Community Practitioner, Facilitator Speaker
Rarely a week goes by without a phone call from a passionate regional community member asking me asking for support to get a grant over the line. I get it, money feels like the answer. It s tangible, it s immediate, and it signals that someone, somewhere, believes your community is worth investing in. But here s what [ ] The post The money landed but the change didn’t. Why regional communities…
This year I became an empty nester. Well, for four teary months anyway. The short version is this By design the Ready Communities program and our national conference, Social Impact in the Regions is based in a different community each year. While the first two years were practically in my backyard: Coffs Harbour and Kempsey [ ] The post What I learned about building community from the lady…
Know that feeling when you find a model that describes your practice? I recently had this experience when I stumbled upon Harmonic Principles designed by IA Interior Architects (shared below). For some time now I ve known my approach to designing events is not your bog standard practice initially I thought it was just about [ ] The post When a conference doesn’t feel like a conference: How…
How producing a conference on my own dime changed my thoughts on speaker payments (and my behaviour as a speaker) Producing conferences and events is not a new thing for me, in fact, I pulled together my first band night which attracted several hundred people at the age of 18. Through the years I ve been [ ] The post How producing a conference on my own dime changed my thoughts on speaker payments…
Every week I meet people who are uncomfortable with something in their community. Most will do nothing about it (except whinge), some will get started and dip out when it gets too hard and others I watch in great delight as inch by inch, step by step they forge a pathway forward drowning out the [ ] The post Do you really want to create change? Embrace what makes you potent. first appeared on…
Of the 789,645 businesses based in regional Australia a whopping 97% are considered small, that is employing 0-19 people (ABS, 2023). When someone decides to establish a business in a regional area they do so knowing (or just about to find out) they will face a range of challenges that will at some point impact [ ] The post The role of local procurement in building regional capability first…
Some time ago, I made the decision to step away from a role I had held for seven years, and could have continued in for many more. Not because the work wasn’t important. It was. But I knew that if I stayed, I would keep circling the same question I had been carrying for most [ ] The post If you really want to create social change – do something first appeared on Kerry Grace .
Aunty Jo-Anne Kelly often speaks about weaving together elements of community to create change. Led by the people elements, drawing the strategies, programs and resources in place to create something lasting and reverent is what she aspires to, and works steadily towards every day. Weaving community may start with an engagement activity, or a consultation [ ] The post Weaving community connection…
As I celebrate my 20th year in business #evolveis20 I ve also dedicated some time to reflect on what it s been like to live and work in place (in the Mid North Coast of NSW) for two whole decades. The work I m referring to has lots of names from community and economic-development, regional development to place-based [ ] The post Reflecting on 20 years in place: Where to begin? first appeared on…
I first learned the term social enterprise around 2009 when I was managing an Aboriginal Corporation and my funding partner had told me we had 24 months to make the entity sustainable. The entity was essentially a community centre i.e. an entity established to support the community and act as a conduit to valuable services [ ] The post Why it’s time to invest in rural social enterprise eco-systems…