I want to share with you a moment that displays the spirit of NPAworldwide in action.
As we are all well aware, the global pandemic kept many of us in place for nearly 2 years. In Australia, the lock downs and lack of travel were particularly difficult. For the first time in more than 2 years, NPAworldwide members gathered for a face-to-face meeting in Manly, a seaside suburb of Sydney, NSW. There were about 60 member-owners and sponsors gathered for our dinner on the first night of the conference. With inspiration from Jason Elias, our Past Chairman, a speaker offered some dedicated training time for “auction” to support Simone Allan’s cause, The Women’s Resilience Centre.
That item was joined spontaneously with several more offers from members, speakers and sponsors. This was particularly meaningful since Australia was in lock down at time of the award. Simone Allan of Mondo Search Pty Limited (Sydney, Australia), recipient of the NPAworldwide 2021 Community Service Award, was given the honor personally by Jason in May 2021, no crowds or cheering. This public action and recognition was well deserved.
What proceeded from that single act of kindness was remarkable. A total of nearly $11,000 generated within 30 minutes for The Women’s Resilience Centre!!! The items and the donations are noted below.
The Women's Resilience Centre Contributions:
| Person | Winner | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Iven Frangi (business strategy session) | Andrew Sullivan | $350 |
| James Harman (IT overview) | Deb Brown | $300 |
| Mike “Batman” Cohen (training session) | Arnold Group | $1500 |
| ResourcesHub (Harrison Assessment) | Sullivan Consulting | $200 |
| Safety Services Australia (site check) | Prestige Staffing | $1200 |
| Deb Brown (cash donation) | $300 | |
| Career Lasso (training session) | ResourcesHub | $1400 |
| NPAworldwide (12 Months Membership) | Macforce | $2900 |
| Chandler Executive (cash donation) | $1050 | |
| Allegro Recruitment (cash donation) | $300 | |
| Brendan Herlihy/A-Positive (cash donation) | $500 | |
| Andrew Thoseby (cash donation) | $400 | |
| Anonymous donation | $384.70 | |
| Cash on the night | $122 |
This attention and support given in this live display of spirit was moving. The non-NPAworldwide attendees were in awe of support and generosity that was so easily provided. As a long-time staff member, it was emotional and memorable to see the power of the network in action!
The Women's Resilience Centre was established in 2020, with three missions:
- Provide medium-term residential care for women and their children for up to 12 months (crisis care only provides short-term accommodations for up to 12 weeks)
- Provide a trauma-informed, evidence-based resilience program with both clinical and social enterprise capability components, working with the University of Technology in Sydney, one of Australia's most commercial universities
- Provide a peer-to-peer mentoring service to match thrivers with survivors, utilizing the Mentor Revolution
Thanks to all those that embodied the spirit of NPAworldwide for a worthy cause.