Amanda Palmer is the kind of person people are drawn to, exuding a warm, wise confidence. It was this very nature that led a colleague to suggest she mentor as part of her workplace’s corporate volunteering.
Amanda tells us “I was working at Sydney Airport, eventually landing in the wider corporate affairs team. Part of my role involved community investment, strengthening our social licence, developing partnerships and stakeholder relationships, where I worked with the team at Raise. It was prior to this role though that I first heard about Raise. After it was suggested to me that I mentor, I signed up, completed the training and started mentoring young people.”
“Since then I’ve mentored five young people and am mentoring my sixth this year. I didn’t know exactly what was ahead of me, but saw it as a big learning opportunity. If I had any expectations, the program exceeded them. To this day I leave every session inspired and driven, because I now know that the more I show up for young people, the bigger difference I’m making. One thing I’ve learnt is that every mentoring experience is different. You have to go in and just be ready to be there for that person. It has made me realise how resilient I am. It would be easy to take on other people’s issues, but you have to be able to let that go.”
Amanda details the many ways she personally benefits from being a mentor and how it has led to a career evolution. She tells us “it allows you to connect to your younger self, to recognise that what you were lacking at 14 or 15 may be the thing you can bring to your mentee now. It shows you what you’re capable of. While still at Sydney Airport I enrolled in a part time diploma in counselling. When I started, I didn’t have a solid plan, I just knew I was interested in connection and human interaction. My next step was actually joining Raise. I was ready for a career change and wanted to continue working with like-minded people. I knew what Raise was capable of and wanted to be part of that, be behind the scenes helping the cause. At Raise we all work towards something bigger. It is such a supportive team, everyone is here for the same reason, we’re there for each other. It’s a good environment to be in. And now that I’m at Raise, I can see there’s room for me to take that further and want to pursue counselling and further mentoring down the track. I’ve always been a person who people come and talk to, and I want to amplify that. Even to advocate for people.”
Amanda is also keen to spread the word about what Raise is doing and how it benefits employees as much as young people and says “Most people don’t realise how important mentoring is. The fact Raise is on a mission to support as many young people as they can should be celebrated more. When I mentored as a corporate employee, it helped me in my everyday dealings. I developed skills and took them back to my workplace. Understanding people, listening, building connections, these things all translated back to the work environment. A lot of corporates don’t realise the benefits it delivers. If you encourage corporate volunteer mentoring, you support young people and your team. You give your employees the opportunity to discover themselves and this reflects in their workplace. It enhances workplace morale. You’re also volunteering in a sector that can deliver great results. It delivers impact internally and externally. What could be better.”
