Be Your Own Boss is a District 9800 recognition program for Vocational Services. The initiative came about following a collaboration between the Rotary Club of Brighton, Young Change Agents (YCA), Bayside City Council and local schools, to deliver YCA’s Explorer and Youth Incubator (YINC) programs to young people in the Bayside region.
According to the Victorian Government’s Commission for Children and Young People, young people have been disproportionately affected as a result of Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdown, with more than half of Victorians between 18-24 years unemployed during the height of the lockdown. Promisingly, research by YCA shows youth with enterprise skills are 17 months ahead of their peers in gaining full time employment.
To tackle this challenge, the Rotary Club of Brighton and award-winning not-for-profit social enterprise, YCA, co-led the innovative new program series – Be Your Own Boss. The program’s aims were to raise the profile and visibility of what young people are capable of and how they can positively contribute to their local community. The program launched in July 2021, with young people aged between 12-25 years in Bayside and Kingston invited to take part. The program focused on involving people from diverse backgrounds, experiences and skill sets.
More than 250 students from Bentleigh Secondary College, Beaumaris Secondary College and Berendale School, as well as 18 young people aged 18-25, participated in the YCA Explorer program, where they developed enterprise skills through identifying a community problem and reframing it as an opportunity in the form of a social enterprise. The next stage was a YINC program, where young people worked with mentors to accelerate their social enterprises and develop advanced entrepreneurship skills with master classes and mentorship from local business leaders.
The program culminated in a showcase and celebration in which participants pitched their ideas to a panel of judges to secure seed funding, business coaching and additional support to make their social enterprises a reality.
The winning idea was Best Bark, an app that connects dog owners with willing carers and walkers to foster a sense of companionship during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Another team, comprising of Future Youth Facilitators, has received a VicHealth Local Government Partnership Grant of $39,500 for Thrive in Bayside. This initiative will help connect young people in Bayside post-COVID through a health and wellbeing program.
“More than 250 students from Bentleigh Secondary College, Beaumaris Secondary College and Berendale School, as well as 18 young people aged 18-25, participated in the YCA Explorer program, where they developed enterprise skills through identifying a community problem and reframing it as an opportunity in the form of a social enterprise.”
The Be Your Own Boss scheme was generously supported by the Rotary District 9800 Foundation, Flora and Frank Leith Charitable Trust, Bayside City Council, Elwood Community Bank and Bendigo Bank Brighton. The pilot scheme has been used to inspire YCA and the Rotary Club of Rosebud Rye to use this model in District 9820, where they have successfully obtained $135,000 grant funding over three years as part of the Engage! 2022-24 Grants Program from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
The Rotary Club of Brighton’s Be Your Own Boss scheme was awarded a Rotary District 9800 Recognition Award for Vocational Service on June 25, 2022.
This Rotary 100 program was run in celebration of 100 years of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand, aiming to inspire the next generation of social entrepreneurs and change makers in the local community.
Check out the inspirational video of the Be your own Boss program at www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5a-VN0UFBk