KARI is very excited to announce that HSBC has funded the inaugural KARI LEAD Program for the next three years.
This program is a testament to KARI’s commitment to providing high quality, sustainable services as well as programs that benefit the Aboriginal community. KARI have also aligned with HSBC Australia’s Community Investment Strategy and Reconciliation Action Plan.
“HSBC is committed to investing in the communities in which it operates with a particular focus on education. HSBC also wants to help young people gain the skills they will need to secure employment in the future. This is exactly what LEAD aims to do,” said Alpa Bhattacharjee, Head of Sustainability, HSBC Australia.
Structure of the KARI LEAD Program
The LEAD Program is a three tiered educational program that offers financial, mentoring and leadership support to Year 11 and 12 Aboriginal students. Participation in the program is determined through an application system.
The application allows KARI to get a better understanding around each young person’s background. The application also determines whether our program is a good fit. This program has different levels to ensure Aboriginal youth get the best outcome. This will result in successfully achieving goals in future schooling as well as employment.
Getting started
At the beginning of the program participants will be invited to an orientation and first goal setting workshop. This gives students the chance to interact with their peers, meet their KARI mentors as well as pick up an orientation pack.
Mentoring
A KARI mentor will be available to students in the program to ensure they are receiving the support they need to be successful. The mentor will follow up with students as required through the program. They will eventually help the student achieve their personal goal in obtaining employment, future education as well as obtaining their HSC.
Workshops
There will be three workshops across the calendar year which focus on different themes. The key themes will be resilience, leadership as well as milestone mapping/goal setting.
They will focus on strategies around these themes and give students the tools to succeed in their studies and future employment. The workshops will be run by KARI Ambassador Beau Champion and Community Programs Coordinator Lauren Drayton. These ambassadors have relevant training, experience and passion to work with kids in their communities. The workshops will also be open to parents of the students to ensure they are engaged with their children’s journey and aware of their goals.
Leaving Dinner
All students who successfully meet all of their goals for each term will be invited to a special end of year celebratory event. The event will celebrate all great achievements throughout the year. This will allow each student to receive acknowledgement with various achievement awards as well as a dinner.
What will the impact be?
- We will reach 450 youth over three years
- Decreased financial strain on Aboriginal families
- Increased employment readiness for Aboriginal youth
- Increased leadership and life skills within the young Aboriginal community
KARI understands the cultural obligations of supporting Aboriginal young people.
We believe we can tackle them as a strength rather than a barrier in their educational journey. KARI does this by providing new innovative programs that certainly address the gaps in education, employment and youth outcomes within the Aboriginal community.
We know that some Aboriginal families experience considerable financial difficulty and lack of educational support. With the support of HSBC, KARI will intensify its efforts in supporting young people. This will be done in order to help them successfully complete their education as well as become future leaders within their community.
Our programs are successful, with our grant-based, in-school Scholarship Program resulting in 90% of recipients finishing their HSC. With the added mentoring and leadership components, we believe this number can reach 100%. Reaching this would be fantastic due to positive outcomes for our community.
