inc to revitalise Board governance and leadership in the aged care and community sector through the Engaging Young Leaders on Aged Care and Community Boards Program. These Community Partners are committed to seeing young leaders succeed on Boards through funding scholarships for training, undertaking mentoring and providing Boardroom observation and traineeship opportunities. Our Community Partners are community, aged care, private and government organisations with diverse social, community, charitable and services portfolios.

Community and aged care governance has benefited considerably since the Program’s inception in 2013. In January 2021, 116 board director positions have been accepted by graduates; and 39 graduates have or currently are completing Board Traineeships in aged care, health, mental health, disability, drug and alcohol, education, training and peak body groups. With Community Partners championing their inclusion, diverse young leaders are making a remarkable difference on small and large Boards, assuming senior positions, fostering innovation, promulgating new media/technology and providing unique and professional expertise and perspective.

Several Community Partners organisations have benefited with these Young Leaders on their Boards in full Board positions or traineeships. Also, through their support, smaller and less resourced Boards in the community now have access to Board-ready young professionals who can make a difference on their Boards. Working as a collective, Community Partners are creating better Boards, championing diversity, supporting succession planning and strengthening the community sector.

Would your organisation like to be an agent of change in aged care and community Board leadership? Read here about why you should include Young leaders in governance and how this Program works to achieve this.

“For a few months in 2015, Seemar Riyat an ELGP graduate, was a ‘shadow treasurer’ on the Linkwest Board, learning the ropes from Linkwest’s 2014/15 Treasurer. When the Treasurer stepped down at this year’s AGM, Seemar Riyat, who is a management accountant, nominated for the Board and is now our Treasurer for 2015/16.”

Linkwest as a Community Partner can certainly testify to the success of this Project.

Jane Chilcott
CEO Linkwest, Community Partner

How it Works

The New Face of Governance, Prospectus for Community Partners

Engaging Young Leaders on Aged Care and Community Boards is a coalition of community, aged care, private and government organisations creating opportunities as a collective for Young Leaders to succeed on Boards.  Community Partners support the program in some or all of the following ways they elect, when they become a Community Partner.

• Financial Sponsorship – Community Partners support the program financially. Their support funds the Emerging Leaders in Governance Program (ELGP), the Unconventions and online resource toolkit.  
• Training – Community Partners may provide or participate in experiential learning opportunities for the Emerging Leaders in Governance Program.
• Speakers – Community Partners may provide speakers from their organisation for Unconventions and other leadership and governance events.
• Mentoring –Senior leaders in their organisations may give a mentoring session to a Young Leader as part of the Emerging Leaders in Governance Program or on an ongoing basis.
• Board Opportunities – Community Partners may provide a Board Observation opportunity for a Young Leader on their Board, may offer a Board position to an outstanding ELGP graduate or may set up a Young Leader Board Traineeship on their Board. Check out our Resource Toolkit for information about how to set up a Board traineeship or contact us for more information. Many of our Community Partners have set up traineeships especially for this Program.
• Support – Community Partners inspire, lead and motivate young leaders through networking and ongoing presence at Unconventions and other leadership and governance events to which they have free access.

“I have been involved with the Engaging Young Leaders on Aged Care and Community Boards Program since its inception. Three years down the track the project has successfully graduated a large number of Board-ready young professionals to strengthen community governance and Board diversity within the sector. A high number of graduates have been appointed to Director roles and many more are involved in Board traineeships and committee positions. I have enjoyed the learning, networking and opportunity to get to know many of the participants as part of Holyoake’s experience as a community partner and my own personal experience as a Program mentor.

Angie Paskevicius, CEO Holyoake and WA Telstra Business Woman of the Year 2016

Become a Community Partner

We invite your organisation to join our coalition of over 41 Community Partners who are rejuvenating governance and leadership for better Board performance in the aged care and community sector. Our Community Partners are committed to the vision of a first class aged care and community sector underpinned by strong Board governance and leadership which is young (includes Directors under 40 years of age), diverse, intergenerational, collective and successive . See all our Community Partners and sponsors here.

All Community Partners sponsor the program financially. Sponsorship options start at $5K per year (usually with a commitment for at least 3 consecutive years of the same amount) and vary according to the size of your organisation. Community Partners may also elect to make “in-kind” contributions as outlined here.

The Engaging Young Leaders Program is an initiative of Southcare Inc. Southcare manages the Emerging Leaders in Governance Program (which is run by Alicia Curtis), events and all financial and administration business associated with the program. Southcare’s CEO, Dr Nicky Howe is the Program Director.

To find out more about becoming a Community Partner, please email Dr Nicky Howe at nicky.h@southcare.org.au.

“The Program is an exciting and innovative way of attracting young leaders into the sector and engaging them directly in the work of aged care. Baptistcare is very pleased to be associated with this program as a sponsor. It is making a difference to how we are seen in the wider community, both as an organisation and as a service more broadly; and it is attracting younger people to reconsider a career in aged care. It is also making them more aware of the complexities, challenges and joys of working in aged care services”

Rev’d Dr Lucy Morris

Board Traineeships

Board traineeships give Young Leaders the opportunity to experience the roles and responsibilities of a Board Director, without the financial and legal responsibilities. Through traineeships, Young Leaders gain an understanding of Board processes in a hands-on environment, by reading Board papers, attending Board meetings and participating in Board discussions. Several Alumni of our Emerging Leaders in Governance Program have gone on to secure full Board positions after completing traineeships.

In January 2021 over 39 Community Partners made Board traineeships available to our ELGP graduates by implementing a Board Traineeship Program. Some of these organisations include Southcare, Starick Inc, Swancare, Melville Cares, United Way WA, AVIVO, MOSAIC, RISE and Mercycare. They are reaping the rewards of investing in board succession planning.

After graduation, many of our Alumni are “headhunted” by aged care and community Boards for full or temporary Board positions for their unique skills. You can view our Alumni and current participants here.

If your organisation has a vacant Board position and would like to advertise it within our Alumni Network or if you would like to develop a Board Traineeship Program to continue the leadership and learning experience of our Young Leaders, please contact Alicia Curtis, Program Facilitator at alicia@alyceum.com.au.

See these Resource Guides created by our Alumni for Community organisations on Board Traineeships:

• Get on Board, a resource to develop emerging leaders for Board roles in the Community sector
• A Trainee Board Director Program, a resource about creating Pathways for Young Leaders on to Board

The Benefits

By supporting the Engaging Young Leaders and Aged Care Boards Program, you are supporting the vision for a world class aged care and community sector which is more effective, responsive and in touch with the times and our diverse and intergenerational community. You are also supporting the cause for young people to participate, be included and to be involved in the decisions of the day that are made in Boardrooms and which ultimately strengthen and benefit our community.

More benefits include:

• Increased organisation profile and brand awareness of your organisation through Program events and publicity;
• Opportunities to host a leadership experience and for a Board Director/Senior Executive of your organisation to address the Program (e.g. ELGP and Unconventions);
• Expansive Board/Executive networks through collaboration with other Community Partners and Speakers;
• An opportunity to engage with, understand and contribute across the community NFP sector;
• Free access to Unconventions and expert guest speakers from across the sector who share their personal insights into new and emerging themes within the community sector.
• Opportunity to influence the talent pipeline of emerging leaders in Western Australia and to access it for the benefit of your Boards of Governance.

I see three levels of benefit to this Program for us. First, it attracts and retains the cream of the crop into our sector; smart, values-driven young people from every field of business who have the ability and drive to make a difference. Secondly, with Rise Network being a regular contributor and participant, we have learnt much about how to engage these young superstars and implemented a number of ideas picked up from the Program, including the establishment of our inaugural Youth Board position. Third, as a financial supporter of the Program, the value for money we receive from our contribution is significant. Our name and brand is linked with a multi-award winning program including awards for the program founders from ACSWA and Telstra Businesswoman of the Year events. We also raise the profile of what the sector does and what Rise does with tomorrow’s leaders.

Justine Colyer, CEO Rise Network

Thank You

We would like to thank all our Community Partners and Supporters for supporting better Board governance in WA and beyond by championing young leadership and diversity. We cannot do this very important work without you.

Supporters

Ann Zubrick, Professor David Gilchrist, George Jones, Professor Paul Flatau, Rhys Williams, Megan Paul, Liz Prescott, Steph Shorter, Ali Sumner, Ian Fairnie, Joe Calleja