Sandy, Head of Organisational Mentoring in Westpac’s Sustainability and Community Involvement unit, is not about Band-aid fixes. She is passionate about long-term support programs for the underprivileged - and I have become passionate about helping her.
Westpac wanted Jackson Wells’ help to launch a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, the Organisational Mentoring Program, where Westpac partners with not-for-profit organisations and provides mentoring and leadership advice enabling them to build skills and enhance their long-term business sustainability.
It was a challenge, as CSR is becoming commonplace within most corporates, making it a crowded market when you try to generate media coverage. We were lucky the Westpac program was a fresh take on honouring the triple bottom line. This piqued the interest of several journalists and the buzz started growing beyond the Westpac and Jackson Wells’ offices.
I was excited to be a part of the event. I believed program was laudable and it deserved a good launch which warranted significant media coverage – and that is what we achieved.
We worked hard to have the Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce AC, officially launch the program. Unfortunately - one short week before the launch – Ms Bryce informed us she would no longer be able to attend as the Prime Minister had requested her to represent Australia in the bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup (in Zurich!).
Despite this, our efforts paid off with over 100 guests and 20 media personalities joining us on Thursday December 2. Luckily for us the weather held out and the venue looked amazing - the beautifully restored Redfern Primary School in the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence.
We generated media coverage instantly and expect to see more roll in over the coming months. It was great knowing we played a part in raising awareness of this exciting program.
While I always enjoy generating media coverage for our clients, this challenge was different. It left me hoping I would find more opportunities to work with corporates taking up initiatives like Westpac’s.
Working with people like Sandy and her team, who are genuinely passionate about helping others, makes my day just that little bit more worthwhile.
It allowed me to see that even I can help make a difference – however small it may be.
Making a difference with Westpac
When we met with The Westpac Group in May we knew we would be involved with something interesting. What we did not expect was the challenge thrown our way by Sandy Blackburn-Wright and her team.
