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Volunteering at Council

Community Panellist at Melton City Council

In 2021, I started my leadership journey. During Covid-19, I wanted to get involved in my community and be part of meaningful change. Drawing upon key learnings from my studies, I wanted to implement action beyond the requirements of my degree. As part of the “second fastest growing municipality in Victoria” (Annual report 2021/22, Melton City Council ) with “one of the youngest municipalities (76.7% of the population under 49 years of age, according to 2021 census data) and high diversity at 35.7% (City of Melton Economic Profile), I wanted to engage in the first community panel for my local council. The panel aimed to “develop a 20-year Community Vision for the City of Melton and identify how to implement this vision through a number of Council’s strategic plans” this included the following “strategic documents; our Council and Wellbeing Plan 2021-2025, Asset Plan 2021-2031 and Financial Plan 2021-2031”. As a community panel member, I was tasked with learning from different viewpoints to work together and “come to a shared position on [our] aspirations for the City of Melton”.

 

From late February to April, I committed to attending monthly Zoom meetings. Representing 1 of 3 perspectives within the 18 – 24 age range (out of 43 members), I had environmental sustainability at the forefront of my discussions given my studies and passion for environmental change. By having strong organisational skills in reviewing the drafted documents and resources provided, I built an understanding of the context for the panel, our discussions, and decisions. From this, I outlined what I wanted to discuss with my peers and ensured that I empowered others to share their ideas. My approach was based on empowering my community to share their diverse ideas because I knew my fellow panellists wanted to feel a part of decisions impacting our community. For example, during a break-out room session with 3 fellow panellists, we were prompted to discuss an idea and highlight common themes to share with the wider panel. As the note-taker, I led our discussion by checking in and asking if we all understood the prompt, from this I encouraged others to share their opinions and built on the ideas presented including all of our perspectives. During these discussions, a panellist felt more passionate about the topic, while taking down notes I noticed that the other 2 panellists were unable to engage as much. Knowing all perspectives are important and that the other panellists wanted to engage, I acknowledged the panellist’s ideas and opened the floor to the other panellists to share their ideas. Supporting the voices of others is important to me because I believe that all perspectives are valuable and significant. Together, we found key ideas and themes to share and presented them to the wider panel. As a result of understanding the needs of others, I empowered others to share their ideas and we were able to work together more efficiently and harmoniously. By empowering others to share their opinions, I fostered a more productive and meaningful discussion between my peers, ensuring that we all felt heard and worked towards the objectives of the panel to engage in “different viewpoints and work together to come to a shared position on [our] aspirations for the City of Melton”. 

 

As a “selected member of the community represent[ing] the diversity of the City of Melton”, I worked towards having meaningful discussions with my peers to make recommendations to Councillors and Council staff that would “guide [the] strategic actions over the next ten years”. From this deliberative engagement process, I developed the ability to deal with conflict, actively listen and empathise with differing opinions to ensure the goals of the panel were met. This experience developed my leadership capabilities as I learnt how to create a supportive environment and lead productive discussions, achieving the objectives of the panel. By empowering others, I contributed to a holistic conception of the 2040 community vision and strategic plans having a meaningful and positive impact on the needs of my community. Following the conclusion of the meetings, I wanted to share my experiences of being a panellist with others through an interview for our newspaper, I wanted to showcase the opportunities to be heard by Council. This was important to me because I believe in supporting the development of others to build their leadership journeys. From my experience being involved in “deliberative engagement, [which] is the belief that people affected by a decision have the right to be involved in the decision-making process” and feeling impactful, I aspire to create empowering opportunities for others. I believe that by empowering others, I positively influenced the confidence of my fellow panellists during our discussions and positively influenced my local community by contributing to the strategic documents and Community Vision published with my Council.​​ Following my experience as a community panellist, I understood how my studies can be used to empower others and positively influence community actions. In future, I want to continue my leadership journey through various opportunities.​​​

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“Panel member and Burnside resident, Cheryl Avila said the panel spoke extensively about quality education opportunities, transport improvements, health needs, and environmental sustainability.”

Young Women's Leadership Program

​In 2024, I continued my leadership journey with Melton Council. For my graduate year, I wanted to get involved with my community and develop my understanding of leadership. A relatively new program held by Young Communities of Melton Council launched called the Young Women’s Leadership Program which was being delivered for the second time since its first round in 2023. This 7-week program provided "female identifying individuals with a safe space to learn about leadership and network with like-minded individuals”. I wanted to engage in this program to learn from and discuss leadership with like-minded peers. Knowing that this program “provide[s] participants with the opportunity to feel empowered, confident, and comfortable in their school life, professional life, and day to day life”, I hoped to engage in meaningful discussions to understand my perception of what leadership is. As a continuous learner, I saw this as an opportunity to learn from and give back to my community. 
 
Over the course of the program, we discussed a range of topics notably public speaking, building positive relationships, self-care and more, from these topics I was able to develop my personal awareness about the different aspects and levels of leadership. By discussing various concepts and ideas prompted by varied guest speakers including Girl Chat, Headspace and Centre of Multiculture Youth (CMY), I fostered active discussions and broader thinking. I supported a learning and empowering environment by proactively engaging in discussions and encouraging others to share their ideas. This was important to me as I had the opportunity to meet a range of people with similar goals and wanted to create a productive learning environment. During my experience, my passion for community engagement was apparent as I developed a deeper awareness of myself and others by analysing my understandings and discussing them with the perspectives of others. Together, I felt a sense of action and empowerment during our meetings which translated to a more resilient mindset and encouragement of my peers. For example, following a session on mental health, a fellow peer and I stayed back to sign up for the Youth advisory group for Headspace. After hearing about their aspirations and goals, I shared my excitement for their journey. However, after hearing that they still had their uncertainties as being a women of colour in a certain field, I recognised their strengths as an empathetic communicator and ambition to make a change within the mental health space. By reminding them of their achievements and encouraging them to be a trailblazer, I applied my learnings from the program by maintaining a sense of empowerment in my conversations. By helping others recognise their development and empowering them to follow their ambitions, I positively influenced the confidence and development of my peers, a skill I will continue to do so in future. This experience was important to me as I applied my understanding of leadership through conversation and was able to nurture the ambitions of fellow young women in my community.
 
Given that this program is still in the early stages of delivery, I wanted to give back by sharing my experiences with the Mayor, Council staff, stakeholders and the local community during the graduation ceremony. By delivering a speech and sharing how much I gained from the program, I hoped to inspire others to join the program to ensure that it would remain in future. This was important to me as I wanted my community of young women to be impactful leaders, given that Melton has a high percentage of youth and diversity. This experience supported the development of my leadership skills by preparing and delivering a meaningful speech sharing my personal development to positively impact my local community. Following the program, I received an update that “due to popular demand” a third program would be delivered later this year. The third program in the series and the second program this year. This opportunity was important to me as I was able to give back to my community and the program, resulting in an invitation to a Youth Leaders dinner where I will deliver another speech to the wider community of young leaders in Melton. Following my experience as a program participant, I have defined what leadership means to me and strive bring the qualities of a leader into my everyday life. Leadership growing to mean learning from others, empowering action, and having dynamic discussions. 
 

"Cheryl showcased stand out qualities while working towards developing and refining leadership skills."
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