Take a deep dive into our annual and evaluation report for 2022. You can see the impact our mentoring programs made; find out about partners, schools, mentors and people that made it all possible and read all about the insights and findings from our rigorous evaluation.
The power of showing up | raise.org.au
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Annual Report 2022 The impact of hope
The power of showing up raise.org.au
Raise Foundation | Annual Report 2022
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“I’m thoroughly enjoying the Raise program, and I’m glad I signed up for it. My mentor is so kind and caring and I believe they have helped me a lot. My mentor was the first person in my life that I could tell everything to - they were always there for me
and helped me achieve so many things just by talking to me one hour a week.” - Lachlan, Mentee
Raise acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as traditional custodians of the lands and waterways on which our programs are delivered. We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging and acknowledge the ongoing contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in mentoring and nurturing our young people. Raise acknowledges and honours the fundamental value and dignity of all individuals. We pledge to create and maintain an environment that celebrates diversity and equality and is inclusive for all.
Disclaimer: Some mentee and match photos featured throughout this document are real, and names have been changed for privacy reasons. The quotes and names used on the images are not related to the person(s) pictured.
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Contents
Brand activities
30 32 33 36 38
How our program works
16 18
About Raise Foundation
6
Summary KPI results Strategic Impact Plan Financial summary Audited accounts
Youth engagement People and Culture
Thank you
10 12 14 15
20 22 26
Executive summary Program summary
Mentor training
Fundraising and Partnerships
School partner feedback
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Letter from the Chair and CEO
So many young people across the country needed support to strengthen their hope, resilience, help seeking skills and engagement with school in 2022. They needed a mentor to show up for them. That’s why we’re thrilled we could provide 2,088 young people with a Raise mentor and that over 90% graduated from our mentoring program. This year, we screened and trained 915 new volunteer mentors and retained a record 1,107 experienced mentors. Over the past 14 years we have provided a Raise Mentor to almost 11,000 young Australians and trained over 7,200 volunteer mentors across the country. We are proud of the impact our mentoring program has and our outcomes are detailed beautifully in our enclosed Evaluation Report, which I know you will enjoy reading. But our work was not without obstacles this year. On the ground, there were tough challenges for young people, schools, mentors and our team. The challenges schools are experiencing are unprecedented – staff shortages, oversized classes, student disengagement, behavioural issues and challenges with students’ social and emotional wellbeing. It was particularly tough in New South Wales and Victoria, where our biggest footprint is, due to their extended lockdowns. The transition back to face- to-face learning after two disrupted years was extraordinary. We work with mostly Year 8 students, most of whom have not attended school regularly in-person since they were in Year 5. Two very different developmental stages. For our organisation, sourcing volunteer mentors was and continues to be a challenge. Volunteering Australia reports that volunteering across the country has declined by up to 40% and it is a testament to all in our Raise village that we were able to maintain our mentoring match number above 2,000. Attracting increased funding to propel our growth strategy towards supporting more young people requires continued focus. Typically, we recruit our mentors first, then source the schools and funding required to bring those programs to life. However, in mid-2022, after seeing the urgent need, we decided to focus on offering our program to schools as the priority for 2023.
We received 87 new school applications in addition to our current 180 programs, so our plan to support more young people was in action. However, it became a stark reality in October that we did not have enough funding to meet that demand. For the first time ever, we had to turn schools and young people away. It was a confronting situation for us, and one we hope to never face again. It became obvious that we needed to re-strategise for 2023. We determined that we could raise enough funding to deliver 218 programs for 2,605 young people, rather than the planned 263 programs. However, we will keep stretching towards our goal of offering mentoring programs to all public secondary schools. Ultimately, 2022 was our hardest year yet, but we are inspired by the impact of hope for the future. We are energetically recruiting new mentors, even within the tough volunteering market, to fulfil our 2023 commitment and beyond. So, if you’ve thought about becoming a youth mentor, now is the time, as young people need you more than ever. Our commitment to maximising cost efficiency, particularly as we expect economies of scale as we expand, is something we continue to balance out with the required investment to deliver quality programs as the priority. Since we enacted our Strategic Impact Plan, we have tripled our impact from delivering 66 programs for 726 young people per annum, to delivering 180 programs that supported 2,088 young people in 2022. We are delivering early intervention mentoring programs that provide social and emotional wellbeing support in 21% of secondary schools nationally, compared to 8% in 2017. Our extraordinary staff team and volunteer mentors continue to demonstrate incredible commitment, and their show of heart for our mentees is inspiring to witness. All our supporters give us hope, and they give hope to young Australians. We would like to thank each one of you who continues to support us in so many generous ways. We need and appreciate every donor, every volunteer, every partner. You mean the world to us.
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What fuels us and keeps us working tirelessly is mentee feedback like this:
“When I started this program, I was recovering from suicidal ideation and depression, and I still am, but [mentoring] was one of the little things that I looked forward to and a reason to get out of bed and continue on. I will definitely miss this program, but it has been a great journey full of self-growth and patience.” We feel encouraged every time we read it, and a profound feeling about the impact of hope. It’s been a trying time, but we know our program can change the course of a young person’s life. That’s why we get up, look forward, embrace the learnings and continue to show up..
Vicki Condon Founder and CEO
Leon Condon Chairman
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About Raise Foundation
Intent
Purpose
Young people across Australia are experiencing challenges that impact their wellbeing, and so many don’t have someone they can go to for support.
Raise offers early intervention, evidence-based mentoring for young people in high school with trained and trusted independent adults.
Aspiration
Impact
Young people can get through adolescence, believe in themselves and others, and are equipped to shape a purposeful life.
To create thriving communities by delivering mentoring programs across Australia, prioritising younger students in public secondary schools who are most at risk of disengagement or poor wellbeing.
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Why do we focus on young people?
Young people are the least likely group to ask for professional help 1
3 in 10 young people would find it hard to turn to friends and family if they needed help 2
1 in 4 young people feel lonely all or most of the time 3
1 in 6 young people feel negative or very negative about the future 4
1 in 12 young people are disengaged from education and work 6
1 in 4 young people will experience bullying at school 7
Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people 5
This is an urgent crisis, and the economic impact of these problems is substantial. At Raise Foundation, we believe it is within our power to do something about these social issues.
Stress, mental health, school problems, body image are the top issues of concern 8
Raise Foundation | Annual Report 2022
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Our Values
Be Courageous
Show Heart
Give Respect
– we are imaginative, driven, progressive, confident
– we are kind, passionate, sincere, empathetic
– we believe in acceptance, equity, inclusivity
Apply Integrity
Bring Vitality
Deliver Excellence
– we operate with authenticity, accountability, transparency
– we are positive, fun, energetic, inspiring
– we are evidence-based, responsive, consistent, experts in our industry
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A solution built on strengths
We put young people first Understanding the issues they face and providing the support they want, we empower young people to manage and cope with their challenges today and in the future. We are youth mentoring experts Devoted to being an early intervention and prevention solution, we provide industry leading mentor training to deliver best-practice programs that meet or exceed industry benchmarks. We are trusted, safe and reliable Based in schools, we give young people access to a trusted, independent person who shows up every week, just for them, in a safe space and supervised by a degree qualified professional. We deliver programs that work Using a rigorous approach to monitor and evaluate our programs, and prove and improve our impact, we see positive growth for young people in resilience, school belonging, help seeking and hope for the future. We bring everyone together Connecting with schools, businesses, government and donors, we deliver innovative solutions for the greater good by creating thriving communities across our country. We find better ways With a collaboration and innovation lens, we are constantly developing new approaches, exciting initiatives and efficient ways to mentor as many young people as possible. We are people people Priding ourselves on listening, caring and working openly with everyone, we proactively build strong relationships and successful partnerships.
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Thank you to our partners
First and foremost, our work would not be possible without our valued partners, who make a world of difference at Raise.
Principal Partners
Private Donors
Boyer Family John and Nicki Caliguri Fuchs Family Graf Family Liz and Walter Lewin Moller Family Foundation
James and Kathy Ajaka Mary Alice Foundation Bishop Family Chris Bond Crookes Family Foundation Kristina Giuffre Jun Bei Liu Pass Foundation Alexander Small The Swift Family Foundation
Geoff and Carly Lloyd Peter & Elizabeth Moore Foundation Reede Family Kate and Dom Roche Dominic and Emma Stevens David Thodey Cooper Tuxen Foundation David and Michele Southon Sandi and John Szangolies
Steve and Carrie Bellotti Garry Browne AM CHEP Australia Helping Hand Coolaroo Foundation Su and Morrice Cordiner Wayne Pascoe and Julie Doyle Roxanne and Jeremy Dunkel Stuart and Emma Fox Bruce Fink David and Jaclyn Gazal Halstead Family Belinda Hutchinson & Roger
Shemara and Ed Wikramanayake
Wade Family Walker Family
Geoff and Karen Wilson Mel and Simon Wright Plus 3 x Anonymous supporters
Massy-Greene David Knowles Mervyn Levin Justin Liberman
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Corporate Partners
Trusts and Foundations
In Kind Partners
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Executive summary
We remain unflinching in our resolve to help more young people navigate their challenges and find the path to a purposeful life – it all starts with a little bit of hope.
The power of showing up – and the impact of hope We do one thing, and we do it really well – youth mentoring. Why? Because we know that giving young people a trusted person to talk to is empowering, it builds resilience, it gives young people hope. Hope can change the course of a young person’s life. Hope provides a future, hope drives change. Hope spreads from one person to the next – it’s infectious. Some may have picked up this report asking ‘Is it working? Does youth mentoring make a difference?’ We know that it does – because we thoroughly measure and monitor our best practice programs to ensure they deliver lasting positive change. Often not just for our mentees, but mentors as well. Safety remains paramount and trust is everything. We attract and train high quality mentors and match them with young people who need a supportive and caring adult who is just there to listen to them.
Leading the way since 2008
7,273 mentors trained since inception
10,954 young people mentored since inception
110 passionate and professional staff
116,368 training modules delivered to mentors
251,942 hours of mentoring support provided
Continued involvement in the Together for Youth collaboration with 13 other NFP organisations to deliver the pilot initiative across 3 states.
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2022 was a year filled with hope Supporting mentors • Recruited, trained, screened and onboarded 915 new mentors • Retained 1,017 experienced mentors (an all-time record) Beneficial partnerships & funding • Continued our partnership with the Australian Government Department of Health, achieving all delivery requirements • Secured additional major funding from existing and new Principal Corporate Partners • Successfully hosted our first Formal Gala Ball since 2019 for over 250 guests
Driving impact • Achieved statistically significant outcomes for young people in 3 out of the 4 key impact areas • Delivered Phase 4 of our Raise Digital Village technology project on time and on budget • Delivered a state-based conference roadshow for our teams across the country, and an online conference for our whole team Taking our organisation to the next level • Launched our new website with fresh brand guidelines, creating a better user experience for our volunteer mentors • Commenced Independent Evaluation with University of Melbourne and Soulab to evaluate the process and impact of our program • Held our first Youth Summit with 35 mentees and staff from 6 different schools as a way to incorporate the voices of young people
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How did we drive change in 2022? We have so many achievements to celebrate – this is a snapshot of our program delivery numbers in 2022.
180 mentoring programs delivered across 6 states
161 face to face 7 online 12 group
1, 941 young people graduated from our mentoring programs 2,088 young people commenced our mentoring programs
88%
80%
Match retention rate (compared to 65% industry standard)
Overall attendance rate across our mentoring programs
Statistically significant improvement in mentee outcomes and mentor outcomes as outlined in separate Raise Foundation Evaluation Report
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School partner feedback
Norwood Secondary College Byron Street Ringwood Victoria 3134 Telephone (+613) 9871 0400 Facsimile (+613) 9879 6061 Email norwood.sc@edumail.vic.gov.au
17 November 2022
Raise Youth Mentoring – Norwood Secondary College
Norwood Secondary College was lucky enough to be a part of the Raise Mentoring program in 2022. The students who participated in the program not only reported enjoying the program and wishing that they could continue the program next year, but also developed more self-confidence and greater resilience. The students expressed how helpful it was having someone to speak with weekly, guide them with difficult situations and to have fun and laugh with them. I highly recommend this program to other schools, as the mentoring program has provided our students with the opportunity to connect with a trained mentor who listens and supports them. The mentors developed rapport and built trust with the students through providing a safe space to talk through a range of different topics. The guided sessions provide the students with time to resolve conflict in their lives, work through goals that they set for themselves and focusing on improving their wellbeing. The students who have been a part of the Raise Mentoring program speak very highly of the program, stating how helpful they found it, reflecting on the positive connections they made with their mentor and the other mentors and students involved. One student reflected in the graduation ceremony “I took a lot more away from this than just food”. Staff have observed the positive changes in the students who participated in the program, reporting students were making more connections with fellow students, an increase in their sense of wellbeing and greater resilience and confidence. The program is extremely valuable and highly relevant for young people. The program structure covers important topics, is well organised and run by fantastic staff. We are excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Raise Mentoring Program again in 2023.
Yours sincerely, Miranda Maginness Wellbeing Counsellor
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How our program works for mentors…
Screening Application review and eligibility check
Checks Submit your Working with Children and Police Checks
Application form
Online training 8 modules completed in your own time
Enrolled Qualified and mentoring location confirmed
Group training 1 day, virtual or face to face
Orientation Intro at school with the team of mentors and your Program Counsellor
Evaluation Participate in research to prove and improve impact
Jitters Group workshop to meet and be matched with your mentee
Graduation Program concludes with celebration event
Pre-Mentoring
Mentoring
23 weeks • Involves 1 hour mentoring and 1 hour support session each week.
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…and mentees!
Match
Identity
Me
Self-talk
Help
Support
Meet!
Courage
Reflect
Friend
Connect
Flip
Risk
Stand Up
Making friends
Managing Stress
Ask
Gift of goodbye!
Review
Graduate
Hope
School Community
Future
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Young people are at the heart of everything we do at Raise – which is why we ensure young voices are at the centre of our program’s design and delivery. How we listen We engage both current and alumni mentees to capture the impact of our program. We have also established a Youth Ambassador program to provide an outlet for other young voices. In addition to the voice of our mentees, we actively engage our Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) regularly. Our YAC is made up of six young people aged 18-25 who are highly-skilled, ambitious, and passionate about the wellbeing of young people. Our YAC is always eager to share their ideas and experiences, and have been pivotal in not only shaping future Raise programs but implementing a by-youth design mentality in our organisation. The role of the YAC The YAC collaborates on projects with various teams across the organisation by providing insights from the young perspective. With the support of our Youth Engagement Facilitator, YAC advocates for the young voice in our ever-evolving best practice mentoring programs. Advocating for the young voice
Thank you 2021-22 YAC members We’d like to thank our 2021-22 YAC members, who completed their role with us in June 2022: Angelica Olinnaka, Cassandra Bentley, Ciaran Foster, Layla Eatber, Leonie Nahhas, Lisa Lewis, Gabi Stricker Phelps, Teyarnea Griffis and Vince Chen. You have all made invaluable contributions to Raise. Welcome to our new YAC members We’d like to welcome our new YAC members for 2022- 2023: Amira Skeggs, Tianna Jones, Lilian Meyer, Leah Page, Milena Shvedova and Toby Caro. We are so excited to have you with us. Some projects our new YAC contributed to in 2022 include: • developing a panel episode for our podcast, The Power of Showing Up, • collaborating with our Curriculum Team to design mentor resources, • supporting the Programs Team to create more inclusive and accessible documentation, • providing feedback on our new Mentee Handbook design, • advising our Strategy Team on how to attract younger mentors through marketing and volunteer engagement, • and supporting our Youth Summit event in November. These members will continue to be an integral part of the organisation for the duration of 2023.
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In November 2022, Raise piloted our first ‘Youth Summit’, co-hosted with our new Principal Partner, Salesforce. The summit hosted 35 young people from six different schools for a one-day design-thinking workshop. The Data and Youth Insights team piloted this event as a way to capture feedback from young people, and embed their voice in the ongoing design and improvement of our program delivery. Six Sydney School Partners participated in the summit – Turramurra High School, Randwick Boys High School, Marsden High School, Rouse Hill High School, North Sydney Girls High School and Newtown Performing Arts High School. Our 35 young participants were in Years 9 and 10, some Raise graduate mentees and some new to the organisation. The group were given real mentee onboarding, mentor training and program curriculum challenges faced by Raise. Working together, they applied design- thinking to develop creative solutions with invaluable mentoring and input from the Salesforce experts. The day ended with a ‘Shark Tank’ exercise, where each group had the opportunity to pitch their idea back to the cohort. Our first ever Youth Summit
Salesforce, alongside our Youth Engagement Facilitator, played a fundamental role in making the summit a fun, engaging, supportive and well- structured day. A true collaborative partnership was formed during the significant preparation in developing the content, agenda and materials. Engagement was extremely high, with unanimous positive feedback from participants. It made evident what we know to be true – creative initiatives like this inspire and empower young people. Simply put: it was a great success – and the team can’t wait to run another Youth Summit in 2023. Plans are underway with the support of Salesforce and other possible corporate partners.
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People – because it takes a village
Building a positive and inclusive team culture We are proud of the positive, supportive and inclusive team culture we have at Raise. Our values of Show Heart, Deliver Excellence, Be Courageous, Give Respect, Apply Integrity and Bring Vitality guide how we operate and collaborate. Leadership Team: • Vicki Condon AM • Alison Hall
Our Raise team consists of extraordinary people, personally aligned and committed to positively impacting the lives of young Australians. Our employees We employ over 110 (63 FTE) talented individuals who dedicate their expertise, skills and ideas to Raise to ensure we deliver high-quality programs with a positive impact and expand our reach to spread hope to more young people – all in a sustainable way. Our volunteer mentors We partner with over 2,000 volunteer mentors who generously give their time, skills and experiences to empower the young people in our programs. We are very proud that we have been able to maintain our volunteer numbers year-on-year despite the challenges of COVID-19 and research suggesting that adult Australians are volunteering less. Volunteers play an integral role in our Raise village. While we hope to engage more volunteers as we continue our vital work, we feel lucky to have so Our team is guided by the expertise of our Board of Directors, Advisory Councils and Ambassadors. We are fortunate to have the support and connections of a remarkable team of people on our Patron’s Advisory Council, chaired by David Gonski AC, Youth Advisory Council chaired by Lucy Snowball, Fundraising Advisory Council, chaired by Andrew Birch, Research Advisory Council, chaired by Professor Lucas Walsh, and School Advisory Council chaired by Kathleen Vella. many willing to support our mentees. Councils with a purpose
• Karen Kennedy • Allison Salmon • Lucy Snowball • Fiona Treweeke • Kathleen Vella Board of Directors: • Andrew Birch • Tim Bishop • Leon Condon (Chair) • Vicki Condon • Jun Bei Liu • Leanne Ralph
Right: Our Leadership Team (clockwise from top left) Lucy Snowball, Karen Kennedy, Alison Hall, Vicki Condon, Kathleen Vella, Allison Salmon, Fiona Treweeke, Lucy Snowball. Far right: Some of our Board of Directors and PAC members (left to right) Leon Condon (Chair), David Knowles, Vicki Condon, Jun Bei Liu, David Gonski AC (Chair). Inset, on-screen (clockwise from top left) Lisa Paul AO, Emma Flowers, Ilana Atlas AO, Chris Bond and Leslie Loble.
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