Entering the month of December always inspires reflection about what the last year has held. This has been an incredibly busy year for our organisation. We have continuedto develop our flagship programs: SEED, providing targeted support for children and young people recovering from trauma, and ACCESS, creating financial independence for women through access to education and employment pathways.
Early in the year we celebrated the launch of our Reconciliation ActionPlan endorsed by ReconciliationAustralia. WAGEC is unequivocally committed to ensuring our services are culturally safe and appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait women and children and to the process of reconciliation.
Two significant achievements of WAGEC this year were the launch of our new brand and identify, and the development of our unique leadership framework ‘The WAGEC Way’.
The WAGEC Leadership Framework describes the principles we bring to our work with women experiencing violence and the systems and structures that perpetuate inequality. It is our reconceptualisation of leadership as a feminist tool with which we can create a world where women and their families have a safe future.
WAGEC’s transformation has also seen the development of our new brand and identity developed with the support of branding agency. We will be forever grateful to For the People, who worked with us for 12 months on a pro bono basis, and in particular to Jason Little and Bec Cini who led these efforts.
The end result is something we are so proud of. Something that allows us to elevate and amplify our voice in the community, that promotes gender equality and is truly reflective of our core values, that looks at women and children through a lens of strength and resilience, rather than as a deficit, and one that actively seeks to collaborate with our community.
Our 42-year history is built on the foundation of partnership, support and respect and I would like to acknowledge our hard working Board for their strong leadership and governance and to also acknowledge all our staff, Alliance partners, funders and the network of hundreds of supporters without whose support we could not do what we do.
Sending my warmest wishes as we head into the festive season.
Sincerely,
Helen
