We are thrilled to announce our Resilient Regions program.
Collaborating with Deakin University we are engaging in Victoria’s Gippsland region to help prepare the community for future severe weather events.
Jointly funded by the Victorian Government under the flagship Disaster Ready Fund, the program reduces risk exposure for businesses and builds community resilience.
Over three years, we will facilitate workshops and community meetings and bring 150+ skilled volunteers alongside to build capacity of small business and community organisations.
Deakin University is working with us to build a research piece on the collaboration between communities and the business sector.
Our team is already on the ground engaging with agencies and community organisations to scope out where our skilled volunteers and networks can provide extra support.
ABV Resilient Regions – Capable Communities implementation team L – R: Oscar Mussons (Program Director, Australia), Natascha Wernick (Program Facilitator), Moneesha Reynolds (Marketing Manager), George Barrett (Senior Program Manager, Gippsland), Martin Sharp (Skilled Business Volunteer), Neil Smith (Program Coordinator, Gippsland) Yujin Lee (Program Officer - not pictured)
Skilled Business Professionals, Kaylene Benson and Cathy Corderoy are in Labasa, Vanua Levu volunteering their time to deliver Fiji THRIVE this month.
Kaylene says “Reflecting on my experience in Fiji, I continue to be amazed at the many ways people are connected and the importance placed on looking after each other. Everyone seems very eager to make the most of this opportunity.”
The program focuses on supporting Fijian entrepreneurship, with strong participation by women-led businesses, for more resilient and sustainable communities.
BSP Financial Group Limited and Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) have co-designed this business-strengthening program, Fiji THRIVE, which is offered to micro, small, and medium enterprises across Fiji through in-person workshop training and ongoing online coaching and mentoring over six months.
Last week, a group of NAB colleagues volunteered their expertise for a nine-day community strategy challenge for Clothing The Gaps.
Clothing The Gaps is a vibrant community brand celebrating Aboriginal people and culture and is a majority Aboriginal-owned business and social enterprise.
For this Community Strategy Challenge, the NAB skilled volunteer team aims to develop a clear strategic plan to support the future sustainability of Clothing The Gaps over the next three years.
This program is made possible through Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) partnership with NAB, which has developed over the last seven years. Working with First Nations organisations is a crucial part of our collaboration.
Together, we tackle strategic business challenges for community organisations.
The ABV Capable Communities Program has ended after 22 months of supporting the communities in the Snowy Valley and the South Coast of NSW.
To honour the dedication of our community partners, collect feedback, and hand over the community projects to the funder, Reconstruction Authority, the team at ABV hit the road for a six-day roadshow to meet with those we've worked with for one last time.
Over the last 22 months, our skilled business volunteers and expert staff have supported community organisations with business plans, sustainability scoping and disaster preparedness.
Image: ABV Team, Nat and George with Reconstruction Authority rep Bryan Smith.
These are areas that were heavily affected by the 2019/2020 bushfires; the trauma of that time is still held by the residents today.
The first day of the roadshow was spent in Tumbarumba, on the southwest slopes of the Snowy Mountains. In this community, our team worked with the Chamber of Commerce to build its business capacity and assigned volunteers to support several businesses and not-for-profits.
The second stop was Aruluen. It was a chilly -2 morning under the dramatic ranges that hold the valley. Four years after the fires, you can still see the scars on the mountains where it surrounded the town. Our volunteers assisted the Araluen Federal Hall Association develop a marketing plan after their rebuild. The hall has become a community hub, hosting movie nights, markets, birthdays, and selling local jams and spreads to fund back into the hall.
Representatives from the Braidwood Business Chamber also attended. ABV led two tourism development workshops to support the communities in creating a tourism corridor between Canberra and the South Coast, positioning Braidwood as a destination rather than just a rest stop on the way through.
The roadshow then hit the South Coast, to connect back in with a few community organisations we've supported, including the Moruya Compost Club, Repurpose for Resilience, and the South Coast Health and Sustainability Alliance (SHASA).
SHASA is currently focusing on adding solar panels to the new Eurobodalla hospital, for which ABV volunteers helped with the feasibility study. These panels would act as a shade for the carpark and power what will be one of the council's largest energy expenses.
The Compost Club was matched with two long-serving volunteers, who acted as their "business brain" to promote sustainable food practices to the community more widely. The team was lucky to visit the composting site and see the operation (and the worms) in action.
The team then visited Repurpose for Resilience, a solar panel recycler and innovator. We were enthusiastically shown solar innovations, including an outdoor table made from a panel. Although our volunteer match wasn't successful, we reconnected to take feedback. We saw the progression of their projects, including a solar truck and a portable power station. Accessible energy is essential in times of disaster when power goes down and services are shut off.
The team took a final site visit to Wallaga Lakes Aboriginal Community, where we worked with engineering firm Arup to help develop another access road to provide a safe way in and out during disasters. Merriman's Local Aboriginal Land Council identified this project as essential, as the community was left to fend for themselves in the fires. We had the privilege of seeing the planned road and other sites inside the reserve.
Our final day was in the seaside community of Eden, where we were lucky enough to have the Mayor and a councillor join the discussion inside the historic log cabin. We led a disaster preparedness workshop in Eden in March 2023, which the community still use today.
Listening to the communities passionately discuss their ongoing priorities had challenging moments but was important in a safe space for sharing. The Reconstruction Authority team attended each of these gatherings to hear what the community had been working on, and it also provided a chance to raise questions.
The ABV team's sadness to be leaving is mixed with anticipation for future collaborations. The roadshow not only marked the end of a chapter but also highlighted the importance of meeting face-to-face and solidifying bonds. ABV believes in the transformative power of community-centred resilience initiatives.
Funding note: The Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF) is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
Happy Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Day! Today, we celebrate the businesses that are the backbone of our economies.
As mentors to small businesses, Australian Business Volunteers have a front-row seat to their challenges.
One participant in our program Gulshad Begum, entered the fiercely competitive world of Facebook selling and carved a niche for herself through integrity and persistence.
Launching her brand, Optimum Image, in 2014, with the support of her husband Zahir Ali, she was inspired by the rising trend of Facebook sellers importing goods but saw a significant gap in quality.
Gulshad faced substantial barriers, particularly in finding a reliable supplier who could deliver quality products at an affordable price.
"I would never want to sell something I wouldn't wear myself," Gulshad said. Driven by this principle, she contacted numerous suppliers until she found the perfect match. Overcoming the challenges of the customs process, she finally received her first shipment.
With no dedicated space, she transformed her sitting room cupboard into a makeshift showroom, inviting friends and family to view and purchase her garments.
Exposure became her key strategy. "I created my Facebook page and made friends with one and all, anyone I came across, I just made friends," she recalls.
Through her efforts, Gulshad's sales grew, and she built a home office off her sitting room. In 2018, after 20 years in the printing business, her husband established his own office supply company and started sharing the home office space.
Despite having to share her space with toner cartridges and stationery, Gulshad cherishes their collaboration. "Sometimes on his way to service an office, he will take a delivery for one of my customers. I keep his books as well, so we work well together," she said.
Balancing work and family life remains a challenge for Gulshad. She juggles customer calls, school projects, and last-minute requests, often going the extra mile for her clients.
Image: Gulshad and her husband Zahir.
"The other day we had an urgent call from a mother who needed a lion picture for her son's assignment. I printed it and handed it to her myself at the school gates," she recalls with a smile.
In 2023, Gulshad attended the Fiji THRIVE small business program, a partnership between BSP Financial Group Limited and Australian Business Volunteers (ABV).
This program offers bank customers like Gulshad essential business training, coaching, and mentoring delivered by ABV’s skilled business professionals who have experience working in a range of Pacific cultures, including living and working in Fiji. Gulshad found the sales skills she learned invaluable.
"The advertising tactics that I learnt with ABV were very beneficial," she said. The course also instilled a new discipline in her financial management, helping her separate personal and business finances and manage margins more effectively.
Despite her modesty, Gulshad is ambitious. Her future plans include setting up a larger space and possibly opening a shop for Optimum Image Clothing. Her eldest child has shown interest in fashion, hinting that the family business may soon become a shared passion.
This article was featured in the Fiji Times.
The night before virtually interviewing ABV mentor David Campbell and mentee Moana Korikalo, a 6.5-scale earthquake hit Vanuatu. Despite being woken up by her home shaking in the night, Moana showed up on time to chat with us with a positive attitude. "That's who Moana is; she always follows through on her commitments," David remarked.
As the Retail Head of BSP Financial Group Limited's Vanuatu branch, Moana guides clients through their business growth and steers them towards success. We matched David and Moana in May 2022 under BSP's leadership development program. Moana picked David for his impressive profile that showcased his extensive sales and business development expertise. On David's suggestion, they took a personality test to get to know each other. They found they were both 'protagonists'–the people who get things done.
Moana has been with BSP Financial Group since 2010 and is now in her 7th year as the retail head of Vanuatu. She manages a team of 59 staff—each day brings something new. Moana's real love is helping people; she initially started as an executive assistant at BSP and, in her downtime, would head downstairs to help customers at the bank. She quickly realised an assistant role wasn't for her; she needed to be with a team.
Moana embraced the chance to participate in the BSP/ABV mentoring program. Her main goal was to enhance her leadership skills, and with David's help, Moana has improved her confidence in leading her team. Moana's excellent communication skills are crucial to managing her multi-lingual team, who speak French, English, and Bislama.
David travelled to meet Moana for the first time in September 2023. "It felt like reuniting with an old friend. We have become great buddies over the years, and I felt comfortable immediately. I know our friendship will continue after this program," said Moana.
David met Moana's team at the bank and got to see the other side of his mentoring at play; "I asked the team for feedback on what was and wasn't working, and the level of candour was pretty refreshing", he said.
Moana has led her team to great personal and professional achievements. She shared a heartwarming story of how proud she was that one of her branch managers passed her driving test after seven years of her writing it into her 'development plan.'
Moana's leadership style has transformed throughout the mentoring program. Moana said, "My confidence and how I approach situations is so different, thanks to David's guidance. When people ask me how I've done it, I simply say, 'Meet my friend David.'"
For this year’s World Environment Day, the theme is Generation Restoration. Restoration means building fire, flood, and drought resilience. Today, ABV is reminded of the incredible lessons we learned at the Cultural Burning Conference facilitated with the Bateman's Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council in 2023.
You may have heard the term "cultural burning", but wondered how this practice is different to other methods. Keep reading to find out.
Hazard reduction burning involves deliberately starting fires under controlled conditions to clear out low-lying flammable material, sometimes called "prescribed" burning. It is not the same as "back burning", which is done as a last resort to try to slow down an approaching wildfire by stripping the ground of vegetation. Currently fire management agencies use a combination of the techniques.
Cultural burning is creating healthy country to encourage endemic (found in the specific area) species and country that holds fire resilience which can be understood through relationship to the land and reading indicators.
At the conference, delegates witnessed the calmness of the process. Everyone was walking and talking around the fire with no sense of danger, which shocked some of the agencies who have seen burning in action before.
Cultural burning takes a holistic approach, intertwining spiritual, social, and environmental aspects. The difference with a cultural burn is that the fire burns "low and slow", preserving the integrity of the soil and preventing regrowth for longer than typical backburning methods. The heat point doesn't damage the earth and promotes the growth of the natives of the area that are used for medicine and are fed on by the wildlife.
Above: Adam Nye, Walbunja Ranger teaching the group about medicinal plants and bush tucker.
When a fire is too rapid and hot, invasive species grow back as other seeds are destroyed. The bush that grows back is dense and at a high risk of igniting in hot conditions. We watched as insects and lizards slowly moved away from the fire, demonstrating that the circular shape of the fire allows time and space for wildlife to escape instead of running towards the fire in confusion.
The Walbunja Rangers shared with us that their connection to country underpins all their practice of putting fire down. Observing migratory/behavioural patterns of wildlife, foliage density, species types which then provide a guide for when to burn. The "when" is perhaps what we have gotten most wrong with other hazard reduction methods. Often, we have been too late leading to disasters like 2007’s Black Saturday and the 2019-2020 Black Summer.
Above: Rangers Andrew White and Adam Nye bending the stems of the low-lying plants to prevent the fire jumping up to the canopy leaves.
Cultural burning has been a practice for over 60,000 years that First Nations people have used to protect and regenerate the land, yet it is not incorporated into mainstream prevention methods.
There is currently no cultural fire land management legislative and policy conventions across National Parks, Crown Lands, State Parks, Forestry Corp, Council land and private land.
Please share this article to help educate and raise awareness about this practice.
The new Kiah Community Hall was officially opened this week, marking a fresh chapter for the community.
It has been a four-year journey to open this beautiful new hall, which took the dedication of the Bega Valley Shire Council, the hall committee, and partners such as ABV and Arup. The original Kiah Hall and the Kiah Catholic Church were destroyed in the 2020 black summer bushfires.
MP Kirsty McBain, who cut the ribbon at the opening, said, "Country halls are the heart and soul of communities, a gathering place of connection especially in times of trauma."
In seeing the stunning, finished result, we want to recognise the tireless efforts of the committee and the volunteers behind bringing this hall to fruition.
It's important to remember that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes in projects like this. In 2021, the former Bega MP Andrew Constance and Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick secured funding for the hall rebuild under the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund.
However, this rebuild would require additional funding. The committee pooled resources from the generous donations to the Hall fund and Hall's insurance money to purchase the Church ground from the Pambula Catholic Parish. The Church ground proved a much better location to build the new hall.
The Kiah Hall project had hit a roadblock: A road safety concept plan was required to get building approval for the hall. There is a dangerous turn-off from the Princes Highway onto Kiah Hall Road. Because of this, the building development application required approval for an intersection road safety concept plan from Transport NSW.
A key problem: no funding was factored in for the road safety plan, so the project stalled again.
At the time, Arup engineers and ABV were already working on road remediation plans in Kiah to repair roads the fire had destroyed. While in the area, the need for a road safety concept plan for Kiah Hall arose.
In October 2022, Australian Business Volunteers facilitated a powerful collaboration between the Council's Kiah Hall Project Management lead team, Gemma Gill, Mark Baker, Clare McMahon and members of the Arup team, Ed Rowe, Glenda Yiu, Brad Massey, and Alex Duffy.
Arup's expertise was pro-bono to avoid additional costs not covered by the funding. An intersection road safety plan is a significant cost, and the entire Arup project is estimated at 60-80k of donated expertise.
Because of this delay with the road safety requirements, they risked having to return the funding if they didn't meet their March 2023 deadline. Fortunately, they were granted an extension to June 2024.
Once Arup got involved, it took them less than three months to complete the road safety concept plans. Without this road safety plan, the hall wouldn't have been able to be constructed. Transport NSW approved the hall development within a month of receiving Arup's plans.
Senior Program Manager George Barrett attended the ribbon-cutting, with Bega Valley Shire Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick, State MP Dr. Michael Holland, MP Kristy McBain and Committee Member John Thorpe, standing in for the sadly missed Clare McMahon.
Image source: 2ec News - Jame Fennessy
The Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF) is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
For an impressive span of more than 30 years, Bevan Sharp has been a dedicated volunteer of ABV.
His commitment has seen him complete over 60 assignments in 16 countries, contributing his time and expertise to invaluable projects across Asia and the Pacific, including in Cambodia, Vietnam, PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Tonga and Fiji.
Bevan's wealth of professional experience and passion for supporting the communities he works with has seen him perform a varying range of roles including hotel management, tourism business development, staff management training, marketing development, business hub establishment, marketing, agri-tourism, and fundraising.
Bevan has let us know that the time has come for him to focus on his other commitments. His unwavering dedication for over 30 years to ABV has been incredibly valued and will be greatly missed. Thank you for your service Bevan.
Marcus Alexander is one of ABV's skilled volunteers working with our Nauru program to build capacity of local small-medium businesses. Marcus has always had a talent for spotting opportunities, making him perfect to help small businesses in Nauru. He discovered his love for retail and business while working at Woolworths, eventually making his way up the ranks in management. From here, he moved into business-to-business sales, selling everything from baked beans, baby food, tools, and homewares. B2B sales led him to work for Kincrome, where he sold hardware to Bunnings, which sparked his obsession for DIY and ultimately led him to start his own business, Codu, a premium textiles company.
Marcus and his blankets in MYER
Marcus’ business beginnings in textiles began when he travelled to Ukraine for a friend's wedding. Knowing his love for all things DIY, his friend told him about the world's largest DIY store in Kyiv. Here, he discovered beautiful woollen blankets tucked into a back corner, and immediately, his brain started ticking over.
Marcus knew that the Australian market had a high demand for woollen products, so he took a risk and had six boxes sent back home to try his hand at selling them. The blankets were a hit. After testing the market more and seeing success, he expanded into cabinetry, still using Ukrainian small businesses as his suppliers, which has become an essential part of his mission.
In 2023, Marcus joined the Nauru Private Sector Development Roadmap program, part of a four-year partnership between ABV and the Nauru Chamber of Commerce (NCC). He worked closely with NCC Business Hub Manager Jennifer Harris and fellow SBP Susan Goldie to facilitate the Your Enterprise Scheme (YES) workshop series with short-term accommodation providers in Nauru.
Volunteers Liane, Matt, Marcus and Susan delivering workshop virtually
The YES Program, a business skills training program for small businesses, has been tailored into a modular workshop series focusing on a range of business sectors in Nauru, aligning with the private sector development goals of the Roadmap. After the initial workshop training, Marcus and Susan provided one-on-one sessions for the participating short-term accommodation providers. Short-term accommodation is crucial for Nauru to host events like the Miss Pacific Island Pageant, for which Marcus was prepping the businesses. "There is such huge potential there, and I loved meeting such a diverse group of participants," said Marcus.
Marcus is passionate about the importance of collaboration and innovation in driving positive change. Just as his business has opened doors for small suppliers in Ukraine, he constantly seeks new ways to help others.
Marcus has these words of wisdom to leave us with, "Real leadership is when you see those you are mentoring blossom. Be there as that set of safe hands and see how much they flourish."
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Welcome. Sign up here to receive email communications about current ABV news and events.
