Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the 2009-11 Leaders for Geelong team research project breakfast in Geelong.
The event showcased five presentations of research projects conducted over the past two years by some of Geelong’s leaders, including projects on school bullying in Geelong, which dealt with the trends in Geelong and successful practices in curbing bullying; ReadOn, which focuses on improving literacy skills for Geelong’s youth by collecting and distributing children’s books amongst disadvantaged youth in Geelong; peoplemap, a strategic process to generate a positive community-led vision by eliciting, analysing and broadcasting the community voice; Tomorrow’s Geelong Today, outlining the best possible practice for conducting community forums and engaging communities in important issues; and the Youth At Risk — AME High program, which developed a model for the optimum delivery of youth leadership programs in the Geelong region for children at risk.
I have attended a number of these presentations, and I was pleased this year to see a particular focus on community and community-based organisations.
I congratulate Jean Paul as well as the participants in the projects for their excellent presentations and ongoing support for the wider Geelong community through this program. I am sure that their project experiences have provided them with lifelong friendships and working networks that will provide Geelong with ongoing leadership into the future.
