Darren Jackson Youth Worker Hobart
Employment Criterion
On The Coal Face
Permission has been given by one of my mentees to use this example from the 2007 Festival of Dreams Annual Forum. She presented as very introverted and only made a few friends at the Forum (myself and my 2 other mentees) and would not speak publicly in the Open Space circle. At the end of the Forum, at the final gathering, she said to me that she was going to speak and asked if I could applaud as she was very nervous and thought nobody would. She spoke very eloquently and heartfelt, getting not only my applause but the applause of the gathered participants. She then became involved in the Youth Leadership training that was offered, but again only if I joined her.
This program and my support increased her confidence. She went on a promotional tour with the then manager and spoke to the Mountain Heights School Assembly in Queenstown about her experiences. When I took over as interim Manager, she joined me on radio and in a meeting with Nick McKim. And at our final Participant meeting held in Ross, she spoke very publicly about her battle with depression and how much both the program and myself had helped her, and allowed this to be included on a promotional DVD that we were creating to assist with funding. Finally, at the 2008 Celebration night, she sang, a cappella, a song she had written especially for the occasion.
I have maintained the mentor relationship with her since the end of the Festival of Dreams with her parent’s approval. It is her belief that without the Festival of Dreams and myself, she may have attempted suicide or seriously harmed herself.
Managerial
While at the Festival of Dreams as a volunteer mentor, I introduced a formal evaluation process for the Festival of Dreams forums and collated the data into a report for management. This was used to assist with funding efforts as well as report the feedback from participants and mentors. Additionally, when I was employed as Program Coordinator, I created a document showing State-wide participation and all projects created by the participants from 2004-2008.
As Manager, I was required to report to the committee on a monthly basis by way of a written Manager’s Report and attend the meeting to further expand upon the report. I was also required to supply a written report to our primary funding body (TCF) at the end of our funding period. It was unfortunate that 2008 was our final year as we had not secured ongoing funding sufficient to continue the organisation which was one of our requisites for the funding received. The reasons for this were included in the report. The DPAC Social Inclusion Pitch (included below) was one of our funding avenues developed by myself.
What was the Festival of Dreams (2008)
(Downloadable PDF)
DPAC Social Inclusion Pitch for Funding (2008)
(Downloadable PDF)
Annual Program Cycle Chart
(Downloadable PDF)
Resume
(Downloadable PDF)
