澳彩开奖结果 was fortunate to have the opportunity to deliver one of its foundational programs, Invest In Yourself: Exploring Money & Self Employment, recently to a group of 20 Aboriginal high school students from Gunnedah in north-eastern NSW.
The students, from Gunnedah High School and nearby St Mary鈥檚 College, came together at the headquarters for the two-day program, co-delivered by 澳彩开奖结果 and First Nations entrepreneur and cultural mentor, Kayleb Waters-Sampson, and funded by the Department of Regional NSW (DRNSW).
Personal financial literacy and entrepreneurship are historically not areas school children gain a great deal of exposure to. Invest in Yourself is designed to introduce participants in engaging, practical ways to concepts including: money mindset and financial independence; bolstering income through freelancing, entrepreneurship, or remote work; practical techniques to become more financially independent; and identifying workforce trends and the skillsets required to thrive in the future economy.鈥�
Hollie Crawford from DRNSW emphasised how beneficial a program like this is for young people in Gunnedah. 鈥淎ccess to information and the opportunity to learn financial literacy, and to have a safe space like this in which to learn and experiment, is really important,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 really believe it will create opportunities for these young people here. They鈥檝e been empowered to open up meaningful conversations [around business and finance matters] and to feel more confident in creating connections within our business, as well as our wider, community.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e already keen to start to look for ideas to create businesses!鈥�
Kayleb agreed, reflecting that 鈥渆veryone was really engaged, thinking and planning. You could see their minds running wild with the possibilities, especially after hearing the real stories of real people with real businesses, being able to connect with them. And not just hearing success stories, but the struggles of starting a business and everything that goes with that.鈥�
Participants鈥� positive self-assessment on completion of the program was evident, too:
One St Mary鈥檚 College student, Lilly, was excited to share that 鈥淚 now have a greater and deeper understanding about what job I would like in the future. I鈥檝e definitely stepped up my standards. It鈥檚 given me a future plan,鈥� adding 鈥淚've learned a lot about myself, especially around communicating with other people (that I'm pretty good at it!) and that it's okay to get out there and make a difference.鈥�
Would she recommend the program? 鈥淥h, 100%! A lot of students worry about their future, so this [experience] has been a great opportunity to get out of our comfort zone and learn some important life skills that we can take with us into the future.鈥�