So, what is resilience? How do we measure it, and how do we build upon it? How do we know what were doing is right?
On the morning of tuesday the 27th 2020, menslink hosted the annual business breakfast in a format that was new and challenging for us. We had to move the event online for the first time in 13 years due to the restrictions on events still in place from covid-19, but thankfully we were joined by some incredible people who ensured the morning was a success.
The fantastic genevieve jacobs, friend of menslink, editor at region media and a well-respected canberra journalist and presenter, mcd the event and she was joined by our ceo martin fisk, board chair michael battenally and the inspiring guest speaker georgeina whelan act emergency services agency (actesa) commissioner.
This years theme was resilience. Topical for a year in which everyone has been tested including our services which have seen a yearonyear increase in counselling requests of over 60%.
After the year she had steering the act from one major emergency event to the next, georgeina has to be one of the most qualified people in the country to speak on this topic. She reflected on her 35-year career in the military and emergency services and the challenge of stepping into her role as actesa commissioner just before the catastrophic 2019/20 fire season.
Georgeinas opening remarks set the tone for the 45-minute talk that held our online audience engaged throughout.
So, what is resilience? How do we measure it, and how do we build upon it? How do we know what were doing is right?
There are many factors, as we know, that contribute to what we classify as resilient individuals, as resilient societies, resilient communities, whelan said.
What are the characteristics of a resilient individual? A resilient family? A resilient organisation? Most recently a resilient community, and in this day and age, a resilient world.
We know that the term resilience can be seen as a throwaway line, but its very complex. There are many factors that influence who we are, how we go about our lives, how a community goes about its life, how we interact, and in fact there are many individual, collective and environmental factors that go into that.
Using her own personal experiences as examples, georgeina highlighted the importance of working together to build a resilient society to make sure everyone can find support during the ebb and flow of lifes challenges.
Across canberra, our business breakfast streamed into offices and homes, with an estimated 350 participants tuned into the event. Many of our existing business supporters tuned in swapping the qt hotel for their own in-house events.
During the presentation we released our what we do works: impact survey results 2020 which provides an evidence-based look at the impact our programs are having on our community. The surveys, undertaken in collaboration with the university of canberra, show definitively that the programs that menslink undertake in our community really do work.
Ceo marty fisk put it best when he said we know that increasing young mens resilience improves their overall wellbeing and their ability to grow and get through the tougher times in life. We also know that it improves relationships with their family, with their partner, and with their classmates or work colleagues.
We know that the work we do in helping young guys then has a ripple effect on the community; it contributes to reducing crime, family violence, anti-social behaviour, isolation even suicide. It has never been more important to increase the resilience of our young people than it is in 2020.
Thanks goes to our corporate partners and sponsors for the event, our guest speaker georgeina whelan and our community who tuned in online for the event.
You can watch the full business breakfast stream on youtube below or via this link
The menslink business breakfast is our organisations major annual business fundraiser event that helps us support the work we do with young guys in the Canberra region through our free programs such as mentoring, counselling, the Silence is Deadly Campaign, and P. R. I. D. E.
You can get in touch with us here, call (02) 6287 2226, or email info@menslink.org.au if you have any questions about what we do or how to get involved.