Participants in the Leadership Wimmera Changemakers program spent a day this month with regional leaders, most of whom have spent their working lives in the Wimmera Southern Mallee, while others chose to build their careers here.
The day focused on leadership journeys rather than organisational profiles.
Speakers shared how they built careers from a regional base, moved between roles and sectors, and where the region made that easier or harder.
Event organiser and WSM Development Business Manager Rowena Doyle said the program deliberately draws speakers from people doing the work in the region now.
“We are not flying people in to tell the Wimmera what leadership looks like. Some of these speakers grew up here and some chose to come. All of them are doing the work here now and are passionate about sustaining and improving the region.”
WSM Development CEO Chris Sounness and Regional Development Victoria Manager Jessie Holmes discussed investment heading into the region and what is needed for local businesses to benefit.
“A wave of investment is coming to this region and it will arrive whether or not we are organised for it,” Mr Sounness said. “The question that matters to a local business is whether it can get a connection, a workforce and housing when it wants to expand.”
ByFive Early Years Initiative Executive Officer Jo Martin spoke about building an organisation from a regional base and holding to a long-term vision of ensuring every child has a safe, healthy and enriching start.
Women’s Health Grampians Wimmera Regional Manager Melissa Morris described the Communities of Respect and Equality Alliance, involving more than 150 members across government, health, sport, education, business and community organisations. She spoke about the challenge of holding a voluntary coalition of that size together.
A women in leadership session brought together Horsham Rural City Council CEO Gail Gatt, farm business leader Julie Hausler and academic Dr Cathy Tischler. Ms Hausler spoke about the glass ceiling, the glass cliff and the cost of staying quiet when standards slip.
Ms Gatt traced her career from a scientist in Melbourne through roles in Gippsland and local government before becoming CEO at Horsham. She said she had actively sought opportunities rather than waiting for them to be offered.
“Be amazing by being just who you are,” she said.
The closing session brought together Kevin O’Brien of Wim Resource, Colin Kemp of West Wind Energy and James Goldsmith of Wimmera Housing Innovations, facilitated by West Vic Business chairperson Glenn Doyle. The discussion explored leading work that is publicly contested and what they had learned from community responses.
The Changemakers are among more than 700 people who have taken part in Leadership Wimmera over the past 25 years. They graduate in November.