Women’s Giving Circle May Quarterly at Barrio

Do you remember being young and receiving good mentoring, advice or guidance for the first time? The way a certain quality of attention, nurturing and belief can help your own self-belief grow and show you that you can achieve great things?  In May, NRCF’s Women’s Giving Circle met at Barrio in the Habitat Precinct in Byron to hear from one of last year’s recipients of the Empowering Women and Girls Grant. Our Circle is a group of local women who choose to give where they live and create meaningful change in the Northern Rivers. As Greta Thunberg says, “activism works… so act”.

As a group we spoke on the topic of eldership. What wisdom did we receive as young women from the older women around us? Did we have someone who filled this role? Was there a hand to steady us as we applied for that first big job, as we set a boundary in a toxic relationship, as we learned what’s right and what’s wrong in the world and how to navigate that, as we began to learn our own values?

And how are we showing up to fill this role for the younger women we know. Have we reached out to make this offer? Are we growing into the elders our younger generations need?

Two young women from Kyogle, along with their program coordinator from Kyogle Family Support Services were brave enough (at ages 17 and 24) to take the mic in front of a room of very accomplished women, senior to them, and share what their mentorship journey has been like.

We were so impressed by the way they spoke. They were young and valued the mentorship being offered. They were brave and pushing out of their comfort zones. This program was specifically offered in Kyogle due to the area missing out on opportunities that young women may find elsewhere.

One of the mentee’s comments to our Giving Circle was:
“We don’t know how to do these things – these things are new to us because we don’t have the life experience yet. Thank you for making this mentor program possible. I feel like I have an Aunty – she wants me to succeed.”

Special thanks to Tamara The Brave for a much needed space of rest and meditation, our Circle members for a great discussion about how we can show up as elders, the young women from Kyogle who were brave and eloquent on the mic, Barrio Byron Bay for the warming soup and stunning venue on an autumn night, SuperFeast Tonic Herbs for the Gaia take homes, Sourdough Business Women for their mentoring support, Our Little Flower Farm for the glorious banksias, Brandon Saul for his generous support and Alison Drover for her event curating.

If you’d like to come along to a Women’s Giving Circle event and see how community philanthropy can change lives, email Lisa at engagement@nrcf.org.au