Future leaders need state support

ALPINE Valleys Community Leadership will proceed in 2023, drawing on its own financial reserves to operate, amid hopes the State Government will renew its commitment to the program and others like it. Judy Charlton, Alpine Valleys Community Leadership Fund chair, said AVCL and other leadership programs across the state had been active – via peak body Victorian Regional Community Leadership Program (VRCLP) – in the lead–up to the recent Victorian election, seeking to secure ongoing funding beyond the State Government's existing funding arrangement, which expires this month. "Now that we have the outcome of the election, the VRCLP is working to see what is the next step, and we continue to be in touch with Regional Development Victoria through our regional director, Matt Nelson," she said. "We are continuing to provide short–term programs, and we have decided to proceed with our 2023 program, for which we will be using our own reserves, built up over two decades. "We've had sponsors and scholarship partners willing and able to provide their contribution, and our participants have been selected." Ms Charlton said the program would contribute $190,000 of its own funding to support next year's cohort, with sponsors and scholarship providers contributing $150,000. "We would not be able to do that again in 2024, so we hope the government can see the value in investing in local community leadership," she said. "The State Government needs people on the ground who can step up and show leadership to develop programs locally, especially in the wake of floods, bushfires and COVID–19. "The need is greater than it's ever been." The VRCLP is seeking State Government support of $10 million over 10 years for the 10 Victorian programs for which it serves as the peak body. This would include a share of $1.1 million spread over those 10 years for Alpine Valleys Community Leadership, which was established in 1998 to facilitate development of the North East region's leadership capacity. Based on the design of programs being run at the time in Melbourne and the Goulburn Valley, the first program was brought to the region in 1999 through a volunteer board of community leaders led by inaugural chair John Brown. Though it went into recess the following year due to lack of funding, graduates of the first program valued it so highly that efforts were made to continue, and it has been delivered every year since 2001. The program sees a diverse group of up to 25 aspiring leaders take part in a 10–month intensive experiential learning program designed to develop their personal leadership skills, knowledge of the region, and network of leadership contacts. "Our alumni program is quite strong; we keep in touch with them and they continue to engage with us," Ms Charlton said. "We have had alumni become councillors, join community bank boards, take an active role in local bushfire recovery committees, and contribute significant leadership time locally each year. These are people who are very active in their communities." The AVCL 2023 program is set to begin in February, and Ms Charlton said she hoped the State Government would continue its role in supporting future leaders, not only in the North East but across the state, as Victoria emerged from a difficult period caused by environmental conditions and the pandemic. "There were lots of election promises made, but I truly believe that local leadership has got to be up there as an important investment for the future," she said.

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