About us
The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation develops courageous and authentic leadership to support resilient regional, rural and remote communities.
Established nearly 30 years ago, the ARLF is a national, not-for-profit organisation with both a national and international footprint.
We specialise in delivering tailored and ethical leadership development programs and initiatives. Our evidence-based programs draw on experiential learning to create a catalyst for participants to cultivate behavioural intelligence and collaborative networks.
We believe that leadership capability can be developed in individuals regardless of age, experience, background, geography or qualifications.
ARLF leadership programs are designed in-house with the specific intention to incubate and accelerate the development of leadership practices. Our programs also encourage participants to:
- Create and share knowledge and assets within groups and communities
- Collaborate and experiment within an ever-expanding leadership network
- Support the learning of others through informal and formal structures including mentoring and coaching
- Generate curiosity, desire and confidence to co-create a more positive future, and
- Develop skills to engage in robust conversations, challenge assumptions and influence change to achieve positive social, environmental and economic impacts.
Our influential and responsive network of 2212 alumni across Australia share unique insights and diverse expertise. We harness the collective knowledge, experience and expertise of our alumni across the country to ensure our programs are up-to-date, relevant and appropriately tailored to address community-specific issues.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion, recognising resilient communities and industry must consider and draw wisdom from multiple perspectives which include and are respectful to Australia’s First Peoples and our multicultural communities.
We partner with talented, innovative and influential people across the industry, corporate, government, community, social and philanthropic sectors. The ARLF relies on trusted Associates located across the country who have extensive experience leading cross-sectoral change and action in complex settings. We seek to co-design and deliver programs and initiatives that draw from the wealth of resources on the ground. Along with our alumni, these valuable relationships with Associates, partners, sponsors and donors provide a solid foundation for program participants to ignite, explore, understand and influence relationships and connections which are at the heart of leadership action.
The ARLF is future-proofing its business with new digital platforms to support multi-modal delivery. COVID-19 has completely changed the context within which we live. For many regional, rural and remote communities, this life-altering pandemic has arrived in the wake of bushfires, drought and in some cases, flood. To adjust to this uncertain future, we have reviewed our program design and are adapting it to accommodate the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. This has led to a significant investment in learning platforms and technology to support the delivery of interactive and innovative engagement, localised hubs and experiential activity to help facilitate effective, satisfying and productive interactions between program participants and in many cases our alumni.
