Every term we recognise one of our fabulous partners, for the inspiring work they’re doing to help young Australians feel heard, valued and supported. This time we’d like to say a big thank you to our Corporate partner, Zurich Australia.
Raise Foundation and Zurich Australia, through the support of its global charitable arm the Z Zurich Foundation, have been collaborating since 2016. Zurich has an active community investment program with a strong focus on wellbeing and inclusion, so partnering with Raise and supporting the growth of its mentoring programs made perfect sense.
“When we first established our partnership with Raise, the charity was operating only in three states. Thanks to a grant we received from our Foundation, headquartered in Switzerland, we were able to support Raise in its national expansion into two additional states,” says Linda Griffin, Head of Customer and Corporate Affairs at Zurich Australia.
“Last year, the Z Zurich Foundation approved additional funding to renew our partnership for a further five years – we’re thrilled to be onboard to now see Raise expand its programs across all public high schools in Australia by 2025.”
Zurich employees have embraced the partnership, with more than 85 employees across Australia having mentored or currently mentoring in our school mentoring program.
Matthew Apps, who has signed up as a mentor for the second consecutive year, is happy to share some advice for aspiring mentors: “Do it! Each mentee in the program has a unique background with unique challenges. I have found the program very rewarding and know that the other mentors have done also… just being there for a young person is so worthwhile in itself.”
In addition to mentoring, Zurich employees also lead an annual career workshop to provide mentees with the opportunity to see what working for a global insurance company is like. In 2019, a group of mentees were challenged to design a dream holiday, conduct a risk assessment and prepare an insurance policy for three travellers of different risk profiles, sparking a great conversation about insurance and risk.
“I was very impressed with the mentees who were highly engaged with the workshop. They were so inventive, and we had great fun,” says Zurich’s Steph Reeves, who co-designed the workshop with colleagues.
“At Raise, we are extremely grateful to generous organisations who partner with us for the long term, guaranteeing support for young people in our programs. Over the years, the Z Foundation has helped us work towards our goal of placing a mentoring program in every public secondary school across Australia. They clearly recognise the urgent need in supporting mental health in our youth”, says Raise Founder and CEO, Vicki Condon.
“Zurich Australia is an incredibly dependable partner. When we have a need, they always assist us. Whether it be lending rooms for meetings and mentor training, providing us with skilled advice, hosting corporate partner breakfasts or committing to workplace giving and fundraising opportunities, Zurich always comes to the table. Their long-term outlook helps us to plan for our future, as well.”
With a number of new Zurich mentors recruited for 2020, Zurich is looking forward to another action-packed year ahead with Raise.
