Thriving with Youthrive: Young Rural Victorians Embracing Leadership Opportunities With Non-Profit
As the sun rises on to the lush greenery and manicured stone gardens of the historic Narmbool property, nine budding young leaders prepare for a week of sustainability-based workshops and activities.
The participants, aged between 18 and 22, are here for the Young Rural Leaders Program, a six-day residential camp hosted by non-profit Youthrive Victoria. Formerly named the Macpherson Smith Rural Foundation, Youthrive supports young people from rural and regional Victoria by offering leadership and mentoring opportunities.
The Young Rural Leaders Program is hosted by Youthrive twice a year in Narmbool, a property in Sovereign Hill, just 90 minutes from Melbourne. The program was developed to foster leadership skills and build a network of young leaders throughout rural and regional Victoria.
Escher Russell
Science student and former participant, Escher Russell, was this year’s Leadership Program Coordinator, facilitating workshops for both the January and July programs. He explains how the pillars of the program work to maintain a strong sense of leading through the importance of sustainability.
“We do primarily workshop-based activities throughout the week; it’s got a strong basis in having the different pillars on each day. We lead through Sustainable Community and Sustainable Me to look at the importance of yourself and your community in your leadership capacity.”
The residential program focuses on the pillars of Sustainable Me, Community and Environment, Leadership Learning and Future Planning, Russell says.
“We have Sustainable Environment Day [where] we might have guest speakers who are experts within the environmental scene or have done community garden work – it depends on the year and who can come – and integrating that with some tree planting and other activities involved in thinking about the environment and why that’s important to your communities.”
He says that fostering individual leadership skills within each participant is an important part of the program, using “evidence-based theories and questionnaires to get people thinking about their leadership styles and what works for them.”
When discussing the Future Planning component of the program, Russell explains that it involves thinking practically about how to apply all the skills learnt throughout the week and what it looks like moving forward.
Now studying at the University of Melbourne, Russell praises the opportunities Youthrive has offered him as both a participant and now as a young leader employed by the organisation.
Escher Russell (pictured left) & Michaela Humphries (pictured right) from YouThrive
“The organisation theoretically could just as easily have outsourced [team leader roles] to some leadership experts to run the legit program, but instead people like myself and Michaela [Humphries] who are 21 or 22, basically have the opportunity to fully manage a team of eight coaches and 30 participants. At a young age, those sorts of opportunities just aren’t necessarily really around unless you're really lucky. For me, I feel like I've gotten just as much, if not more, development from them as I have alongside my degree because there's so much learning and opportunities to be had.”
He says it’s these support networks and opportunities that help young people to connect and develop skills for further education and beyond.
“It takes more than just money and just getting a degree to build rural people’s resilience”, he says.
Michaela Humphries is the Leadership Program Coordinator for the January 2022 event and another former participant of the program. She explains how the variety of activities in the program creates opportunities for ideas to emerge between participants.
“It’s a mixed base of sitting down, having discussions, and facilitating those conversations to get everyone’s perspectives and ideas. Obviously, everyone’s from across Victoria so [there are] quite different experiences, so there’s these facilitation sessions and then there’s some more hands-on sessions like crafts, going for a walk, and tree planting.”
The facilitation activities provide space for self-reflection opportunities, according to Charlie Bracey, coordinator for Youthrive’s Rural Youth Network.
“There’s always space with every topic and every activity for self-reflection”, she adds.
Michaela Humphries & Jordyn Gray from YouThrive
Currently planning for the first camp of 2022, Humphries is also involved in the Youthrive Mentoring Program, which is open to anyone from rural or regional Victoria seeking mentoring. She says the program connects people from all over the state to support other young leaders in their field.
“Basically, how it works is you express interest in either mentoring or being a mentee and then you get paired with someone who's studying a similar degree. So, if the mentee has any specific questions you can focus on those or whether it's things a bit overwhelming with the course...I've found it's just been a really casual support and was really good in that it is what you make it and what you put in you get out”, she says.
CEO Maryann Brown explains that Youthrive’s mentoring programs aim to foster social change by connecting people with shared interests, both in-person and virtually.
She says, “[there’s] a real sense of a new type of community developed where the online and real worlds blend. It is a non-judgmental space with a spirit of learning, sharing and a focus on wellbeing for all. All young people have access to connections and information to help build resilience, to keep them safe and to live good lives”.
Young Rural Leaders Program in Narmbool July 2021
To find out more about Youthrive, the Young Rural Leaders Program and the Rural Youth Network, go to:
https://ryn.org.au
Special thank you to Maryann Brown, Charlie Bracey, Escher Russell, Michaela Humphries, Bree-Anna Cummins and Finn Poxon for their time and contribution to this article.
WORDS: DEMI BALL
PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED BY MARYANN BROWN
PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED BY MARYANN BROWN
