Taking a wrap-around approach with RISE Ventures
RISE Ventures delivers the Community Development Program (CDP) in Katherine in the Northern Territory, and Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw in Cape York, Queensland. The program helps provide training and employment pathways for local people as well as developing business enterprises for long term employment and economic impact.
RISE Ventures provides CDP participants in remote Australia personalised assistance to help build their skills, get a job and to participate to their maximum capacity in their local community. Their clients undertake formal training, with the opportunity to gain qualifications or foundational skills training, including language, literacy and numeracy, and gaining a driver’s license.
In 2023, RISE Ventures engaged Bounce to work in partnership and co-design a wellbeing program for their clients in line with the National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing 2017-2023. Following on from a successful trial of the wellbeing program, RISE expanded the partnership with Bounce by training its frontline workforce and leaders to create a holistic wrap-around approach for all their people.
RISE implemented the following programs in partnership with Bounce:
Co-design a wellbeing program
& Train-the-Trainer program
Job Coach Certification
for their frontline workers.
Coaching Skills for Leaders
for their leaders.
Paul Synnott is the CEO of RISE Ventures. He understands the importance of adopting a whole of community approach to initiating and leading change.
“I am incredibly proud of our partnership with Bounce. This collaboration has been instrumental in creating a holistic, organisation-wide approach to training and development. By integrating wellbeing programs and the job coach certification, we have empowered our staff and clients alike, fostering a supportive environment that promotes long-term employment and community engagement. Working with Bounce has been an exceptional experience, and their commitment to co-designing tailored solutions has truly resonated with our purpose to empower the people and communities where we work and live.”
Co-designing a wellbeing program.
The first stage of the project included co-designing a wellbeing program for their clients and training local facilitators to deliver the program in Katherine with Rise and Barunga with Nyirrunggulung-RISE in the Northern Territory.
The co-design process involved meetings with participants, staff, the local council, and traditional owners to develop a suite of trainer resources and participant workbooks and then train local facilitators to deliver workshops that would engage and connect the community.
After training local trainers in the content, a trial program was delivered in Barunga with positive results and outcomes. Participants were taken to a place of cultural relevance to them, and they participated in activities with the Bounce methodology interwoven through the experience.
Following the successful implementation of the wellbeing program in the Northern Territory, RISE has plans to expand the program to communities in Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw in Queensland.
Trainer insights
“Ngalmuka Munguy Wirland Yilk-Mak has given us ladies a space to have a regular catch-up about our lives and our wellbeing, out on Country. I’ve enjoyed designing it with Bounce and being more connected to women in my community. I can check on their welfare, and they are more engaged with our services at Nyirrunggulung-RISE. The ladies who join have also attended other health and social services like breast screening and domestic violence education.”
– Eventhia Friday, Trainer
Nyirrunggulung-RISE’s wellbeing program called ‘Ngalmuka Munguy Wirland Yilk-Mak’ takes place on the banks of the river, where participants tell stories, sing and practise traditional activities like cooking and weaving.
Outcomes and impact in the community.
After the initial trial of the wellbeing program, weekly ‘Ngalmuka Munguy Wirland Yilk-Mak’ sessions have been held at Shorty Creek, facilitated by a local trainer. Between six and ten women attend each weekly session.
Sessions are focused on yarning and themes such as being true to yourself, connecting with Culture and Country, and integrity or ‘being your word.’ The sessions have allowed the trainer, Eventhia, to become more connected to the ladies and provide them with additional support when they need it.
From these sessions, the women who attend have been connected to additional health and culture groups and supports:
- Making bush medicine with the Banatjarl Strongbala Wimun Grup
- 23 women attended a Breast Screening clinic with Sunrise Health – some had never had a breast screening before.
- 20 women attended a ‘Family Health and Well-being training program’ run by the Batchelor Institute. Sunrise Health also attended to educate the ladies about women’s health, cervical screening and at-home pap smears.
- Nine women completed an at-home pap smear, with many women never being tested previously.
- Alongside the above session, the local Police ran a session on domestic violence awareness, educated about the ‘Intimate Partner Violence Triangle’ and explained what the police do when domestic violence is reported to them.
- Regularly assisting Barunga School with making lunches for the children when they are low on staff shows more connection with the community
Building the coaching skills of our team.
After the success of wellbeing programs in the Northern Territory, RISE committed to rollout further professional development to all their frontline staff.
Bounce Trainers Linda and Amanda headed to Katherine, Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw to deliver Bounce Job Coach Certification training. Job Coach Certification gives frontline workers the skills they need to coach their clients towards positive employment outcomes.
Over twenty frontline staff completed the face-to-face training, and the engagement and feedback were incredibly positive.
Of participants strongly agree they feel more confident in their coaching skills.
Of participants strongly agree the training will help move clients into employment.
Of participants strongly recommend Job Coach Certification to others.
“I feel much more confident in supporting my clients after completing Job Coach Certification. I highly recommend the Bounce Job Coach training to others working in the industry. Bounce has helped me a lot.”
- Joyann C.
“I discovered that I really do have the skills to help my clients, and I feel empowered and confident that I make a difference. Thank you for this incredible training."
- Shaun L.
Leveling up our leaders.
At the same time Job Coach Certification was being rolled out, Bounce Master Trainer Maria was delivering the Coaching Skills for Leaders program to 10 leaders across the organisation.
Training sessions were delivered over 18 months, bringing team members together from across all the RISE sites at four intervals.
These sessions were powerfully transformational and bolstered trust and connection within the team. They gave members time to reflect and review what is working well within the organisation and how they can build a culture of positive wellbeing and support their staff and clients to achieve positive work and life outcomes.
RISE Ventures
RISE Ventures
“I have done heaps and heaps of training courses in my time in employment services, but this program stands out as the best I've done. I really enjoy the pace and how the program is structured as it is like having a yarn, but you are learning new leadership skills along the way.“
- Dave P.
“This training has given me the tools I need to maintain self-care that I hadn’t thought of before. It has opened up a whole new world of self-awareness.”
- Leah S
“I am truly enjoying the training and learning how to open my eyes and see the world through other eyes and not be so judgmental as I have been. I love learning new things about myself and my ability to do more than what I thought I could do.”
- Deb J.
Results that speak for themselves.
Surveys were conducted with the leadership team before the commencement of Coaching Skills For Leaders training and again mid-way through the program to determine any changes in coaching knowledge, skills and wellbeing. This is a snapshot of some of the results.
“I have been taught the skills needed to be a great leader in my workplace”
The results show a significant shift from the pre-program survey to the post-program survey.
Post-program results demonstrate that 100% of respondents strongly agree/agree they have been taught the skills needed to be a great leader in their workplace, which is a significant increase from the pre-program survey, with only 9% of respondents agreeing they have been taught the skills needed to be a great leader. This is a 160% increase overall.
“I have the skills I need to support the wellbeing of my team”
The results show a significant shift from the pre-program survey to the post-program survey.
Post-program results demonstrate that 100% of respondents strongly agree/agree they have been taught the skills to support the wellbeing of their team, which is a significant increase from the pre-program survey, with only 18% of respondents agreeing they have the skills they need to support the wellbeing of their team. This is a 127% increase overall.
“I feel confident that I can build
trust and strong relationships with my team “
The results show a positive shift from the pre-program survey to the post-program survey.
The post-program results highlight that 88% of respondents strongly agree/agree they have the skills to build trusting relationships with their team. This is an increase from the pre-program survey, with only 36% of respondents agreeing that they feel confident that they can build trust and strong relationships with their team. This is a 67% increase overall.
“I have the skills to build trusting
relationships with my community”
The results show a positive shift from the pre-program survey to the post-program survey.
The post-program results highlight that 100% of respondents strongly agree/agree they have the skills to build trusting relationships with their community. This is a significant increase from the pre-program survey, with only 64% of respondents agreeing they have the skills to build trusting relationships within their community. This is a 25% increase overall.
“I have the skills I need to support the career development of my team”
The results show a significant shift from the pre-program survey to the post-program survey.
Post-program results demonstrate that 100% of respondents strongly agree/agree they have the skills to support the career development of their team, which is a significant increase from the pre-program survey, with 45% of respondents strongly disagreeing that they have the skills they need to support the career development of their team and 0% of respondents agreeing they have the skills. This is a 200% increase overall.