Local Leaders alumni gather in Braidwood

Alumni from the South East Local Leaders program gathered for a few days on the Mongarlowe River near Braidwood recently.

The last few years have thrown all variety of challenges at our communities and industries, prolonged drought followed by the Southern Fires and then the pandemic. The gathering provided an opportunity for Local Leaders alumni to gather and share some of their experiences from these challenging times, how they have been able to put what they learned in the program to use in their communities.

Many alumni reflected on the extent of the impact the program had upon them personally, professionally and to support themselves and their communities through recent significant events.

Conversations focused on the idea of getting past the inertia that can come with constantly being 'busy' and working out how to offer their skills, expertise and time where they are most needed and will do the most good.

Local Leaders is a rural leadership development program designed to build community, industry and government leadership capacity for resilience and sustainability. There have been 5 cohorts of over 100 leaders who have completed the program to date. The 2021 cohort is all but finalised and will commence the program in the coming weeks.

The program focuses on personal leadership awareness and learning. Building skills for working with individuals, groups and networks and an understanding of the system in which you operate to maximise your influence and the impact of your projects.

This South East Local Leaders program is jointly funded through South East Local Land Services, the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and South East Landcare, working with Global Learning to facilitate leadership learning activities.