Changemaker profile: Meet Claire Williams from FRRR

Sefa Partnerships have been working on a tailored coaching program for not-for-profit organisations in Leeton, NSW. This coaching is part of FRRR’s Investing in Rural Community Futures (IRCF) program to strengthen Leeton’s NFPs and support them to make lasting impacts in their community. The program combines group workshops and tailored one-on-one coaching sessions with local FRRR facilitator Claire Williams and Hannah Miller from Sefa Partnerships. We caught up with Claire to see how her work with the program has been tracking.

Tell us a little about your role as a community facilitator with FRRR?

As a community facilitator I support the Leeton NFPs to utilise the Investing Rural Communities Future (IRCF) program to develop a sustainable community with well-built capacity.

IRCF includes just under $1 million allocated to the Leeton not-for-profit community to be distributed over three years through grants, workshops, training and additional programs, such as the coaching with Sefa.

One of my main priorities is to have consistent communication with the NFPs, to assist with project development, grant research, grant applications and capacity assessment, all of which allow me insight into the common issues faced throughout the community.

What have you learnt about your community and building their capacity through your work?

The greatest learning experience has been to observe how different NFPs are from one another. There is a diverse skillset across all of the groups in the area and Leeton is truly a better place for it. As for capacity, I have learnt people tend to undervalue their abilities and their contributions to their community. For example, a community member may claim to have no theoretical understanding of the concept of capacity, while already maintaining good capacity within in their organisation.

What are you most excited about re: delivering your first (NFP coaching program) community workshops?

I am excited to see some extremely skilled and compassionate people take on bigger challenges facing the community. I am also keen to see groups and individuals working together to overcome social challenges.

What excites you about the future of your community?

It’s an amazingly talented community of professional and highly skilled leaders and I can’t wait to see the projects and collaboration when more and more groups start working together. There has been so much happening in the community, even over the last 12 months, so it will be amazing to see what happens without the challenges of COVID.