What is Leadership Ballarat and Western Region?
How does LBWR operate? LBWR is modelled on the Williamson Community Leadership program and is funded by a combination of State Government, program sponsors and participant fees. The program is auspiced through the Committee for Ballarat, functioning with its own Committee and employing a full-time Executive Officer, and part-time Administration Support and a Community Engagement Officer. LBWR has been in operation since 2006, with 240+ graduates having completed the program over that time.
LBWR
“We aspire to create a positive future. We inspire people to lead, to create a more sustainable, connected and responsive community.”
Why map the impact of Leadership Ballarat? Trying to understand the impact of a leadership program isn’t a simple task. We could take the easy route and count the volunteer hours that each LBWR graduate contributes on an annual basis, multiply it by State Government’s agreed measurement of roughly $45 per hour, and spit out a figure that we could claim represents the direct economic impact of LBWR by the way, the estimate is close to $250,000 annually from each graduating group, but more on that later).
Leadership Ballarat and Western Region (LBWR) strives to achieve its vision through a number of programs, including: - - -
Leaders Forum; Leaders In Action; and, With community events and initiatives.
While the economic measurement is important, the benefit from the volunteer contribution of graduates and the ripple effect through the wider community is even more critical and not to mention particularly difficult to understand or easily measure.
Here’s a quick introduction to what the Leaders Forum and Leaders in Action look like. Leaders Forum: A year-long experiential learning journey that aims to develop better leaders and equip them with the skills, knowledge and desire to create a positive community impact. Each year it brings together up to 30 emerging leaders from diverse industries who undertake a structured program that supports them to build their leadership potential and to determine how best to influence and impact their community.
Putting numbers around the impact of LBWR is one way of understanding its value, while another approach might be to consider an alternative universe where LBWR doesn’t exist. - What would Ballarat and the Western Region look like if we weren’t making an effort to support and encourage emerging leaders?
Leaders In Action: Upon graduating Leaders Forum participants become Leaders In Action. Leaders In Action helps connect graduates to community organisations and events that need volunteer support through the Skills Bank and provides ongoing professional and personal learning experiences.
- What would the financial cost be to pick up the tab if the volunteer contribution of Skills Bank graduates wasn’t available for the benefit of everyone? The best way to understand all of that is to experience the stories of graduates, and how LBWR has changed them in all sorts of ways.
Growth
Reflection
“The growth you experience will be life changing”
“Personal reflection to consider situations differently”
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