Members of the 2021 Graeme Acton Beef Connections Program came together in Brisbane last week, coinciding with the announcement from Beef Australia that the event will go ahead next May.
Mentors and mentor partners travelled from all over Queensland, the Northern Territory and regional New South Wales to gather in person for the first time for a 'Building Your Future' workshop, after COVID-19 restrictions resulted in all prior meetings taking place digitally.
The four-day workshop marked the beginning of a 12 month program for 10 young leaders of the beef industry, which will include personal and professional development opportunities, networking, leadership and communication training, as well as participation in Beef 2021.
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Beef Connections program coordinator Barbara Bishop said the workshop demonstrated the talent, enthusiasm and commitment of the group of mentor partners.
"Focused on achieving their personal and professional goals, these committed young people will achieve great things, with the mentors leading them on a very exciting journey of growth and development," Ms Bishop said.
"It has been amazing to see that in just four days, our mentor partners developed their confidence and started taking risks on their mentoring journey.
"As they build their relationship with their mentor over the next few months, they will have opportunities to develop skills, knowledge and a network that will support the development of their leadership skills, benefiting the beef industry."
Each mentor partner is afforded invaluable networking opportunities throughout the program and is paired with an industry renowned mentor.
Participating in the program from NSW are mentor partners Ellen Simpson of Braidwood who is the AuctionsPlus integrity manager and AuctionsPlus stud sales operations' Hugh Courts of Wellington.
Ms Simpson has been paired with Amanda Moohen, while Mr Courts has been paired with Greg Pankhurst.
The other interstate mentor partners of the 2021 Program are Caitlyn Barton, Rebecca Clapperton, Georgia Glasson, Chloe Gould, Kari Moffat, Caitlin Obst, Ryan Olive, and Kate Power.
They have been paired with respective mentors Melinda King, Liz Allen, Ben Dwyer, Angus Street, Prue Bondfield, Ashley Kirk, Adam Coffey, Philip Hughes, Julie McDonald.
Each mentor partner is required to design, develop and implement a project which will benefit the beef industry and present their project at Beef 2021, which will be the half-way point of the program.
And while each participant is yet to nail down the exact scope of their projects, a common goal has already emerged: engaging more young people and building a more sustainable beef industry at all stakeholder levels.
Mentors and mentor partners will next meet in January, for a media and communications workshop.
The Graeme Acton Beef Connections Program develops the skills of young people across all areas of the beef supply chain by offering training and personal development opportunities.
The program was launched at Beef Australia in 2015 and is proudly sponsored by Westpac.
