Wednesday 20 January 2021

Thirty recently appointed neighbourhood house managers and coordinators have successfully completed Neighbourhood Houses Victoria's new Mentoring2Management course, with registrations now open for 2021.

The course aims to develop the sector's newest leaders in a number of important strategic areas such as leadership, governance, advocacy, communications, finances, strategic planning and project management.

"NHVic is strongly committed to the ongoing professional development of our sector, however our ability to deliver our usual training program was heavily disrupted last year due to COVID-19," said Neighbourhood Houses Victoria CEO Nicole Battle.

"Despite this, I was mindful of the need to support some of our newer coordinators, particularly while they navigated the pandemic. So we came up with the concept for Mentoring2Management and delivered a pilot version of the course in the final few months of 2020.

And whilst it was great to be able to provide opportunities for participants to develop some new skills, it was especially rewarding to see the way in which they were so open to sharing their experiences and to supporting one another. The fortnightly sessions really did help create a strong sense of community amongst the group and I can’t wait to deliver this program again throughout 2021."

Each stream consists of eight sessions held fortnightly, and will be limited to 15 participants. To be eligible, you must be a current neighbourhood house coordinator/manager, or in another senior leadership role, with no more than two years experience in your current role. To register your interest, please email [email protected]

Testimonials

Donna Dowler, Foundation Community Centre:

I was privileged to be in the Mentoring2Management program. As someone reasonably new to my role, it gave me the opportunity to be part of a unique program that was run and facilitated by the best in their field, while meeting and sharing with other managers that I may not have otherwise. Nicole and her team offered not only valued training in many areas relevant to our sector, but also brought a wealth of experience and personal contributions which made the training so much more worthy.

Jan Phillips, Mooroopna Education and Activity Centre:

Not knowing how the year 2020 was going to progress and what we would be doing, I signed up for every online professional development workshop/course on offer! The standout opportunity for me in 2020 was the Mentoring2Management course. It was a fantastic consolidation of eight strategic topics that were well considered, insightful, beautifully timed with the right amount of expertise and group discussion. I was able to learn from those in the know and my colleagues.

Rheanna Christodoulou, West Footscray Neighbourhood House:

I could not have asked for a better program to support me during my first year as a manager of a neighbourhood house, especially during 2020. I love that Nicole and all the other guest speakers are just so real and honest, which encouraged participants to do the same and created genuine connections and community among participants. 1000% recommend this program. NHVic rocks!

Pictured above: Jan Phillips, Manager of Mooroopna Education and Activity Centre, a participant in the Mentoring2Management course.