Foundation for Australian Agricultural Women

President of FAAW, Jane Cleeve, said launching into webinars provides more learning and networking opportunities for women in rural and regional areas. "We have previously run three tele-learning series and the women who participate in them find them extremely useful and inspirational. By exploring new technologies and ways of communicating with women, we are imbuing rural and regional women with the knowledge they can achieve anything they set their minds to."

Run over three weeks, each one hour session will explore different aspects of photography and the visual arts, including the process of entering and making yourself ready for art competitions, taking one image into 17 different art industries (new markets) and expanding your viewpoint to include global alliances and markets. The series runs in conjunction with the FAAW Image Competition and all rural and regional creatives are encouraged to engage with the foundation through the competition. Further details on the competition can be found on the foundation website.

Participants can login into the series from home with no travel or fuel costs and no time away from family or farm. In between each webinar there will be something to work on, and by the final session participants will have a new set of tools and resources to create new paths and opportunities. To register for the webinar series, participants should register and pay online at www.faaw.org.au.

"The Foundation is able to draw on our extensive network to partner with presenters with a proven track record and something unique to offer our participants. We look forward to developing many more series in the future to inspire women in leadership to reach their potential," Ms Cleeve finished.

The webinar series is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) as part of its Recognising Women Farmers initiative.

Professor Nell Arnold has extensive experience across all areas of the arts. She came to Australia in 1992 and continued her work in the arts, the Cultural Olympics of 2000 and extended consulting into 76 countries serving as judge, juror and talent scout for major arts organisations. Nell has spent 17 years in and out of rural Australia assisting artists and organisations to build opportunities.

What: The Arts - A Competition with Self

When: 11:00am, Tuesday, 22 June 2010

Where: Via webinar

A tele-learning series successfully launched in 2009 will continue in 2010. The tele-learning series, which can be accessed from any landline, connects women from around the country with leadership expertise.. The purpose of the series is to empower women to become more effective and confident leaders at home, in the community and in business. The tele-learning project is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) as part of its Recognising Women Farmers initiative. More information about the series can be found at www.faaw.org.au.

The Global Interactive Library is expected to launch mid-2010 with four distinct sections, including an online information resource and forum. The Library will be a dynamic exchange centre for users from Australia and around the world to share information they find interesting or helpful. The Library will also connect women in leadership to discuss insights, issues and solutions relevant to rural and regional areas. The Global Interactive Library is funded by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA).

"FAAW will be providing content through Forums, Seminars and workshops but more importantly will encourage users to interact from their knowledge and experience on the site. The Library is a place of knowledge creation. The Innovation Labs, the most ambitious part of our plans, will follow later this year and developed over the next two years," Ms Cleeve said.

The Innovation Labs will link women with new business ideas and inventions to others with common interests and with experts and potential investors. Supported by a network of sponsors, including leading organisations in the field of law, agriculture, communication, engineering, and art, the Innovation Labs will provide a direct line between the business idea and investment capital and support.

"The Innovation Labs are designed to create business opportunities. We will feature an online gallery for rural artists and photographers to sell their work, as well as provide opportunities for women who have ideas, perhaps for sustainable farming, healthcare or design, to discuss their plans with experienced professionals in innovation and development," Ms Cleeve said.

The idea of the Innovation Labs has been positively received by business, with a prominent law firm and several companies are in discussion with the Foundation. Ms Cleeve said this initial interest demonstrates the value and faith business has in women from rural and regional areas.

"Women are important to the long-term development and sustainability of our rural and regional areas. With the new tools we currently have, and those we will implement, women in rural and regional areas will have the support they need to make truly significant strides," Ms Cleeve concluded.

Run over six weeks, each one hour session will explore different aspects of leadership, including the power of attraction, how to create your own life and constructing the right support system.

Participants can dial into the series from home with no travel or fuel costs and no time away from family or farm. In between each teleconference there will be something to work on, and by the final session participants will have a new set of tools and resources to create new paths and opportunities. To register for the tele-learning series, participants should register and pay online at www.faaw.org.au.

"The Foundation is able to draw on our extensive network to partner with presenters with a proven track record and something unique to offer our participants. We look forward to developing many more series in the future to inspire women in leadership to reach their potential," Ms Cleeve finished.

The tele-learning series is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) as part of its Recognising Women Farmers initiative.

Sarah Cornally has extensive experience across all areas of industry, commerce and government. Her client list includes Coca Cola Amatil, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ernst & Young, Macquarie Bank, Network 10, Pearson Education, Phillips Fox Lawyers, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Vodafone.

"For our future tele-learning series, FAAW will continue to partner with presenters that have a proven track record. FAAW has significant alliances to be able to successfully attract and obtain the services of professional facilitators", stated President Jane Cleeve.

Participants will be able to easily register and pay for the series (one or all sessions) through the Foundation's website. They will also be provided with resources such as handouts and downloadable audio of the session, enhancing their learning and retention of information.

"It allows women to access learning without putting additional strain on family resources", FAAW President Ms Cleeve said, "the tele-learning series will contribute to the capacity of rural women to influence. They are more likely to participate more actively and effectively in their communities or businesses, at the same time growing their own skills and level of contribution."

All participants in their first tele-learning series stated that they would participate in another similar series in a similar format. "Thank you to FAAW for providing appropriate training in my own workplace. Not having to travel was a huge bonus", stated one participant. "You can never stop improving your communication ability and this format was a wonderful way to improve my communication skills", stated another.

This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) as part of its Recognising Women Farmers initiative, "the government is committed to building the leadership and representative skills of women involved in our primary industries, particularly given the challenges of a changing climate."

FAAW, a national independent non-profit organisation, is dedicated to supporting women in leadership who are increasing information access and career mobility for women in rural and regional communities. Foundation priorities include increasing opportunities to advance women in education, employment, health and leadership.

For further information contact their Communications Officer Lydia Valeriano on 0431 457 927.

"The Foundation recognises the disparity between communication capacities of people living in rural and regional communities. The disparity is found not only as an economic factor, but also one that becomes social in isolation by distance. As more rural and regional communities access communication enhanced technology support systems, the potential to lessen both the economic and social isolation stress will be increased", stated President Jane Cleeve.

The development of these portals will be staged, with the initial main FAAW website due for launch at the end of July. Planning of the library and forum is underway with release due later this year.The development of the innovation ideas lab and commercial image gallery will begin later this year and released late 2009.

The innovation ideas lab and commercial image gallery are the first of their kind for the industry and will not only provide a professional, social and intellectual platform for rural and regional women leaders to interact, but the image gallery will directly benefit them financially.Working on a royalty free based payment system, artists will be able to sell their work through the portal.This system will offer regional and rural artists and photographers who have not yet ventured online a whole new market and income stream.

Likewise the ideas innovation lab will provide opportunities to network, pitch and test ideas, access information and debate; a modern online think tank.

By accessing this source of funds, women in rural and regional areas may be well informed and better equipped to take leadership as individuals in their regions, backed by a Foundation dedicated to leadership development of women in rural and regional Australian communities.The Foundations main aim is to increase the voice and presence of women as leaders of influence, Ms Cleeve said.

FAAW, a national independent non-profit organisation, is dedicated to supporting women in leadership who are increasing information access and career mobility for women in rural and regional communities.Foundation priorities include building communication portals in education, employment, health and leadership.

For further information contact their Communications Officer Lydia Valeriano on 0431 457 927.

The grant recognises the invaluable work of FAAW and imposes few constraints on how the funds are to be used but must be applied to the capacity building of the organisation. FAAW will apply the funds in the following three key areas:

• Administrative and governance capacity
• Marketing capacity
• Fundraising capacity

The selected organisations will participate in a forum with experts on capacity building and take part in a research program conducted by Queensland University of Technology's Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies. The research findings will be reported to the Australian non-profit sector and grant maker network, and to the organisations themselves, with the hope to encourage future grants for capacity building.

The selected organisations were chosen according to a set of criteria established by the 2009 Commemorative Grants Taskforce: the organisation must work within the field of poverty and disadvantage or community; have a budget of less than $2 million; and have received two or more grants from The Myer Foundation or Sidney Myer Fund, most recently within the last ten years.

FAAW, a national independent non-profit organisation, is dedicated to supporting women in leadership who are increasing information access and career mobility for women in rural and regional communities. Foundation priorities include increasing opportunities to advance women in education, employment, health and leadership.

For further information contact their Communications Officer Lydia Valeriano on 0431 457 927.