By: Fiona Maxwell | Queensland Manager, Philanthropy Australia
Bryony Green (Victorian Women's Benevolent Trust) and Genevieve Timmons (Portland House Foundation) were paired up in Philanthropy Australia’s Program Manager Mentoring Program and have had a fruitful year. Here are some of their insights.
Bryony: “The opportunity to work with Genevieve has been an invaluable experience as it has provided me with practical skills as well as a more philosophical understanding of philanthropy, my career and life more broadly.
As a result, this partnership has built my confidence, changed and enhanced my approach to work, sharpened my career direction and provided important leadership skills to apply now and in the future.”
Genevieve: “Bryony’s approach to this mentoring opportunity has been the single most useful aspect of this partnership. She has sought out the value from every session, working conscientiously between sessions and coming with questions, ideas and challenges that have been central to the work we did together.”
Bryony: “The importance of understanding my personal motivation for my career path, being able to unpack it, and anticipate the changes to motivations as I go ahead. This led into developing my story – how did I get to be interested in philanthropy?
Finally we worked a lot on how to balance practical, creative and philosophical elements of the work.”
The mentorship was diverse in its discussions and in its settings. The pair tackled many areas, including the following:
In summary, the partnership between Genevieve and Bryony has been a successful and positive experience, valued by both parties.
There have been clear benefits and skills gained for the mentee and her respective organisation, and also for the mentor.
The value of these outcomes is a direct result of the commitment by both parties to work towards planned goals within the agreed framework, with some flexibility.
With thanks to our program partners Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, RE Ross Trust and The Ian Potter Foundation.
Jan. 21, 2015
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