TRENT MILLER
Performance and Partnership Leader at Youth Projects
Awarded a Melbourne Business School Scholarship for the New Leadership Development Program, 2019
What sort of work does your organisation do?
Youth Projects are an independent, registered charity which provides front line support to young people and individuals experiencing disadvantage, unemployment, homelessness, alcohol and other drug issues. We also help those looking to re-engage with learning and employment. We recognise the complex and varying needs of the people we work with and go above and beyond, 365 days a year, to provide pathways out of poverty. Describe a typical day's work.
My day is centered around leading my team on their respective programs and ensuring they can be at their best and achieve business outcomes. I connect with a range of stakeholders (service providers, government, local businesses, corporates) to improve service offering and service design for both our consumers and staff to improve our social and wellbeing impact for Melbourne’s most vulnerable people. What were some of the key learnings from the course?
1. Understanding yourself and understanding the perception of yourself. 2. Processes to give and receive feedback. 3. Identifying a strengths-based approach for staff. 4. Tailoring your approach to your team and executives How has it impacted / changed / benefited your role and your organisation as a whole?
A renewed understanding of my capacity and what I can offer my organisation. The program reinvigorated my spark for creating high performing teams and how to create a high performing environment. We are near completion of an emerging leaders program to help identify and retain the best talent within our organization and ensure they continue on the right career trajectory. I have a run a series of lunch and learn sessions to my senior team members to equip them some of my newfound knowledge. Recently, our disability employment team have improved our overall rating to be in the top 2% in Australia. Not only great for our team, even better for our clients who have been able to secure more meaningful employment. How did you come to be working in the not-for-profit sector?
Fluke! I met an Operations Manager (playing poker) from a local NFP who happened to go to school with my sister. At the time I was in my second year of University and not really enjoying it. Fortunately, they had an entry level role I was fortunate enough to obtain. And no… I did not give him all my money, I am far too competitive for that. In fact, I took his! I think that is why he was so impressed with me. Eight years on I still work with him and he is CEO of Youth Projects and an ASF scholarship winner as well! What do you feel is most needed to sustain and build the impact of the not-for-profit sector?
People, people and people. Understanding, educating and rewarding. Education, NFP’s are filled with compassionate and caring people. We need to ensure we are accompanying this with some commercial acumen to ensure we remain viable and run our NFP’s like a business. Showcasing our social impact and wellbeing improvements to philanthropic funders. Being able to demonstrate the impact we have on our consumers and in turn the improvement it has on our overall economy. What is something interesting / unique / unusual about you?
I am an avid sports enthusiast and data nerd… I spend far too much time on different fantasy sport platforms.
Click here to read about other ASF scholars.
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