Future Shapers - Community Leaders

Future Shapers - Community Leaders Future Shapers transforms how you lead by connecting you with the challenges, opportunities and networks that shape our region.

Formerly Leadership Ballarat & Western Region this program was established by Committee for Ballarat in 2005. Future Shapers is a 10-month transformative program that draws together up to 20 emerging leaders from all sectors, to think, question, build connections, effect positive change and build the leadership capability and capacity of Ballarat and the region and of the individuals themselves.

What would our community do without the CFA?Behind every emergency response in our region is a volunteer who said yes. O...
15/05/2026

What would our community do without the CFA?

Behind every emergency response in our region is a volunteer who said yes. Often at short notice. Often at personal cost. Always with commitment.

Yesterday, our Committee for Ballarat Future Shapers went behind the scenes at Buninyong Fire Station to find out exactly what it takes to run a complex emergency service on volunteer hours alone. The answer: extraordinary dedication from ordinary people who simply decided to show up.

We got up close with the vehicles too, and not just the ones that fight fires. Wendouree Fire Brigade brought their field operations vehicle, Ballarat Fire Brigade their incredibly well-equipped rescue vehicle, and Smythesdale Fire Brigade their rehab support unit. Each one a reminder of just how much thought and preparation goes into keeping our community and fire fighters safe.

There was also a moment to hear about the Soupbus, another example of community showing up for community. Did you know they have 500 volunteers?

One thing was clear: our volunteers can only do what they do when their workplaces back them. Releasing someone at a moment’s notice, repeatedly, takes genuine organisational commitment. If your workplace supports emergency service volunteers, thank you.

We left genuinely humbled.

Shout out to our organisers: Angela Harris, Tom Prunty, Jake Huang, Karen Stiff and Sean Bourke. A big thanks to Buninyong-Mt Helen Fire Brigade for opening their doors, Maggie and Kate for feeding us, and every volunteer who gave their time and knowledge yesterday. Thanks also to CFA (Country Fire Authority) for their continued support of our program.

Three women sat in front of our Committee for Ballarat Future Shapers this week and shared stories that most of us will ...
24/04/2026

Three women sat in front of our Committee for Ballarat Future Shapers this week and shared stories that most of us will never have to live. Anne, Harvinder and Dianna have all experienced homelessness. Their stories were honest, courageous, and genuinely hard to hear.

60% of people experiencing homelessness are women. Women over 55 are now the fastest growing group.

Anne put it simply: “I don’t just want housing. I want a safe, secure and sustainable home.”

We learnt that homelessness isn’t rooflessness. Homelessness starts when your home becomes unsafe or unstable. And when we wait too long to intervene, the path back gets so much harder.

We also heard from the incredible service providers working in this space every day: .ballarat Women’s Housing Alliance and . The weight they carry is immense. Their dedication, and the gaps they’re trying to fill, were equally sobering.

This is the kind of session that stays with you.

Thanks to Our Kitchen Social Café for keeping us fed with your generous, nutritious food.

1 in 7 young people feel persistently lonely. In our own community, young adults (aged 18 to 25) are the most affected b...
23/04/2026

1 in 7 young people feel persistently lonely. In our own community, young adults (aged 18 to 25) are the most affected by loneliness, according to the 2025 Vital Signs report.

In the first of our participant-led sessions, our Future Shapers heard from Lou and Sue from Social Inclusion Ballarat, who shared their own personal journeys with connection and disconnection. That kind of vulnerability in front of a room of strangers takes courage and we appreciated their stories.

We tend to picture isolation as being alone. But it’s far more subtle than that. You can feel profoundly lonely surrounded by people, in a meeting, at a party, in a family. That’s what makes it so easy to miss in others, and sometimes in ourselves.

We also loved an impromptu two-minute masterclass from learning partner Robert Lewers on connecting to others and connecting to self. And the reminder that it’s completely okay to move between the two.

Knowing all of this changes how we show up for each other, in our workplaces, our community groups, and our everyday interactions.

Shout out to our organisers: Sigrid Pitkin, Anna Kingston, Jack Clarke and Michelle Corcoran. 👏 Thanks to Ned Patterson, for joining us and for hosting us. 🙏

Some of our Future Shapers haven't picked up a glue gun or cut something out with scissors since primary school. Yesterd...
02/04/2026

Some of our Future Shapers haven't picked up a glue gun or cut something out with scissors since primary school. Yesterday they did. And built something from it.

That's the thing about design thinking. It meets you where your assumptions are and gently dismantles them. The process is deliberately uncomfortable: short timeframes, open boundaries, limited instructions, no single right answer. For our Future Shapers who are used to being competent and confident in their work, that stretch is exactly the point.

The feedback said it well. Many found the ambiguity challenging. All of them enjoyed being pushed to think differently.

Our key takeaway was slow down before you solve. When facing a challenge at work or in our community, the most important question usually isn't ‘how do we solve this’, it's ‘do we actually understand the problem?’

A massive thank you to Ballarat Tech School for hosting and facilitating, Kittelty's for feeding us, and to Damon Minotti (LBWR19), Jess Kelly (FS24), Aaron Coulter (FS25) and Damien Cameron for a day that genuinely stretched our thinking.

Twenty-two leaders walked into a room recently knowing a little about themselves. They walked out knowing a lot more, in...
18/03/2026

Twenty-two leaders walked into a room recently knowing a little about themselves. They walked out knowing a lot more, including some things they probably weren’t expecting. When 'I didn't expect it to be that insightful' becomes the catchcry of the day, you know something real happened in the room.

That’s the thing about self-awareness work. You can’t unknow what you learn.

Proud of this cohort for leaning in with curiosity. The conversations were honest, a little uncomfortable in the best way, and exactly what this program is designed to create.

Shout out to Cobbs Coffee for our caffeine hit, Federation University Australia for feeding us and FS24 Matt Wells for sharing his insights and curiosity with us in the afternoon session.

24/02/2026

The Committee for Ballarat Future Shapers 26 journey has officially begun! Two days in Melbourne, twenty-two leaders, and the kind of honest conversations about leadership that you don’t get in your average training program. Real growth happens when people are brave enough to be vulnerable about where they want to develop.

Day two at Parliament House! Future Shapers 26 got the full behind-the-scenes experience, a brilliant tour from Juliana ...
19/02/2026

Day two at Parliament House! Future Shapers 26 got the full behind-the-scenes experience, a brilliant tour from Juliana Addison MP (history teacher turned MP = best tour guide ever), honest conversations about regional representation with Juliana, Martha Haylett MP and Michaela Settle MP, lunch with Treasurer Jaclyn Symes MP, and Question Time from the gallery. This is how you help emerging leaders understand the systems that shape our community.

The generosity of our local MPs was something else. They didn't just show our cohort around. They shared the reality of representing regional Victoria, answered tough questions, and genuinely invested time in building relationships with these emerging leaders. When the Treasurer joins you for lunch to talk regional priorities, you know people are backing our community's leadership development.

This is exactly why Future Shapers works. Real access. Real conversations. Real relationships. Thank you to Juliana, Martha, Michaela and the Treasurer for strengthening our region by investing in its next generation of leaders.

Future Shapers 2026 has kicked off for its 21st consecutive year!With its purpose laser-focused on building , we were i...
18/02/2026

Future Shapers 2026 has kicked off for its 21st consecutive year!

With its purpose laser-focused on building , we were introduced to the region’s priorities by two of the best, Andrew Eales, CEO of the Ballarat Foundation and Sarah Henderson. Regional Director, Regional Development Victoria – Grampians

Collective leadership matters, and the 2026 cohort will add to our capability and capacity to inspire and deliver the social infrastructure for a prosperous, thriving and inclusive region.

12/01/2026

In the final video of our 2025 series, we hear from Shane Ingeme from UFS Healthcare as he reflects on his time in the Future Shapers program.

21/12/2025

Next up in our series of Future Shapers reflections, we hear from Rachel Carter from Central Highlands Water

Address

Suite 6, 106-110 Lydiard Street South
Ballarat, VIC
3350

Telephone

+61353321247

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