Aspiring Leaders

The National Aspiring Leaders Summit is one of Australia's peak leadership events. It brings together young people from across Australia to participate in a seven day program that provides them with the necessary skills and experiences to return to their community and make a difference. The young people walk away from the program with a plan to complete a Community Action Project.

The National Aspiring Leaders program is innovative in the way it works with other not-for-profit organisations. Outward Bound recognises that by working with other organisations they are able to provide greater support for the young people engaged in its programs.

The other not-for-profit and community organisations that Outward Bound have worked with in previous National Aspiring Leadership Summits include:

• The Education Foundation of Australia, who have provided critical support for the delegates through their ruMAD? program
• The Country Education Foundation of Australia in partnership with Rabobank, who have supported young people from disadvantaged rural communities to participate in this program
• The Smith Family in partnership with Westpac, enabled young people in their 'Learning for Life' program to participate

Outward Bound hopes that through this initiative it is able to make a real difference not online in the lives of the young people who participate, but also in the capacity of these organisations to fulfil their missions. For example, Melbourne based community organisation YEAH (Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS) and the Oak Tree Foundation have benefited from the program when young people they support return to their organisation to coordinate and deliver on capacity building projects.

At its core, the National Aspiring Leaders Program is preventative. It works in the space of developing the necessary skills, attitudes and behaviours in young people that will allow them to effectively lead projects that make a difference in their community. The program doesn't work directly at the social problems the young people identify. It works at building a leadership capacity that can address these and other problems into the future. Research on Outward Bound programs has proven the impact on the participants can last lifetime.

At a fundamental level, Outward Bound seeks to address six declines in modern society:

• Fitness
• Memory and imagination
• Skill and care
• initiative and enterprise
• self discipline
• compassion

These qualities are integral parts of Outward Bound programs. We believe that by addressing these social declines and providing young people with the resilience, confidence and self-awareness, it is able to make a significant long-term difference in the world.

The National Aspiring Leaders Summit is helping open up new opportunities for collaboration across the social sector. Over ten organisations have been engaged in this program since its inception. For many of the young people, this was their first opportunity to engage with and work alongside other young people from other states. The shifts in perspectives that occurred were monumental. This collaboration has continued beyond the program and with limited support from Outward Bound, technology is a key factor in bringing the young people together and allowing them to collaborate.

National Inspiring Leaders Summit '08

Recap

National Inspiring Leaders Summit '09

Recap

National Inspiring Leaders Summit '10

Recap