2018 Annual Report

Annual report 2018 our impact 01 contents About abcn 02 Message from the Chair 03 Message from the CEO 04 Impact on students 06 impact on mentors 07 Our Programs 09 Theory of change Program delivery Core mentoring programs Collaboration initiatives and Development Hub Digital programs ABCN Foundation 17 Our Partners 23 Partner schools Member companies and business partners Board of Directors 28 Financial Information for ABCN is Australia’s largest Year Ending 30 June 2018 31 network of business and ABCN financials Foundation financials schools working together to inspire students from low Governance Statement 36 socio-economic areas to contact us 37 achieve their career goals. ABCN IMPACT 2018 Our reach Our Impact: students Our Impact: mentors and a further... % % 100% 6,690 1,210 93 60 said they students were reached value the mentored through of ABCN students1 opportunity face-to-face online programs to participate in a program completed 3 Year 12 of ABCN students have accepted (compared with a 74% % national average and 61% university offers 2 93 for disadvantaged students) (compared with 29% national average enrolled in university and 20% for SAID THEy 197 40 disadvantaged students)4 WOULD IMPROVE schools businesses how they would mentor others following the program % 90 % % OF FORMER 90 96 5,924 23,999 GOALS STUDENTS OF INNOVATE said surveyed 10+ years after completing the STUDENTS corporate total students program are fully engaged in education, they have volunteers impacted from employment and/or training compared said they were interested developed school-business with a 74% national average and 63% in STEM subjects compared for disadvantaged students5 with 29% before the program personally partnerships from taking part 1,3 GOALS and Aspirations students 2,4,5 Lamb, Prof. Stephen (2015), Educational Opportunity in Australia: who succeeds and who misses out, Centre for International Research on Education Systems, Victoria University for the Mitchell Institute ABCN Annual Report 2018 • 1 about abcn Business inspiring students Our vision is for all young people to reach their potential The challenge in the future world of work, regardless of background. to reach their potential in The gap between advantaged and disadvantaged the future world of work The schools and students we work with schools in Australia is one of the largest in the OECD. Disadvantaged schools in Australia experience more The schools we work with are typically priority-funded teacher shortages, higher teacher-student ratios and and located in low-SES communities. Selection involves Grow Connect Inspire greater inadequacy of educational resources than consultation with school principals and the school’s Index advantaged schools.6 The Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA). is a purpose-led, not-for-profit organisation bringing ABCN’s partner schools typically sit significantly below By the age of 15, students from low-SES areas in Australia business and schools and their students together. the national ICSEA average of 1000 and have high levels are typically three years behind their counterparts from We deliver business-oriented mentoring programs of educational disadvantage. more advantaged areas in subjects such as maths and and workplace experiences to develop students’ skills science. Their likelihood of completing Year 12, going on Students from these schools experience a range of and mindsets, aspirations and connections. We do this to further study and obtaining meaningful employment difficulties. Many have parents who have not completed by fostering meaningful school-business partnerships is significantly diminished. their own schooling and/or gained tertiary qualifications and participation in our programs at all levels. and have little or no access to professional role models. 40% do not complete school Established in 2005 by a group of CEOs whose vision They may also have overcome language and cultural was to engage business to have a greater positive impact barriers or suffered trauma and loss as newly arrived Around 40% of students from the lowest SES backgrounds in the community, 39,197 students have benefitted from immigrants or refugees. They may have significant do not complete Year 12 or its equivalent by age 19, direct mentoring through our work. Today we are a carer responsibilities and/or need to contribute to family compared with a national average of 26%, and 18% network of 40 of Australia’s leading companies working finances due to limited household income. They may for advantaged students.7 together with 197 schools to make a difference to the be experiencing significant poverty, overcrowding in lives of thousands of young Australians from low the home, limited access to educational resources Twice as likely to be unemployed socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. or even homelessness in the most extreme cases. By age 24, they are almost twice as likely to be not fully engaged in employment, education or training, compared to those from the highest SES backgrounds.8 Only one quarter enter university by mid-20s By their mid-20s, only one quarter of students from the lowest SES backgrounds have entered university, compared to two thirds of those from high SES backgrounds.9 6,7,8,9 Lamb, Prof. Stephen (2015), Educational Opportunity in Australia: who succeeds and who misses out, Centre for International Research on Education Systems, Victoria University, for the Mitchell Institute, Melbourne. 2 • ABCN Annual Report 2018 message from the chair I am delighted to introduce the 2018 ABCN Annual At the same time as we are preparing young people for Report and reflect on the organisation's highlights, the future of work, our current workforce is considering challenges and extraordinary outcomes this year. how their own jobs and roles will change. ABCN member Korn Ferry worked with ABCN this year to seek to codify Fundamental to ABCN’s purpose is helping to address the leadership skills mentors develop through participating disadvantage in our community. We believe that by in our programs – skills such as self-awareness, valuing business actively engaging with schools and students, difference and situational adaptability – so that we can we can help change the profound and systemic support our own people to thrive in this next phase of disadvantage that students in lower socio-economic working life. As one of the Hall & Wilcox volunteers said: areas can face. While we have made great progress, ‘Mentoring on an ABCN program is genuinely there remains much to do. as valuable for the mentors as it is for the students. Educators tell us that business has a unique role to play It really prompted me to refocus on my own goals Tony Macvean, Chair in education in building the aspirations, confidence as a young professional beginning my legal career.’ and engagement of young people. At the same time, On that note, this year marks 10 years of ABCN it is more important than ever for different parts of membership for Hall & Wilcox, the law firm that I run. society – in our case, business and school communities I am proud of our involvement and that our people – to build meaningful connections. As well as supporting continue to participate in ABCN programs with passion our young people, it creates better mutual understanding, and enthusiasm. ABCN reached almost 24,000 students 'At the same time we are and reinforces the positive contribution that both this year through its various programs; I am humbled sectors make. preparing young people that as an organisation we helped enable this Increasingly, the role of ABCN is to help prepare students outstanding reach. for the future of work, for the jobs of the future – a world dominated by artificial I would like to acknowledge my fellow board members our current workforce is intelligence, big data and other structural changes. While for their passion and commitment to ABCN, and our some jobs may be replaced, others – often better paying considering how their own members and Council more generally. I would like to ones – will be created. These jobs will involve a different especially acknowledge and thank CEO Allegra Spender skill set: one comprising problem-solving capability, jobs and roles will change, and her high-quality team for their tireless work to make deep expertise and strong interpersonal communication. a difference in the lives of so many young people and and how they also need We think that these are skills that can be learned, and the community in which we live and work. hence they are now core to many ABCN programs. to build problem-solving A great example is ABCN’s new Future Thinkers program, and interpersonal skills which is wholly focussed on developing competency in design thinking. Initially piloted in NSW and Victoria, to navigate new paths.' it was rolled out as a core program this year, with demand projected to triple in 2019. Tony Macvean ABCN Annual Report 2018 • 3 message from the ceo Once again, ABCN has delivered a year of remarkable outcomes On the back of this, our strategy is ambitious. Our goal is to for our students, mentors and member companies. It is both significantly scale the reach of ABCN to offer our programs to encouraging and rewarding to receive positive feedback from all the low socio-economic schools who would like them. This the participants in our programs, but even more so to witness the goal involves strengthening our relationships with our member real impact these experiences have on students and mentors alike. companies while deliberately looking for new partners and channels to support our growth. In 2018, a record 6690 students were mentored face-to-face by 3846 corporate mentors. Thousands more students were reached We are proud of the steps we have taken in 2018 to do this already, via digital programs or one-day events, involving hundreds of including bringing new partners into the network: John Laing, additional company volunteers (totalling 24,000 students and Macquarie, Nous, Ashurst, TASSAL, Cross Yarra Partnership and almost 6000 volunteers).

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