The latest group are ready to graduate from a leadership pro­gram that’s empowering com­munity members and bringing innovative projects to life in the Brighton area.

The most recent group of par­ticipants in the Inspiring Future Leaders Program is getting ready to pitch their community proj­ect ideas and graduate from the 8-week course.

Inspiring Future Leaders is a capacity building leadership program run by Centacare Evolve Housing in the Brighton and Derwent Valley municipality. The program supports local com­munity members to gain skills and confidence in planning and delivering their very own projects in their local area.

The program provides one-on-one support from the Inspiring Future Leaders coach and inter­active workshops with industry professionals. At the end of the course, participants have the opportunity to develop project ideas and pitch them for the chance to gain further guidance and financial support to turn their idea into a reality.

Already, previous participants have created some amazing projects in their communities including youth forums, art walk­ways, the development of social connection groups, food hubs, and the first adult health and fitness class of its kind held in the Brighton area.

“Our program is unique because it provides personalised coach­ing for community members to gain the skills to make change in their community,” says Inspir­ing Future Leaders Coach, Elise Parker, “participants get to come up with an idea or a problem that they would like to solve and we give them the tools for a positive outcome at the end”.

Past participants note that the opportunities provided by In­spiring Future Leaders go well beyond the project, but into daily life as well.

“I entered the program because I have always had a strong interest in community. I recommend the program to other people, it’s a great confidence builder and you take so much from it and lots of skills as well,” said a graduate.

The current Inspiring Future Leaders participants graduated in early July and look forward to a celebration at which they will find out who will receive seed funding to bring their project to life in community.

The next round of Inspiring Fu­ture Leaders will start in Septem­ber with expressions of interest open now.

Visit Centacare Evolve Hous­ing’s Facebook page or centaca­reevolve.com.au to learn more.