We are proud to announce the Foundation has today released $550,800 in funding for Education & Employment programs across our region.
17 local organisations received grants to assist them to deliver their projects and help remove barriers and make getting a strong education and sustaining employment more accessible and more achievable.
Education and employment are the keys to not only surviving, but to thriving. But our current systems leave some people behind.
In the words of our CEO Bill Mithen, “it’s well established that a good education and good employment give people a good platform to living a successful and thriving life. But we also know that in the community at large there are people that don’t get to equal experience and equal opportunities.”
“It’s a fairness issue. When people are limited in their opportunities for education and employment their opportunities to truly thrive in our community are also limited.”
The Education & Employment grants help to ensure that everyone in our region is supported in accessing and achieving their education and employment goals by
- Creating more learning opportunities
- Increasing the numbers of people who finish their education (high school/ tertiary etc.)
- Preparing people for employment
- Helping to provide pathways to employment
- Increasing the retention of employment – sustaining and sustainable employment that is!
To do this, we focus on supporting programs in the following eight key areas:
Education
- Parent Engagement – helping parents to best support their child as they move through their school years
- Early Years Learning – setting kids up for early success to prevent playing ‘catch-up’ in later years
- Transitions – helping to make the scary jump from kinder to primary school and primary school to high school a little less intimidating
- Disengaged Young People – helping students who are disengaged or disinterested with school to get excited about their education once again
Employment
- Employment Readiness – helping people enter the workforce fully prepared for their careers
- Employment Pathways – creating a step-by-step process to get people into work that fulfills them
- Supporting Job Retention – making sure that once people have jobs, they’re fully equipped to keep them
- Supported Employment – ensuring people of all abilities are supported in their workplaces and are set up for success
These areas address the inequality in our current education and employment systems and create a far-reaching impact by helping people achieve their education and employment goals and set themselves up for a thriving life.
To see the full list of Education & Employment Grantees, click here.