It gives me great pleasure to reflect on the year which has been, and the amazing achievements of the Warrior Woman Foundation and its tribe. And what a year it has been! Just 18 months ago I had an idea and I still must pinch myself in the realisation that this dream came to fruition and is now running in full force.
My passion for advancing vulnerable women in the Australian community, combined with recent events has ignited a flame bigger than ever and I’m determined to expand the Warrior Woman Program nationally to every corner of Australia so that we can empower young women to become resilient, independent, and capable of taking their place in the world. Our first goal is to build a sustainable fundraising model for our Sydney program which will involve local businesses sponsoring mentor/mentee matches for a three-year term.
In such a small space of time we have managed to secure some incredible Pro Bono partners including Agent 99PR who have helped us raise a profile in the community, HLW Ebsworth Lawyers who have helped us create and implement our policies and procedures for great governance and L&A Social Media who have provided invaluable training and mentoring in communications. This group alone will provide an in-kind value of $41,900 this year.
I’m delighted to say that we have successfully kicked off our Young Warrior Woman Program with 25 mentor and mentee matches. Through our social media channels, we were able to attract our incredible mentors who have overflowed to a healthy waiting list for next year’s program. I am absolutely blessed to work with such an incredible team who have had to do trauma training in extenuating circumstances at the beginning of Sydney’s second lockdown where there was so much uncertainty. Having to convert the program for on-line delivery meant that our Wise Warrior mentors had to step up in their roles and start the one-to-one weekly mentoring sooner. All these incredible women rose to the occasion and our Young Warriors are thriving with their support. We could not do this amazing work in the community without our mentors whose in-kind time is valued at $123,750.
In just 18 months of inception, we have recruited incredible volunteers working behind the scenes including grant research and administration. We also have an incredible group of highly skilled presenters who work on the frontline with our Young Warriors who give up their time to impart their wisdom and knowledge.
Our board of directors Dr Paulette Maroun and Barbara Clarke played an integral role in assisting me with the setup of the Warrior Woman Foundation. We are incredibly honoured to welcome two additional Advisory Board members, Kerry Stubbs and Sharon Zeev Poole who bring incredible expertise to the table and will help us to successfully implement our Strategic Plan for the next five years.
I’m extremely grateful for the support of Jacinta Tynan, who has come on board to be the Warrior Woman Foundation’s first ambassador. Jacinta has been a long-time supporter of my charity adventures and I’m truly honoured to have her join the team. Our volunteers and in-kind supporters will bring an in-kind value of $213,250 this year which is just incredible.
I’m extremely grateful for the very generous support of Gopalan Nair, our Finance Manager who followed me from my previous charity and donated his time for the entirety of 2020 to set up the accounts and financial reporting systems. Gopalan brings a wealth of experience of financial reporting in the Not For Profit Sector and I’m extremely grateful to have him on the team.
In 2021 we welcomed Madison James to the team as our very first Case Worker. Maddy volunteered for 12 months prior to this whilst she completed her Honours in Social Work. Her passion for the wellbeing of the Young Warriors shines through in everything she does. Maddy is an incredibly talented young woman and I’m blessed to work with her.
When I started the foundation in the depths of COVID I had no idea if we would even be able to raise any money for the foundation, however we have been very fortunate to have raised $170K since inception which exceeded my expectations exponentially. We are extremely grateful for the financial support of the corporate, family and community foundations who have enabled us to kick off our first Young Warrior Woman Program. We also acknowledge the support of the NSW Government, Clubs NSW and local business Fluidform Pilates who have raised funds for our Young Warrior STEM Scholarship program.
We are very excited things to come. In the meantime, we hope that you join the tribe, help us spread the word and share the exciting journey ahead with us.