Australian Championing a Mentoring Culture

Greater Dandenong Council’s Youth Services FReeZa Committee. FReeZa is a state-wide initiative that provides young Victorians aged 12-25 opportunities to perform and engage with live music. The FReeZa Committee coordinated the standalone FReeZa Stage at the Australia Day Festival and contributed to the main stage program, giving the opportunity for local young people to perform in front of larger audiences. Overall this event provides numerous opportunities for young people to volunteer for and engage with the wider community in a safe, supportive and positive environment.

The event also had a quiet space, a designated area for people to retreat to when feeling overstimulated, or as a safe space for meditation and prayer. The safe space was positioned next to the Council Information Tent, which made it easy to locate. At this tent, attendees were also encouraged to donate to the Australian Bushfi re Appeal.

Attendance numbers increased from the previous year from 10,000 to 12,000, and the majority of attendees were young people and families from the local area. Feedback drawn from surveys on the day cited “the great atmosphere”, “the stage program and kid’s activities”, and “the happy family environment”.

Participants were surveyed after the event and 83 percent of respondents indicated they felt the event was “very good” to “excellent”.

The Australia Day Festival will continue to celebrate the multiculturalism of Greater Dandenong by bringing communities closer together through honouring and celebrating similarities and diff erences of being Australian.

INTERVIEW WITH DON KULASINGHE

(Bank of Melbourne Manager, Dandenong)

Q. As you have been an event partner with Greater Dandenong City Council for the past two years, what are your views about Australia Day Festival? A. I think as an event, it was very coordinated and also very multicultural with signifi cant community groups coming together. Council has really given them the opportunity to shine and it is defi nitely an event that should be recognised. Q. What was your personal experience being present at Australia Day Festival? How did you feel being there? A. I felt very happy being at the event. The engagement level was really good, and I loved the relationships created and the newfound clients, some of whom have now been with us for two years. This is why I am happy to support all the events, even for next year – the whole team is very organised, and I can see the passion that goes into the events. Q. What was it like being a partner with the Greater Dandenong City Council for Australia Day Festival? A. It is a very successful partnership as there has been so many opportunities to connect with and support the local community and businesses. On the day, I had the opportunity to talk to leaders from diff erent ethnic groups I didn’t even know of. Our motto is to be to be the most loved bank and everything that Council does has really resonated with our motto.

CHAMPIONING A

MENTORING CULTURE

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A MENTOR AND A MENTEE IS A POWERFUL THING

WORDS GENERATE NETWORK AUSTRALIA

As a Mentor you have the opportunity to transcend someone’s career, and life, through the guidance you provide; the perfect balance of support and challenge as you watch them grow. For a mentee, this will make all the diff erence.

Championing a mentoring culture and legacy leadership across the parks and leisure industry is a core focus of Generate Network Australia (Generate AUS). Generate AUS is Parks and Leisure Australia’s commitment to the development of young professionals and emerging leaders; which would not be possible without the unwavering support and legacy leadership of our national sponsor Otium Planning Group.

With this story, we want to share an inspiring journey and the relationship between a mentor and a mentee in our industry, in the hopes of inspiring a little legacy leadership in you all.

MEET SARAH MCPHEE: THE MENTEE Sarah is 32 years old, moved to Melbourne from regional Victoria, loves sports and relishes trying new things. She describes herself as a passionate foodie who likes exploring new places, easygoing, curious, honest, and ambitious.

SARAH’S JOURNEY In 2015, Sarah graduated the from Federation University with a Bachelor of Sports Management/Bachelor of Business (Marketing), after which she completed a four-month internship with the Sport and Recreation Team at the City of Ballarat. “I didn’t realise it at the time, but the internship was my fi rst step in expanding my professional network,” Sarah explained.

Thanks to the relationships built during her internship, Sarah was off ered a graduate role as the Promotions and Social Media Offi cer at the Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre.

In 2017, Sarah landed the Recreation Development Offi cer role at Macedon Ranges Shire Council.

In 2018, Sarah was the recipient of the PLA VIC/TAS Emerging Leader Award, and later that year won the PLA National Emerging Leader Award. “The number of people who came to congratulate and introduce themselves to me afterwards was amazing, so much support shown

Sarah McPhee and Kate Maddock

by the industry,” she exclaimed.

As the Awards Sponsor, in 2019, Otium Planning Group off ered Sarah mentoring sessions with Managing Director, Kate Maddock throughout the year. “As a young woman trying to navigate my path, it was a great opportunity to speak to a female leader who has been successful at juggling family life and career aspirations. Kate has always been approachable and willing of her time, providing help and insight when I was looking for my next move,” a grateful Sarah said.

Appointed to the Executive Committee for Generate Network Australia, Sarah had the privilege of travelling to New Zealand for the Recreation Aotearoa Conference. “I had the most amazing and inspiring trip to New Zealand thanks to PLA; the cultural diversity and love for the environment was heartening and infectious,” Sarah claimed.

“I’m so excited to see where the Generate Network journey takes us and the opportunities it will provide for the many students and young professionals looking to take their next leap. Speaking from experience, I can’t stress enough how many opportunities come your way from within your professional network and linking to industry.”

In 2020, Sarah started her current role as Senior Leisure Planner at the City of Whittlesea — through her Generate connections. Mentoring from Kate also led to a secondment opportunity with Otium Planning Group. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spend time with the best brains in the business,” she claimed.

“Having a predominately local government background, the opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience within the industry through a diff erent lens is something I’m very excited about.”

There is no doubt that building great working relationships has attributed greatly to Sarah’s progression over the past fi ve years; from the internship to her current role, each leap forward has been infl uenced by opportunities presented from her existing network — and through Sarah being willing to put her hand up and accept the challenge!

MEET KATE MADDOCK: THE MENTOR Kate is the Managing Director of Otium Planning Group and mother of two teenage boys who inspire her daily. She loves to explore new places and is passionate about sport and recreation, embedding it into her personal and working life. “Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life”, are words Kate lives by. Kate describes herself as hard working, focused, determined, and slightly crazy!

KATE’S JOURNEY Kate started her career as a Recreation Planner at the Shire of Corio and the Geelong Department of Sport and Recreation on a three-month contract. She then took on the role of Recreation Planner for the City of Moorabbin, before becoming the Manager of Recreation and Cultural Services a short time later. “Not long into the role, the organisation underwent a major restructure that saw Doug Owens appointed as CEO and taking a gamble on a fresh-faced 21-year-old as Manager of Recreation and Cultural Services,” Kate explained.

“This incredible opportunity at such a young age became my training ground and launching pad for the rest of my career.”

In 1994, Kate was given the opportunity to move to the newly formed City of Glen Eira; a growth opportunity where Kate became responsible for the new departments of Recreation, Arts and Culture, and Parks and Gardens and Libraries.

After 10 years in local government, Kate felt it was time to take on a new challenge and joined Mike King and Associates. “Who would have thought that this would become the start of a 25-year-plus working relationship and the launching pad for the Otium Planning Group, an international company that has undertaken in excess of 600 projects across Australia, New Zealand, China, India, PNG and America, and has seen the construction of more than 200 facilities,” Kate said.

Otium Planning Group is the inaugural sponsor for Generate Network and has been instrumental in supporting the expansion of the network. Two of Otium’s emerging leaders are members of the Executive Committee, and all Otium Directors commit their time as mentors to the annual PLA Emerging Leader Award recipients.

Much like their support of Generate AUS, Otium Planning Group was borne from the coming together of like-minded people sharing similar values, passions and aspirations. Their vision was to become a national company of trusted advisors with local understanding and global knowledge, and now have offi ces and strategic alliance across Australia and New Zealand, while also playing their part in supporting a thriving and connected industry for generations to come.

“In my early career I had a number of people who took a chance on me and gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and advance my career,” Kate remembers.

“I am particularly interested in supporting and mentoring young women to take on leadership roles in the industry and guiding them along their career path. I value and appreciate staff who show initiative, have a sense of humour and are reliable, team players. Leadership to me is leading by example. As Managing Director, it is my responsibility to set the culture of our organisation, including how we work, the quality of our work and how we treat our clients and each other. We call ourselves the Otium Family and we live and breathe this each and every day.”

Guided by her passion and leadership, Kate invited Sarah to become part of the Otium Family through her mentorship. Through this experience Sarah was able to explore other aspects of the industry and gain exposure to new ways of innovative thinking and leadership. Kate extended this opportunity for Sarah to include a cross-sector secondment to further develop her skills and experience.

“Sarah McPhee was a very worthy recipient,” Kate stated. “It was through Sarah’s initiative and tenacity that we agreed to a secondment opportunity with Otium — which has unfortunately been delayed due to Covid-19.

“Once the doors are open again, we look forward to Sarah joining us once more, spending time with associates and directors on a range of projects where we will have the opportunity to impart our knowledge and further develop her skills and experience. Hopefully, she will also have a bit of fun along the way!”