The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation’s highly-successful Nallei-Jerring Koori Youth Leadership program will return for the eighth straight year in 2020.
The Indigenous youth program has improved the leadership and life skills of countless young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the west of Melbourne.
Throughout the program, participants are provided with a range of life, cultural and sport experiences, and are offered practical and theory based activities designed to enhance their cultural knowledge, leadership, teamwork, resilience, communication, support networks and connection to community.
The coronavirus pandemic has meant that the usual face-to-face nature of the program will move to an online setting, with 10 zoom sessions to be conducted from September 8, 2020.
In a mark of the effectiveness of the program, several past participants will return to help facilitate the sessions this year, including Cooper Craig-Peters, James Mulliet and 2019 Nallei-Jerring Award winner, Jorja Miller.
“I would encourage people to take part in the program because overall it’s a great experience. It helps us connect more with culture and with each other,” Jorja said.
“It builds up our teamwork and our leadership skills, and it gets us to talk to people that we mightn’t have talked to, and build those kinds of connections that we need.
“I learnt how to communicate with others better…I learned how to be more comfortable in a leadership role. I was always the kind of person to sit back and let others take part of it.”
The 2020 Nallei-Jerring program is open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander males and females aged between 13-15 years who live within local government areas across Victoria's west.
