Zac Lewis - Empowering youth to reach their full potential

Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is limited by your postcode.

Zac Lewis is the CEO of Western Chances, and organisation devoted to empowering young people to achieve their potential. 

There is an unfortunate, and very real correlation between life opportunities, and the postcode you live in. Western Chances is built on the idea of levelling the playing field for young people who limit their goals based on their financial situation. 
Zac will tell you, that it is amazing to see what can happen when you remove the barrier of cost to education, allowing people to purchase things like laptops and text books, or even the simple things like transport tickets and stationary. 

Each year they are growing, and are now awarding around 850 scholarships per year to kids with dreams of creating a better life for themselves, and their families. 

Western Chances has produced Doctors, Surgeons, Dancers, Engineers, Artists, Musicians, you name it, and most of which because of the scholarships they received which not only helped financially, but gave them belief in themselves. 

The recipients of the Western Chances scholarships are the next generation of community leaders, it's really inspiring stuff. 

Zac is a great guy, and certainly the right person to take on the task of lifting the youth. 
This episode is filled with the moving stories of people who have gone on to live their best lives. 

To learn more about Western Chances, and to make donations or sign up to the corporate events and sponsorships visit

https://www.westernchances.org.au/

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Andy: Welcome to another episode of the Good People podcast. My name is Andy and it's brought to you by In Other Good News. Today I've got a guest on the show who is, he's a man about town. He has some good stories to tell. He's the CEO of Western Chances, which is a fantastic organization. And we're going to hear.

[00:00:22] Andy: All about that. But we're also going to hear about the man behind the role. Welcome to the show, Zach Lewis. 

[00:00:28] Zac: Thanks, Andy. It's great to [00:00:30] be here. Looking forward to chatting. 

[00:00:31] Andy: Yes. Now Western Chances obviously based in the west of Melbourne you have. Being a man of the Western Melbourne as well, although I think you've jetted off down to the coast these days.

[00:00:44] Zac: I have mate, don't tell anyone, I have made a slight shift out of Western Melbourne down the coast to be around family past year long, but still very much love working in the community of the West. 

[00:00:52] Andy: Yeah, it is a, it's an excellent community. I really love the people and the, all of the activities [00:01:00] and organizations that operate in the West.

[00:01:03] Andy: Like the one that you're running. So Western Chances. So but first what I want to do is I want to give people a bit of a background on who you are just so they can sort of understand how you get to be in the role that you're in and why it's so important. So so I guess firstly, Zac Lewis, you are, or originally you went and studied environmental science, science.

[00:01:27] Zac: I did, yeah. I did environmental science at university. I [00:01:30] think I was always just loved the outdoors. I think when I was a young kid, there was, there was two things that I loved. Science and being outdoors. Yeah. And so really just wanted to combine the two because I, you know, when you're young, you're starting to think about what you wanna do with your life and I could never really envision myself in an office.

[00:01:46] Zac: Yep. I always wanted to be working outside. But I think from very early on, I really had this desire, I guess, to have my work count for something. So I was always drawn to sort of work that would be [00:02:00] contributing. To something, you know you know, greater. So. 

[00:02:03] Andy: So purpose, purpose driven. 

[00:02:05] Zac: Yeah, I think so.

[00:02:06] Zac: Purpose driven. At the time, I didn't quite know what my purpose was, but I sort of knew that I needed some purpose in my work. Yeah. And the environmental science just seemed like a really great fit. 

[00:02:15] Zac: Yeah, right. So you were saying, you told me that you actually, with your family, you used to go camping and you used to, you know, get out in the outdoors and that was probably part of it 

[00:02:24] Zac: as well, right?

[00:02:24] Zac: Yeah, yeah, we used to, you know, as a young kid, I used to do a lot of camping with my parents. They actually took me out of [00:02:30] school, me and my sister, when I was in grade two, and we, you know, we traveled around Northern Australia camping for sort of a term, which, you know, even though I was young, I was like grade two or three, but still got these, you know, really strong.

[00:02:40] Zac: Emotions from that. So yeah, it just always was really kind of, I thought, God, if you can combine something you love doing with your work, you know, really set yourself up. So that was my thinking at the time, you know, love the environment and wanted to, you know, try and be part of a movement to sort of make sure that, you know, there's sustainability in what we do.

[00:02:57] Zac: Yeah. 

[00:02:57] Andy: Right. And it I'm, I'm just sort of [00:03:00] wondering now. Could have ever ended up you working with someone like the Sea Shepherd or someone like, yeah, you know, I could see with what you're doing that maybe you could have gone that way as well. 

[00:03:09] Zac: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. So but I was always very, really science driven.

[00:03:13] Zac: So I think, I think, you know, environmental science, I got to be outside, got to be working in, you know, great environments and, but also in something I found really, you know, I guess, intellectually stimulating, I guess, at the time, so. Yep. 

[00:03:26] Andy: So then you went, like, so you did your environmental science degree, [00:03:30] and then 

[00:03:30] Zac: you went on and did a master's.

[00:03:32] Zac: I did, yeah, a master's of public policy. So, I was working for government at the time, I worked in research actually around you know, fishery stock assessment, so I worked in making sure our Victorian fisheries were sustainable and wanted to know a lot more about the public policy process and how government can shape society so I sort of took on a master's of public policy and ironically moved out of government before I finished that degree, but man, I just learnt so much, [00:04:00] really changed my thinking, you know, I'd come from a, you know, science can be really rigid and I think I can be a really rigid thinker sometimes, so doing this Masters of Public Policy, you know, an Arts degree was fantastic. Oh, I can't, can't say enough how much I got out of that, so. 

[00:04:14] Andy: Yeah, right. What sort of things do you think you get out of, out of that?

[00:04:17] Zac: Really changed my perspective on things, really opened my eyes to, you know, different challenges, the way to approach different challenges and I think, I actually think started to shift my interests and I've always been someone who has Felt that [00:04:30] where you sort of align your purpose and your interests and your skills That's where the magic happens.

[00:04:34] Zac: And I think that really started to shift my interests from from you know, purely environmental issues to To broader you know social issues, I think yeah, okay 

[00:04:45] Andy: And so You've done your master's and you're talking about like in jobs. You've worked in the department of economic development Jobs transport and resources.

[00:04:57] Andy: So I mean, is that also the similar [00:05:00] period? 

[00:05:00] Zac: That's right. Yeah. Yes. I was working in fisheries management at the time for that department and yeah and that work involved, you know, sort of traveling along the coast, managing some of Victoria's resources sustainably. But the part that I really liked was working with communities to shape that policy and management of those local fisheries resources.

[00:05:20] Zac: So, you know, I used to go out to Mallacoota a lot and work with Abalone fishermen out way out there in the east. It was fascinating because they were driven by passion, you know, a lot of [00:05:30] those fishermen had been those licenses had been in the family for generations and had this really great ownership of those resources and wanting to do the right thing which was, which I loved kind of working with them on.

[00:05:41] Andy: Yeah, they do people do like, cause that's the thing with policy, it's, it's always two ways, isn't it? Like it's always got an impact on both sort of the looking at it as from a broader thing, but then you've got average person who's living off that. That as something that the family has been living off for a long time [00:06:00] and that policy can really change what they can do actually there was I guess some of the more news driven ones are around the indigenous people and the, the what do they call it?

[00:06:11] Andy: Like the diving for stuff off the coast and them having policy. issues, I guess. 

[00:06:17] Zac: Yeah, that's right. I mean, it's a really, really complex field to work in because there's so many competing, I guess, competing interests and competing goals that, you know public policy managers are trying to juggle.

[00:06:29] Zac: So I [00:06:30] did enjoy that complexity and I did enjoy working in the community, but it's not an area without conflict for sure. And I think there's really different views and people are so passionate in their views as well which at times can be challenging, but that work was fantastic. And I started to kind of realize.

[00:06:45] Zac: Love the environment. I've always had a real connection with the environment. My partner calls me a nature boy. You know, it really lights me up when we're outside. But you know, really enjoyed, I was enjoying more of the work with the community on those environmental [00:07:00] issues. And I started to really, you know, map out in my own mind that I wanted to move in a more community focused direction in my career.

[00:07:07] Zac: I felt like that was starting to emerge as my own sort of personal purpose. 

[00:07:12] Andy: That's the way you were heading. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Now you also had a role, Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Did I get 

[00:07:17] Zac: that right? You nailed it. That's a tough word. 

[00:07:19] Andy: Conservancy. It's not one I use on my daily, daily basis.

[00:07:23] Andy: Tell me about that. Like, cause that's heading, I guess this is in this transition period as well towards community, but what was [00:07:30] it, what was that role all about? 

[00:07:31] Zac: Yeah, so that was a really big change for me moving from the government sector into the not for profit sector for the first time. And I knew that I wanted to move out of government and move into the charity sector and.

[00:07:43] Zac: Felt that the way to do that was to move in the field I was in, in the environmental sort of management. So AWC, a brilliant organisation, national organisation that, you know, manages private land for conservation outcomes. And I just learnt so much from moving across, was surrounded by great [00:08:00] people.

[00:08:00] Zac: You know, they had this real investment in local partnerships, particularly with traditional landowners. Up in the Kimberley and, and in New Haven up in Central Australia. And so... So I started to see this model emerge where, like, the things are so intrinsically linked to community and environmental outcomes.

[00:08:18] Andy: Absolutely. And I guess you've seen a little bit of that on your camping trip up, up north, I guess. 

[00:08:22] Zac: Yeah, that's right. So. You've already been exposed a little bit. Yeah, yeah. So I was there for three years in a fundraising role, which again, it's that, [00:08:30] that type of work itself was a really big learning curve for me also, but really lit a passion in me around, I think the charity sector is a really intriguing sector because you can see a problem.

[00:08:40] Zac: And then you can go and come up with a solution and start to work on being part of the solution, not the problem. And you get people around you, you get great people involved, and amazing things happen. And that was the first time I really saw what was possible in the charity sector, I think. Yeah, 

[00:08:54] Andy: right.

[00:08:54] Andy: And you tend to get very passionate people 

[00:08:56] Zac: as well, I find. You do, yes. Absolutely, you do. [00:09:00] And that, on one hand, that's, you know, a lot of these things wouldn't happen without passion. So it's a great thing, but sometimes it can be challenging, right? Because there's so many emotions involved with that and identity wrapped up in that.

[00:09:10] Andy: Yeah, that's right. And people coming from all different places and expectations and all sorts of stuff. It can be, it can be also quite a challenge. 

[00:09:16] Zac: Yeah. Yeah. But I think that's the fun part of working, you know, working in this sector is you meet amazing people and they're, they're really interesting and they're really purpose driven.

[00:09:25] Andy: Yeah. And they'll go, yeah. To great lengths, to make things happen as well. A hundred percent. When you see a [00:09:30] lot of these community groups that are taking action on certain issues, environmental or social, they tend to be able to have, find the energy to go to great lengths to make change. 

[00:09:38] Zac: Yeah, yeah, and I think I learned at AWC that you're, you know, you're always more powerful as a collective.

[00:09:45] Zac: Where you get, where you bring people in and you're inclusive and you try and, you try and include as many people as possible, you're going to have better outcomes. And it was a sort of really important lesson for me around. God, you know, you can go, you know, what's the old saying, if you want to go fast, go [00:10:00] alone.

[00:10:00] Zac: But if you want to go further, get people together and go together. And it really AWC really sort of highlighted that to me. 

[00:10:06] Andy: Oh, that's fantastic. And then of course you ended up working for our friends down at Foodbank. 

[00:10:10] Zac: I did. Yeah, I had a fantastic time at Foodbank. I was there nearly four years, I 

[00:10:15] Zac: think.

[00:10:15] Andy: And looking at the dates you were there during a pretty interesting part, especially towards the end. Yes. 

[00:10:21] Zac: Yep. That was around the bushfires? Yes, I worked at Foodbank in a programs role. So I managed their community programs. [00:10:30] And during my time the, the Victorian bushfires happened. And I remember that it was, you know, it was obviously very, it happened over the, the Christmas break around New Year's.

[00:10:39] Zac: You know, there's not a lot of people on hand and it all kicked off very quickly and I, like, I don't think I've ever seen an organisation mobilise so quickly, sort of, led by Dave as, as I sort of saw at that time and it was pretty amazing to be a part of, to be honest. I felt like we were just this channel, channel for the goodwill of Melburnians [00:11:00] to the people that were affected by those bushfires.

[00:11:01] Andy: Yeah, it really was, it really brought people out of the woodwork. Didn't it? And the amount of, what I loved, and actually in the interview with Dave McNamara recently he was talking about one of the biggest things was that being able to get the food down there was the issue. So that was why a drop off point made sense, why people could come and drop because you had the infrastructure and the ability to use the roads to get down there and drop off the food.

[00:11:25] Andy: So that would have been a very both interesting time. Was it stressful? 

[00:11:29] Zac: It was stressful, [00:11:30] but I think It was one of those times where you, yes, it was a there was a lot to do, but you just felt so invigorated because you actually got the opportunity to do that. I think we just felt really lucky to be involved and be able to help.

[00:11:44] Zac: And you know, when we had cars lined up, I think you probably remember it all through Yarraville and Footscray trying to get in to drop food. Like, how can you not be like energized by that, by so many people. Choosing to help other people in their community. 

[00:11:58] Andy: Oh, I agree. And [00:12:00] it's probably when we started to really take notice of Foodbank.

[00:12:04] Andy: Because, just because of that extra, I don't know, it went big, I guess. it did. So that was great, like great place to work from all things I've heard. And great, you know, they're doing great things down there. But you've moved on to another role, which is, it's levelling up. You've moved into a CEO role and and that role is with Western Chances.

[00:12:26] Andy: And what I'd love to do, cause if you don't know anything about Western [00:12:30] Chances, you need to Western Chances, which I'll let you explain, but is operates in the inner west of Melbourne giving opportunities to young people. But maybe if you can give us a description of what Western Chances does and then we'll dig into some of the impacts that it's having.

[00:12:45] Andy: Yeah. 

[00:12:46] Zac: Yeah, sure. Yeah, sure. I, I think. It's very simple really we empower young people to achieve their potential. So my founding chair, Terry Brax, has a saying that I think really resonates with me. She says, talent is everywhere, but opportunity is limited by your [00:13:00] postcode. So we've got so many young people in Melbourne's West who are talented, resilient, maybe experiencing some really barriers in their life, you know, financially or socially, but they've got so much talent and all they need.

[00:13:14] Zac: is an opportunity and they can achieve potential, their potential and that's where Western Chances comes in. provide that opportunity and we do it by providing them scholarships to purchase their education essentials, things like laptops, home internet, textbooks myki [00:13:30] passes to get to and from school and we connect them to a range of opportunities to learn and grow.

[00:13:35] Zac: And by doing that, we see them complete their education and go on to achieve their potential. So it's a fantastic organization to be a part of and I think a really simple, straightforward, tangible model. And if you look 

[00:13:47] Andy: at some of the things that these guys are doing, I mean you've got people going on to be surgeons, doctors, teachers, like you've got some pretty serious vocations I guess coming out of these.

[00:13:59] Zac: We do, yeah. We [00:14:00] like to say we're talent agnostic. So if the young person's got a talent in mind and they're showing motivation towards their studies, we'll back them. So we've had dancers, artists, engineers, nurses, doctors, surgeons. So a whole range of different professions. But I think the theme that sort of runs through it is that You know, these young people have dreams and we don't want them to forego those dreams.

[00:14:22] Zac: So we just want to support them on their way and you'd be surprised, I'm always shocked by such a small little intervention as a scholarship and the [00:14:30] average value of our scholarships are about a thousand dollars a year you know, such a small little investment in that young person sees them flourish and they can go on to do, you know, to do great things.

[00:14:41] Andy: What do you, what do you reckon that is the, the main thing that. Changes their world. I mean the money is one thing, but what, why do you reckon you get such a big change? 

[00:14:50] Zac: It's a good question. I think one of the things that I've noticed with some of our young people, they tell me all the time is having an organization believe in them.

[00:14:58] Zac: So, you know, they might have [00:15:00] come from a, you know, challenging personal situation or a tough, tough background. And to have an organization say, Hey, we love what you're doing. We think you can be really great and we're going to support you. Means the world to them in terms of their confidence and motivation and just their belief that they can go on and do what they want.

[00:15:18] Zac: So actually we recently caught up with one of our young scholarship recipients and she was telling us about, you know, she's her mom's a single parent. You know, there's three daughters. All of whom are scholarship recipients of [00:15:30] ours, they're, you know, great, great people. And she was saying, oh, you know, very loving family, but we just didn't have a lot of resources when I was going through school.

[00:15:37] Zac: So, unconsciously she'd started to kind of go, God, I've always thought about doing you know, paramedicine, but I just don't think, you know, that's on the cards for us, you know. And so she was sort of putting these limits on her dreams. And she realized once Western Chances was supporting her, she sort of realized, hey, I don't need to do that.

[00:15:53] Zac: I can, if there's something I want to go and do, I can, I can dream big and I can I can go and achieve that. So it just really, I [00:16:00] think for me, it's really about empowering those young people. The, the financial aid is, is important, obviously. But there's a huge empowerment piece to our program.

[00:16:09] Andy: Absolutely. It's a mindset change, isn't it? It is. Yeah. And some of these kids are coming from, I mean, it's varied, isn't it? It's varied backgrounds. Because you've got refugees, you've got or new Australians. And then you have people who are come, they've come from situations, actually I read about one who, where the, the father had suddenly [00:16:30] passed away.

[00:16:31] Andy: And that's just a situation where they found themselves financially in a. In trouble which you can't see coming. 

[00:16:38] Zac: Yes, completely outside of their control, you know. So, yeah, the young people that are in our program, yeah, completely different backgrounds. So, you're right, we have the West is hugely multicultural.

[00:16:52] Zac: So, I think there's, what is there, nearly 150 languages spoken in, across Melbourne's West. Yeah. It's the most culturally diverse region in [00:17:00] Australia. So, our scholarship recipients. Certainly represent that diversity which is fantastic. So we do a scholarship award ceremony each year where we kind of invite our community We hold a big event in it almost like a graduation ceremony for a for a university But on a smaller scale and we ask all our new scholarship recipients to come along and celebrate with their families And you just see the diversity in our community.

[00:17:24] Zac: That'd be wild and you also see I think how when you [00:17:30] when you support one young person, how that change can ripple out from them into the community. So you're not just supporting them, you're supporting their family, their role models to their siblings. And then they, we hear it all the time, young people, they tell us, Oh, I want to give back to the community that supported me.

[00:17:45] Zac: So it just ripples out into the community, which is so exciting to see. 

[00:17:49] Andy: Yeah, I did. And you read on the, on the testimonials on your website, you read a lot of that. They're saying, now that I've had a chance, I really want to. Give someone else. I really wanted, [00:18:00] someone started a business supporting, what was it?

[00:18:03] Andy: A k r or something? There was a, someone who started a business who to help welcome new Australians and help 'em work their way around and mm-hmm. , stuff like that. So they, they seem very grateful. 

[00:18:13] Zac: Yes. Yeah. Like we, we had recently one young woman who we were supporting her. She was actually doing engineering.

[00:18:18] Zac: Had a real, she was a, a new migrant to Australia. Really tough. Family background. I think just establishing a new life in a new country presents a whole raft of challenges. She was a really intelligent young girl and was [00:18:30] studying engineering. And halfway through her engineering degree, she decided to change to teaching.

[00:18:35] Zac: Because she was like, God, the teachers in my school, Williamstown High, supported me so amazingly. I want to do that for other young people. Shifted her degree for engineering. We supported her through high school and through her tertiary study. She then finished her teaching degree. And got a teaching role back in the school that she came from and wants to now nominate students for scholarships for Western Chances, you know, to really provide [00:19:00] those opportunities that have been given to her back to other, you know, young kids in the community.

[00:19:04] Andy: That's unreal. Yeah. And 

[00:19:05] Andy: that's your ripple effect. It is, yeah. Show a bit of kindness to someone and they can go out and, and share that. Do you have a Melbourne Uni? You have some sort of a relationship with Melbourne Uni, I see some colleges and things that... 

[00:19:21] Zac: We do, yes, so so we support, I'll just say we support our young people year on year.

[00:19:26] Zac: So we've got a unique model where once we bring them into our orbit, [00:19:30] we'll continue providing them a scholarship each year through their studies while they continue to study. So, we have a lot of young kids who... They might, we might start supporting them in year 10, and they go through their VCE studies, and then they go to university, we'll keep supporting them.

[00:19:43] Zac: And over the journey, we've started creating these connections with universities around, well, we've got this great talented cohort, you know, how can we start to open up opportunities for them? We have some great connections at the University of Melbourne, and one of them is Trinity College. So, Trinity College is a [00:20:00] residential college at University of Melbourne.

[00:20:02] Zac: Their dining hall looks like Hogwarts. Yeah, yeah. If you ever go in there, I couldn't believe it the first time I walked in. Yeah, real 

[00:20:08] Andy: classic old uni college, yeah. 

[00:20:10] Zac: A hundred percent. But they also offer a range, you know, for the residents in their college. They have, you know, tuition classes, counselling food offerings so we collaborate with them.

[00:20:22] Zac: So they've got a scholarship program that enables, you know, young people to, to live for free in their residential college and [00:20:30] and we actually collaborate with them to identify scholarships those residential scholarships for our young people. So Western Chances young people can go and live at Trinity College while they're completing their studies at the University of Melbourne.

[00:20:42] Zac: Been a fantastic collaboration. You know, some of the, some of the young people that go there are just in culture shock, you know, they just can't believe. That, that, that they're able to live there and and provide, you know, and get access to those, those those services. 

[00:20:57] Zac: That must be amazing. 

[00:20:58] Zac: It is. Yeah, we've got one young [00:21:00] lady there at the moment who is who had a really challenging home life and, and needed needed some support and we actually, you know, spoke with Trinity and she's a brilliant young lady.

[00:21:10] Zac: So she's now living at Trinity 52 weeks a year so that she's, you know, she doesn't need to worry about her housing. So we've created a safe housing environment for her so she can just focus on her studies. Which it's collaborations like that that are life changing for young people. 

[00:21:26] Andy: Oh, it absolutely is.

[00:21:27] Andy: Because if you're not worried about [00:21:30] a roof over your head, that's, I mean, that's some, these are the fundamentals and what a lot of these, I mean, thinking even back to you with your food bank days, like we're talking about, if you're stressed all day about worrying where do you find the money to live or to keep a roof over your head, you can't.

[00:21:46] Andy: Where do you find the energy to focus on forward planning and improving your situation? 

[00:21:51] Zac: Absolutely, like we've got a young fella actually who really smart young guy, ultra smart young guy who's studying to be a doctor at the moment. And [00:22:00] he, he was living down in Lara near Geelong and he was getting a train up every day to go to his studies, which the medical degree there hours are quite extensive and really struggling with that component of it.

[00:22:10] Zac: So we collaborated with Trinity and he became a Trinity resident which completely changed his outlook on his studies, whether he thought he could actually complete. The medical degree and he's now, you know, a resident advisor and RA at Trinity College supporting the young people who are first on campus.

[00:22:26] Zac: So it's just been, and he says to us, he says, look. [00:22:30] It's been life changing. Being involved with Western Chances, you know, I think what we're great at doing is we're always opening doors for these young people. You know, we always say, hey, we'll open a door, it's up to you if you want to walk through it and he, he says, you know, it's been life changing for me, I'm able to kind of, I'm able to be, you know, a doctor.

[00:22:47] Zac: When I never thought that that was possible for me. 

[00:22:49] Andy: Yeah, because that is a lot of areas of disadvantage. It wouldn't be. It wouldn't be possible, would it? Actually, I went to one of your events. I went to a fundraiser some time ago [00:23:00] down at Grazeland. Big fundraiser down there, and that was fantastic, but what I really enjoyed about that was...

[00:23:07] Andy: When you actually had, one of your scholarship recipients was actually a was the MC. And they spoke so well, but they didn't, they sort of came across that later. Like, they looked like an MC, they presented well, they got up there and they did the thing in front of a big crowd. And and then they said, I'm a, I'm a recipient of the.

[00:23:27] Andy: of the Western Chances stuff and. 

[00:23:29] Zac: Yeah, so [00:23:30] that's Julia Truong, our ambassador an absolute powerhouse. So she's an amazing young person and I think she's got a really interesting story actually, so. Julia grew up here in Footscray you know, she often talks about her parents working so hard in sort of manual labor jobs and you know she, but still resources were really tied in their family and we supported her with scholarships from an early age.

[00:23:58] Zac: And then she, once she finished [00:24:00] school, she really wanted to get into production design and event management. And she's pretty bullet a gate, Julia. She's, you know, got, when she's got firm IDs, she's happy to go at them. And our chair at the time, Terry, sort of suggested, well, why don't we connect you with a mentor who's been in that in that profession and, you know, can give you a bit of advice.

[00:24:16] Zac: And, and we did that. And anyway, she's built her own business JT Production Management. They now, I mean, it's going staggeringly, staggeringly well, despite you know, the impacts of COVID. Yeah. And they now [00:24:30] deliver all our events pro bono. They're our pro bono partner. So we've got this young person who we supported with a scholarship.

[00:24:36] Zac: She's, she's done an amazing job growing this business, and she now is giving back to us, so that rather than us, you know, spending funds, you know, putting these events on, we're putting our money into scholarships supporting other young people. So yeah, amazing, amazing young person. 

[00:24:50] Andy: She, she was incredible.

[00:24:52] Andy: She was really inspiring sitting there listening to her speak and talk about her experiences and what opportunities she's been given [00:25:00] I walked away from that event feeling. Really good. And also I got to sit next to one of the I think they did go to Trinity and just, just so full of life and, and positivity, which was what, which is what I really loved.

[00:25:16] Andy: And it was real eye eyeopener for me. It was one of the first introductions I've had to Western chances, and I just thought, this is such a, So I guess congratulations on that because that's amazing. How, how old is it now? How old is Western Chances? 

[00:25:29] Zac: So we've [00:25:30] been around nearly 20 years. So we're founded by our current chair.

[00:25:34] Zac: So our founding chair, Terry Brax. And so Terry her background, you know, was, she was a teacher. She Melbourne's West and her partner, Steve was premier of the state, Premier Steve Brax. Yes, that's right. They traveled around the state a lot and she. She went up to Mildura and came across this program called Chances for Children.

[00:25:51] Zac: And that program was really about you know removing the tyranny of distance for regional students and providing them scholarships so that they could attend [00:26:00] school and pay for those costs. And she, and Terri just sort of had this light bulb moment, kind of going, God, she's seen all these challenges in the school system in the West.

[00:26:08] Zac: Yeah. About all these, you know, talented young kids who just, but for their personal circumstance, could go on and do great things, and this light bulb moment, just going, God, this chances for children model. It's a perfect fit for Melbourne's West. So she sort of came back from that trip enthused and created Western Chances on the premise that let's just remove those barriers for these talented young people by [00:26:30] providing them a scholarship.

[00:26:31] Zac: So she formed Western Chances in 2003 and I think In that first year of scholarships in 2004, we gave out about 21 scholarships, and then, you know and now we give out over 850 scholarships every year. Every year, 850? Yes, so we've sort of grown, you know, we've grown a lot over the journey, and I think I think what it's shown is that there's just such a huge need in the community.

[00:26:57] Zac: We serve. You know, you look at some statistics, but [00:27:00] one in six young kids in Australia you know, comes from poverty. That hugely affects their educational outcomes. So they're already behind their peers from the get go, as soon as they enter school, and the gap only widens. And then, you know, that lack of education you know, secondary and tertiary education.

[00:27:18] Zac: has a lifelong impact. So you know, lower health outcomes and lower, you know, obviously, economic outcomes over their life's journey. So, you've got this big need and, and I think it, the reason why we started Melbourne's West is [00:27:30] because there's such pockets of sort of intergenerational you know, disadvantage that have been around the West in a long period of time.

[00:27:38] Zac: And, you know, there's still lower literacy and numeracy rates in the West than, you know, the rest of Melbourne, lower VCE completion rates. So, So we kind of went, well, where, where's the biggest need? And we, that's why we've started here in the West. And I think our organization is so reflective of the community spirit of the West.

[00:27:55] Zac: Like we were talking about it earlier. There really is this community spirit here. And I [00:28:00] think we've sort of harnessed that in some ways around, hey, you know, with, with a small sort of investment, we can have this huge impact for young people. And people have really got behind that idea. 

[00:28:10] Andy: Oh, a hundred percent.

[00:28:12] Andy: And, and it's not just words saying that it's a community, like great community spirit as well. They're not just throwaway comments. It is, it's unless you've experienced it, it is something really something to behold. The West, I guess, was originally built by workers and migrants and stuff like that.

[00:28:29] Andy: So that's, [00:28:30] it's sort of a melting pot of a lot of different cultures. And, and the, these people that, so the testimonials that really, for me on your website, that really ring like that, that cut deep are the ones where they say. My, either my parents worked really hard, but someone got sick, and so someone's a full time carer now, and so we just don't have the ability to earn much money and so much opportunities, or the ones where like someone unfortunately just passed away you know, suddenly.

[00:28:59] Andy: So [00:29:00] these sort of ones where there's situations where they're working paycheck to paycheck effectively and that paycheck, if that dries up, all of a sudden, and right now, In the current situation, interest rates, all the bids, like that's going to be more and more people that need it as well. That's just opportunities shattered without those funds, right?

[00:29:18] Zac: Yeah, the cost of living crisis is no doubt making things more challenging for families. Because school education expenses, they're expensive, you know. Textbooks are really expensive, all the stationery. [00:29:30] Now increasingly digital access is a huge piece of our scholarship program because young people need laptops to access digital learning. It's all laptops. It's all laptop based. Yeah, yeah. Home internet. You know particularly a lot of our young people come from large families. So, how do they, where do they get you know, quiet space to to study? They might have younger siblings that they have to care for in some respects.

[00:29:53] Zac: So, it's really hard for them to contribute time to study. So, it can be challenging. And, and I think You know, I speak to [00:30:00] a lot of people because about the value of our scholarship at a thousand dollars, which, you know, on the face of it perhaps doesn't seem that much, but, you know, I remember reading in, in one of one of our scholarship applications about a young girl who applied for scholarships, a scholarship and, and wanted help with stationery and, you know, she only had red pens, you know, her family couldn't afford to, to purchase red pens and blue pens which, you know, you know.

[00:30:27] Zac: How much is a pen? I don't know. You can probably get a pen for less than a dollar. So [00:30:30] yeah, it just shows you, I guess, how tight some resources are in families. And then, you know, she was talking about the impact on her and she felt sort of like excluded from her classmates because, you know it just put this barrier between her and her other classmates because she wasn't able to have those things.

[00:30:46] Zac: And I, you know, it's always those little things that really, you know, target your heartstrings. I remember thinking, Oh my God. How hard would that be? And so often when I say it just removes these young people having to worry about that, [00:31:00] they get all their school essentials, they can participate fully in their education.

[00:31:04] Zac: And they don't have to worry about where those, where those essentials are coming from. 

[00:31:08] Andy: Yeah, God, imagine not having the pens. It's big. 

[00:31:13] Zac: Yeah, so it can, it can be challenging. So that's why I think the scholarship is very, very tangible. Provides that, you know financial assistance. But then we like to link our young people with opportunities.

[00:31:24] Zac: And that's where I feel like a lot of the magic happens. We link our young people to learning and growth [00:31:30] opportunities, leadership camps, residential scholarships and they can, they can pick and choose what suits their, their development best. So they sort of choose what opportunities we can provide.

[00:31:40] Zac: And we work with nearly 20 organizations to provide. You know, access to those opportunities for free for our young people. 

[00:31:46] Andy: Yeah, I saw you've got a lot of partners. We do. I saw you've got listed on your website. Actually, you can jump on westernchances. you can check out all the different partners.

[00:31:55] Andy: But you've got, yeah, a lot of help from a lot of different partners.

[00:31:58] Zac: I think we're an organization that [00:32:00] really survives, like our whole model is built on partnerships, you know. So we work with schools to identify students and support students. Yes. We work with businesses and organizations to fund our program.

[00:32:11] Zac: We work with universities and other organizations to provide links opportunities for our young people. So, and I think that's the beauty of a model like ours, and particularly in West, it's really harnessing that community spirit. Because so many people want to get involved. And, and we do encourage that.

[00:32:26] Zac: Because, I have to say, not only is it really satisfying, To [00:32:30] be involved in this sort of work, it's fun, you know, you get to, you get to you know, bring people together to support your own community. I mean, it's, it's so much fun and the team and I often talk about. Sometimes because you get so invested in the work, it can be challenging to sort of draw that work life balance a little bit at times because you just want to throw yourself into it.

[00:32:51] Zac: But someone I work with at Foodbank actually used to say, if you're not all in on something, what's the point? You know? So I think [00:33:00] Western Chances is all in on our young people and I think, you know, our team is all in on our purpose. 

[00:33:04] Andy: Do you ever find it too hard? Like, do you ever sort of, does it ever get too much?

[00:33:08] Zac: No, not at all, not, not at all. So yeah, love, love working at Western Chances and I think it's always the people you work with, isn't it? That, you know, really bring things to life. And also I think, you know, we, we do a number of events and, and things with our young people and it's just great to be able to talk with them, see how they're going.

[00:33:28] Zac: We still connect with our [00:33:30] alumni. So once. I guess our young people have finished their scholarships and finished their education. They're off working. Yep. We still want to connect with them because we think that they can be a powerful community for each other. Of 

[00:33:40] Andy: course, yeah. They can support but they can also advocate and bring them into the fold and.

[00:33:46] Zac: Definitely. So you kind of get to. You know, you meet some young recipients who are at the start of their educational journey and then you meet alumni who are five years post graduation and are just kicking goals. Yep. And it's just this great [00:34:00] sense of you know, how fantastic is that we sort of played this small part in that person's journey.

[00:34:05] Zac: It's really satisfying. 

[00:34:05] Andy: Yeah, and for the new people, they can see where they can go. It's possible. Definitely. It makes it possible. 

[00:34:11] Zac: Definitely. 

[00:34:11] Andy: Breaking, breaking down that mental barrier of the... 

[00:34:14] Zac: Absolutely. 

[00:34:14] Andy: Yeah. So I see on your, on webs, on your website westernchances. org. au, there's a donate button. Yes.

[00:34:21] Andy: Is that something you want people to come and give you, like help donate money and, and support your programs? 

[00:34:27] Zac: We would love, we would love for people to support our [00:34:30] programs and I think I think the one commitment we make to our donors is that... You know, all your support goes into scholarships for young people.

[00:34:38] Zac: So, we run a very lean organization. Andy, I think you're, you know, you're podcasting today with, I think, 30, 20% of the organization. So, we're a very small team. But, so you can be assured. And we do that, you know, we keep the team, we, We keep pretty lean so that we can put our our money into the scholarships.

[00:34:55] Zac: So yeah, if you'd like to support, know that it really, your funds will really go [00:35:00] into empowering young people in Melbourne's West. Yeah, 

[00:35:02] Andy: which and like we've seen again on the testimonials, those people end up doing some really great things. And. They are so grateful, and they really want to give back at the end.

[00:35:13] Andy: Which is the exact kind of people that you want to create, isn't it? You want to foster that. 

[00:35:18] Zac: Yeah, they do. And you read in scholarship applications all the time. Oh, I volunteer to do this. I lead a, you know, a homework group and support other young people with their studies. I'm [00:35:30] fundraising for another. I always laugh when these young people are fundraising for community organisations in their area.

[00:35:36] Zac: You know, so like, they would never think to ask for themselves, but they're happy to fundraise for someone else. It just really shows you that, I guess, that community are looking after each other. So yeah, it's fantastic to read. Yeah, it is good. 

[00:35:49] Andy: And have you got any more? I mean, I'm looking forward to the next big fundraiser because that was a great day out.

[00:35:54] Andy: Yeah. Have you got any more big ones coming up? 

[00:35:57] Zac: We do. We do. So we've got the Good Business Forum [00:36:00] which is our... Big event for the year. Yeah. Where we sort of have about 400 leaders from, you know, community, government and corporate organizations. Join us on the 27th of October Yeah. To raise funds for our scholarship program.

[00:36:12] Zac: So last year I think we raised $124,000, which, you know, that'll support over 120 young people. Scholarships. Yeah. Those scholarships. Yeah. So this year we'd be aiming to do the same. It's a fantastic day. We've got a great panel of speakers, but more importantly, we've got. Great scholarship recipient who's going to share their story on the day, [00:36:30] which for me is always a highlight because you just get to hear.

[00:36:33] Zac: Someone's story in their own words about, you know, what the scholarship, how the scholarship sort of assisted them on their journey so, yeah, it's a fantastic day, pencil it in the calendar. 

[00:36:42] Andy: Yeah, there we go. Alright. And if people can anyone go to that, like are they going to be invitation only or is that something you can sign up to on the website?

[00:36:49] Zac: So yes, so we're going to open ticketing shortly and yes, people can choose to come along if they'd like to on our website. 

[00:36:56] Andy: So they can go to your website, [00:37:00] westernchances.org.au and they can find links towards that in the future, sometime in the future. They can. Yeah, that's fantastic. Is there anything else big on the, like what, what else is big for you guys?

[00:37:08] Andy: Anything changing? 

[00:37:09] Zac: Yeah. So it's interesting you ask at the moment where I think coming out of COVID, we've sort of done a bit of a review of our strategy as a lot of organizations have, I'm sure. And we're starting, we've always juggled with how do we connect young people with opportunities in the workplace.

[00:37:24] Zac: So we're actually just about to launch an internship program where we connect our, you know, [00:37:30] really talented, resilient. tertiary scholarship recipients, so our young people who are you know, studying degrees with business in a 12 week internship where they can, you know, get into the organization, get some work experience under their belt, start creating a network so that when they complete their degree, they come out and are really employable.

[00:37:50] Zac: But for our you know, corporate organizations, and I speak to a number of corporate CEOs all the time, some of our talk about The talent shortage you know, that people are [00:38:00] looking for good people and they're trying to pipeline young, you know, talented young people. So it feels like a great way for us to sort of facilitate these connections.

[00:38:09] Zac: And we're looking forward to launching that program over the next next month. 

[00:38:12] Andy: Sure. And is that, so if you were a corporate listening to this. Is that something you could get in touch with and get involved? 

[00:38:18] Zac: Absolutely. Yeah. To host an intern. So we're looking to place interns in organizations all across Melbourne.

[00:38:23] Zac: Yeah. It's a cap commitment of 12 weeks where, you know, the young person you know, we set them up with a support, [00:38:30] an internship plan, connect them with a supervisor and a buddy. Yeah. But it's a cap commitment. It only goes for 12, 12 weeks, but it gets you, gives you a really great chance to. So, support someone from a diverse local community that's come from a background you know, that might have experienced barriers to get them into your workforce to have a look at them.

[00:38:48] Zac: But we also know, because they've come through our scholarship program, that they're talented, they're motivated and they're resilient and, and potentially could be, you know, great people for you. 

[00:38:56] Andy: Yeah. I think they could be excellent people [00:39:00] For any organization because they're like, again, they've been given a chance and these people look like they're really grab, you know, grabbing onto it.

[00:39:07] Zac: Yeah, absolutely. So that, that's one really exciting thing for us and, and really that's been driven by a lot of our, we young people, the feedback we're getting from our young people, you know, I went to a Jobs Victoria forum the end of last year and they said that the number of graduate level jobs in the last 10 years has shrunk by 90%.

[00:39:24] Zac: You know, so, so these young, it's, even though you're finishing a degree, it's still quite hard to get into the workforce, [00:39:30] and in Melbourne's West, youth unemployment is still staggeringly high, over 15%. So it's not easy, and this way we think that we can sort of connect our young people to workplaces in, in a way that is beneficial to both.

[00:39:42] Andy: Yeah, and two, like, you know, they can have a. They can try it out and get some experience, but also like it's, it's almost like a pipeline if they can, they can grab these people and they can all experience that workplace and then they can form long term, you know, they may end up working there, you know, as their, 

[00:39:59] Zac: [00:40:00] Well, as an example, we we've worked with the Melbourne Airport for a long period of time.

[00:40:04] Zac: They've been our major corporate partner for many years. A fantastic supporter and they support our scholarship program, but we've got a young fella who really, really had some really challenging circumstances in his high school years and particularly with a family member's illness. So we're supporting with a scholarship program and his dream was always to be in aviation.

[00:40:24] Zac: And you were talking earlier about, you know, you, the pilots had a dream of aviation. Yeah. [00:40:30] So he wanted to, you know, wanted to become a pilot and life's journey took him in a few different directions, but we connected him with Melbourne airport and he's now working. So, they supported him as a scholarship recipient.

[00:40:40] Zac: He's now working at Melbourne Airport in the aviation field where he, you know, he loves being at the airport, loves being around it and he's been there a number of years and it's this full circle moment where, you know, he's, he's been supported by the community. He's now working in the community in a field that he loves you know, for a partner that we love.

[00:40:58] Zac: So, it's been, it's [00:41:00] been a great, it's been a really great outcome. 

[00:41:01] Andy: That's a real success story. Yeah. That's fantastic. Thank you. Well, Zac Lewis, CEO of Western Chances. I've really enjoyed our chat this morning. You're a very busy man and it's good of you to donate 20% of your workforce to come down and do the podcast today with a hundred percent of our workforce.

[00:41:20] Andy: But I've really enjoyed the chat and I, I really like what you're doing. It's really inspirational. And [00:41:30] I, I recommend everyone get onto westernchances. org. au and just check out. What, what they're doing, because the people that you're producing or assisting to, I guess, produce themselves through this they're going to be real community leaders in the future.

[00:41:47] Andy: So, so thank you so much for coming onto the podcast and I wish you all the best for these two great programs coming this year. But otherwise onward and upward, get back to [00:42:00] work and get those kids going. 

[00:42:03] Zac: Thanks, Andy. Really appreciate it, mate. No 

[00:42:05] Andy: worries. This has been the Good People Podcast. My name is Andy.

[00:42:08] Andy: It's all brought to you by In Other Good News. If you're watching this on YouTube, please like and subscribe. That helps us so much. And tell your friends, tell your friends about the Good People Podcast because the more good stories we can tell, the more good we can do. So Zach again, thanks for joining us on the show and until next episode, we'll catch you next time.[00:42:30]