Tanya Stevenson – Collaboration is Key to Transforming Regions
For
Tanya Stevenson, project development was the highlight of her experience taking
part in the Leadership for our Regions program in 2019.
“It was great to design a new idea to address our local issues and to
brainstorm the project with others with different backgrounds and
perspectives,” she says.
As CEO of the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre (HBNC), Tanya is in the unique
position to see the fruits of her leadership efforts clearly reflected in the
wellbeing of her local community. She is currently working on pulling together
a team for the HBNC and “supporting staff to have the courage to do things
differently.”
She says fostering leaders in her sector is vital.
“It has been difficult to recruit authentic leaders with a multidisciplinary
background that incorporates social service qualifications and management
skills,” Tanya acknowledges.
A major takeaway from the Leadership for our Regions program has been “to have
the confidence and courage to speak up and also to find partners outside of our
industry.”
This awareness of the power in cross-collaboration echoes the purpose of
Leadership for our Regions – a program designed by the Australian Rural
Leadership Foundation and the Regional Australia Institute, together, to
provide a network for collaborative regional leadership in the future.
“I was privileged to be selected to participate in this program and want to
grow as a leader to be authentic and create change to improve our communities,”
Tanya says.
The results-focused leader is currently tackling the challenge of achieving
cost efficiency with contracts, aiming to reduce organisational overheads and
have more workers delivering services.
Tanya says “moving to technology-based programs to reduce administration
overheads” will be a key part of this.
“Leadership is important in the social services industry to create partnerships
in delivering new initiatives that add value in addressing our local needs,”
she says.
And she hopes to see many more local leaders being fostered through initiatives
like Leadership for our Regions.
“This program will challenge you to reflect on your purpose and vision for your
future and also create long term friendships that will support you to develop
in your career.“
