Yalari - Our Vision and Purpose

A PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY

For almost 20 years, Yalari has been changing the lives of Indigenous children from remote and regional communities, by providing scholarships to Australia’s leading boarding schools

Over that time, we have developed and refined the support programs that help our students achieve academically, keep them motivated to succeed, connect them with their culture and each other and, most importantly, inspire them to ‘ pay it forward’ by helping others to follow in their footsteps

The impacts have been felt, not just by the students, but by their families, friends and communities

As we prepare for the next generation of Yalari scholars, we are seeking partners that share our vision to deliver authentic, practical, outcomes-driven solutions that will allow Indigenous Australians to write their own destiny in a nation where we all stand together as equals

OUR VISION

Yalari’s vision is to be one of Australia’s great enduring educational and leadership foundations, empowering Indigenous people from regional and remote Australia.

OUR PURPOSE

To create equitable opportunities and outcomes for successive generations of Indigenous children

To develop leading programs educating and supporting Yalari’s students and alumni, individually and collectively, as qualified, contributing, culturally connected and influential Australians

To honour all Australians by sharing Indigenous cultures through stories, healing, laughter and truth

IMPACT

YALARI ALUMNI

THE YALARI STORY

As a young Indigenous student at Murgon State Primary School in rural Queensland, Waverley Stanley AM was given the opportunity to attend Toowoomba Grammar School when his Year 7 teacher, Mrs Rosemary Bishop, arranged a scholarship for him

His years at Toowoomba Grammar School were the catalyst that changed the course of Waverley’s life, opening him up to a world that he would never have been exposed to without that scholarship He was the first Indigenous student to complete Year 12 and to be appointed prefect in the school’s 100+ year history

Waverley’s own experience motivated him to set up an organisation that would give other Indigenous children the same life changing opportunities All with the aim to unite Australia through providing quality education for all children

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

In 2005, Waverley, his wife Llew and a group of like-minded supporters founded Yalari and established the Rosemary Bishop Indigenous Education Scholarship program Yalari means ‘child’ in the Birri Gubba language

From the smallest of starting points – five students starting at Toowoomba Grammar School and The Glennie School in January 2006 – Yalari has gone on to support more than 784 Indigenous students through their secondary schooling at some of Australia’s leading boarding schools

Our first cohort to complete Year 12 graduated in 2010 and are now part of a 530-strong alumni network In 2024, Yalari is supporting 248 scholars at 19 partner schools in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia

Yalari’s transformative journey was told on ABC’s Australian Story and can be viewed here.

HOW WE ARE DIFFERENT

Every year around 60 young applicants are awarded the Rosemary Bishop Indigenous Education Scholarship to attend their choice of 19 boarding schools around Australia

It sounds simple But it’s not

Navigating those young children through six years of living away from home, family, community and culture in a highly rigorous academic environment takes a multi-faceted support system that Yalari has developed and refined for close to 20 years

Because our aim is not just to ensure that these children are being gifted an education What we are presenting is a life-changing experience that will help them develop as proud, informed, capable, confident and effective Indigenous leaders.

What makes Yalari different is that we are:

Designed, led and delivered by Indigenous leaders and educational specialists

Specifically targeted to children from regional and remote communities

Awarding scholarships to Australia’s leading boarding schools, giving them access to the highest quality education, life-changing opportunities and networks that they would otherwise never encounter

Personalised in our selection and interview process, with Waverley, Llew and the team travelling to each applicant’s homes to ensure children will be fully supported by parents/guardians and community leaders

Providing all-inclusive scholarships covering tuition, boarding fees, uniforms, textbooks and technology for their six years of high school, with an annual contribution required by each child’s parents/guardians

Based nationwide with Student Support Officers located near each school to mentor students, liaise with schools and families, and monitor their academic and personal progress

Facilitating annual camps for each year level which brings students together from all over Australia to create lifelong connections, as well as developing leadership skills, cultural understandings, career guidance and the importance of giving back

Committed to providing post school support and guidance through university and other tertiary training and connecting our graduates with career opportunities

Nurturing a group of powerfully connected alumni, providing programs to support leadership, professional and personal growth designed to empower them as both leaders and professionals in community and business.

Thanks to this comprehensive support program, we have achieved an annual retention rate of 93%.

FUNDING MODEL

Yalari has a longstanding and strong relationship with the Federal Government, from which it receives about 50% of its funding It relies on philanthropic contributions from corporate Australia, trusts and foundations, individual donors and fundraising events to help fund the remaining 50% of its operations and programs

In 2020, the Yalari Foundation, home of the Mary Boydell Endowment Fund, was established to secure Yalari’s long-term sustainability Ultimately, our goal is to establish a corpus that will allows us to generate sufficient investment income to finance the critical mass of Yalari’s scholarships and operations in perpetuity

WHY PARTNER WITH YALARI

From the very beginning, Yalari has been discerning in building its supporter network Our priority has always been to create genuine relationships and engagement with donors who share our core ‘CORRIE’ values:

An integral part of Yalari’s strategic plan, which will launch Yalari into the next decade of impact, is to create transformational partnerships with a select group of likeminded organisations

Becoming part of the Yalari mob opens opportunities to connect with our 530 alumni for internships and career pathways Yalari’s gala dinners and special events also provide avenues to meet with other likeminded influential members of the philanthropic and government community

We enjoy curating mutually beneficial partnerships, and together, we will bring the motivation, expertise, connections and financial resources needed to contribute to effective, long-lasting generational change

CREATING GENERATIONAL CHANGE

We already have 536 Yalari alumni making their way in the world, forging successful careers in health, education, technology, communications, law, business and more

They are learning, contributing, developing and emerging as leaders in this country, changing stereotypes, changing outcomes and changing this nation for the better

We estimate that, within 10 years, we will have 1000 alumni, each with their own spheres of influence and impact

What is the impact of those 1000 educated, confident and contributing young Indigenous people?

Let’s say each one has a solid influence on 10 good friends they go to school with. That’s 10,000 people.

Each one also has influence and impact on about 20 people they go to university with, work with and socialize with when leaving school That’s 20,000

Without consciously knowing it, they are role models in their home communities, to another 100 each That’s 100,000

1000

YALARI STUDENTS SPHERE OF INFLUENCE SCHOOL FRIENDS

10,000

They raise families, children, nieces and nephews Their influence on the next generation, 10,000 more people This is how generational change works. This is what reconciliation looks like.

20,000

UNIVERSITY, WORK & SOCIAL PEERS

100,000

10,000

140,000