The core of our work at the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF) is leadership development. We run a considerable cross section of programs, including the Australian Rural Leadership Program, Milparanga First Nations programs, the Australian Agribusiness Leadership Program, the TRAIL Emerging Leaders Program, the Helping Regional Communities Prepare for Drought Initiative and Shape your Energy Future program – all taking place this year in more than fifty regions nationally. When considering the scale and processes involved to run these programs year on year, it is easy to see why we might be consumed by program delivery.
People are our greatest asset
While this work remains central to our purpose, the work of the ARLF extends beyond leadership programs. Like all learning and capability-building organisations, the ARLF treats its relationship with alumni and graduates with great care and is constantly experimenting with ways to improve our relationship. We also look at ways to facilitate and support our alumni in their story of individual and collective impact for rural, regional and remote Australia.
I would be the first to say we don’t always get this right and like any relationship, it’s a two-way street. What I do know is that this incredible rural leadership network, now numbering close to 3000, has enormous potential to create and facilitate change for the greater good. The ARLF cannot and does not seek to direct the impact of this network, but to create opportunities for elements within the network to contribute to something bigger than the sum of the individual parts.
There are two recent initiatives I want to briefly outline that highlight some significant steps on the pathway to a more dynamic relationship between the ARLF and our alumni and the harnessing of the network for change.
Leadership Action Initiatives
Some time ago, the ARLF developed the concept of a Leadership Action Initiative (LAI) as a catalyst for change bringing together the strengths of the ARLF to hold space for and facilitate complex conversations and the alumni – to contribute from diverse perspectives based on lived rural leadership experience to complex challenges. In fact, many of you might remember when we first talked to you about this in 2021.
At its core, a Leadership Action Initiative is a strategic vehicle for change. ARLF now offers this process to organisations, communities, and industries seeking to tackle pressing challenges, reimagine their futures, and to make progress. In May this year, ARLF hosted one of two LAI’s for the year. In collaboration with Regional Arts Australia. This initiative brought together leaders from across the creative industries sector along with a diverse group of ARLF alumni, bringing fresh perspectives and challenge to the table. What resulted was a vision to place creative industries at the heart of regional development, empowering communities to adapt and thrive. By integrating creativity into regional strategies, initiative participants aim to;
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- Build resilient communities with a strong sense of identity and purpose
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- Foster collaboration across sectors to unlock new economic and social opportunities
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- Catalyse innovation and help regions recover from crises and disruptions
The group developed five proposals for action which are in the process of being advanced right now.
Telstra Regional Council
The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation is also working with our partner organisations and others to create opportunities for our alumni to contribute to making progress on key challenges facing RRR Australia. A recent and significant development has been our work with Telstra, the formation of an inaugural Telstra Regional Council (TRC) and the opportunity for alumni to help shape critical approaches in terms of connectivity, digital inclusion and communications across regional Australia.
Thanks in large part to the work of our Alumni Engagement Manager, Julia Strang, the ARLF went out to you, our network seeking expressions of interest in the TRC. We were overwhelmed with interest, making the selection of fourteen places a very difficult task for all involved. The selected group of people came together in Sydney in mid- September with key Telstra team members to set the foundations for future activity including purpose, role, values, identifying key areas where the TRC can make an impact and setting the tone for frank and fearless advice and conversations with Telstra. Expect to see more news from this initiative and the work of the new TRC.
We will continue to have conversations with you in our network and remain open to possibilities for impact through the ARLF and our alumni network working together to build capacity in rural leadership. As always we remain alive to the ideas you want to bring to the table and look forward to a yarn in person, around kitchen table or through the screen soon.
