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From Community Impact to Graduation

17 September 2026

On 3 September, our March 2026 Rising Leadership Program cohort completed their final Leadership WA Experience, presenting the Community Impact Projects they had spent six months developing before returning that evening with family, friends and colleagues to celebrate graduation.

Community Impact Project Presentations

The Community Impact Projects are where Rising participants put their learning into practice, working on real issues affecting Western Australian communities. For the March 2026 cohort, that meant tackling three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with each group taking a different approach.

  • SDG 3: Good Health & Wellbeing
    This group focused on foster carers and the first critical hours after a child enters their care. Their work explored how practical support, including Care Bags, can provide comfort, safety and belonging, and how awareness of that support can be improved. The impact has continued beyond the program, including a successful Care Bags donation drive within the Department of Communities. The project was developed with support from organisations including Care Bags and Life Without Barriers.
  • SDG 1: No Poverty | F.R.U.I.T. 101 – Financial Responsibility Unlocks Independence Tomorrow
    This team took a fun approach to a serious topic, creating bite-sized financial literacy content for young people across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. They tested the idea with the Armadale Youth Advisory Council, using feedback from young people to shape the tone, topics and format. The resulting library of videos and carousels was launched across social media, with the project later handed over to Empower2Free to continue.
  • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities | AgeWell Initiative
    The AgeWell team looked at a challenge facing many older people in regional WA: having to consider leaving their community because the support they need is not available locally. Building on Linkwest’s Staying in Place model, the group developed practical resources to help regional organisations adopt and sustain the approach in their own communities.

The work now continues beyond Rising through the organisations and communities involved. If you’d like to learn more or receive a copy of the project reports, please get in touch.

With thanks

A big thank you to our Project Mentors for sharing their time, experience and guidance throughout the six months:

We are grateful to the organisations and individuals who supported these initiatives. In particular, we extend our thanks to Sarah Clancy, Founder and Chairperson of Care Bags; Claire Boardman (Rising 2025), Regional Director at Life Without Barriers; Lani Mola, Director Fostering and Family Care at the Department of Communities; Cynthia Wong, Finance Life Skills Empowerment Trainer at Empower2Free; and Jane Harwood (Signature 2022), CEO of Linkwest.

We also acknowledge the participants, survey respondents, donors and community representatives who generously shared their time, experiences and insights.

Graduation Ceremony

By evening, it was time to celebrate.

The March 2026 Rising graduation ceremony marked the end of a significant six months in the Program and the beginning of the cohort’s next chapter as Leadership WA Alumni.

Leadership WA CEO Candy Choo opened the evening, followed by a Welcome to Country from Trevor Stack, before graduates were presented with their certificates.

The ceremony then turned to two special cohort honours.

Centre for Stories Award

Congratulations to Subodh Kumar Vishwas (People Advisor, Good Sammy), recipient of the Centre for Stories Award, presented by Caroline Wood AM, CEO and Co-Founder of Centre for Stories.

As part of Rising, participants share a personal Leadership Journey with their cohort, reflecting on the experiences that have shaped the way they lead. The Centre for Stories Award is unique to the Rising Leadership Program, and recognises the impact of a story that leaves a lasting impression on the cohort.

Subodh’s Leadership Journey included his “Roti Lesson”, a childhood story about learning to make roti with his father. It was the way he told it, and the meaning he drew from it, that stayed with the cohort and saw him voted the recipient of the award.

Valedictorian

The cohort selected Emily Kenworthy (National Health Information Manager, St John of God Health Care) as their Valedictorian, recognising her contribution across the six months.

In her address, Emily reflected on how 26 people from different organisations, industries and backgrounds had gradually moved beyond job titles and professional roles to really know one another. She spoke about joining Rising with a clear goal of becoming a better leader, only to discover that much of the work began with looking inward: understanding your own values, habits, assumptions and vulnerabilities, and learning how those shape the way you lead.

“Leadership doesn’t require us to become some polished, corporate version of a leader. It asks us to understand ourselves well enough to lead as ourselves.”

Emily also reflected on curiosity, courageous conversations and making space for people who think differently. She described the Community Impact Projects as the point where leadership moved out of the room and into the community, turning ideas into action and relationships into partnerships.

Her closing message captured the spirit of the cohort’s journey: be braver about what you believe, stay curious about what you do not understand, and have the courage to lead as yourself.

Congratulations to our March 2026 Rising graduates! We are pleased to welcome you into the Leadership WA Alumni community and look forward to seeing where you take your leadership next.

With thanks to Home Base for hosting us throughout the day, and to Kylie Plunkett Photography for capturing the graduation celebrations.

Our Scholarship Partners

Leadership WA is grateful to our generous Scholarship Partners, whose support helps extend access to the Rising Leadership Program.

Our thanks to:

We would also like to acknowledge Ted Powell for his long-standing support of Leadership WA and the opportunities his generosity has helped create through the Leadership WA Foundation Ted Powell Scholarship.

Ready for your own Rising journey?

Applications are now open for the March 2027 Rising Leadership Program.

Rising combines real-world leadership experiences, expert speakers, organisational visits and Community Impact Projects, giving leaders at the mid-point of their journey the opportunity to strengthen how they lead.

March 2026 Rising Leadership Program graduates with Leadership WA CEO Candy Choo, Chair Angie Paskevicius and Leadership Development Manager and Rising facilitator Wendy Wilson at the graduation ceremony.