• about us

  • Vision

  • LBWR Committee

  • Sponsors

  • Media

• Leadership Program

  • The program

  • Our approach

  • Participants

  • Scholarships

  • Learning Partners

  • Roll call

  • Alumni

• our stories

  • Publications

• community

  • The Courier Community Advisory Group

• contact us

Building leaders, building communities

In its simplest form, Leadership Ballarat & Western Region (LBWR) Leadership Program is a 10-month community leadership program open to all residents who care about their region and wish to effect change. LBWR Graduates go on to volunteer in the community in various ways, such as being on a board or committee, undertaking community projects, fundraising, or advocating for the future of our region through social and economic growth and development

An initiative of Committee for Ballarat, the aim of LBWR since its inception in 2005 has been to ensure the development of active citizenship enabling individuals to be responsive to the needs of our community. Since then, LBWR has supported and developed a diverse network of more than 320 graduates who continue to make a real difference to the community in which they live.

 What alumni say about LBWR: 

“The program exposes you to areas of the community you would not have otherwise known about, builds networks of support with fellow participants and boosts your confidence. The LBWR network provided me with connections that benefited my business, built my ability to speak to an audience, to advocate for change and to understand how to influence. Most importantly, it showed me who the people in Ballarat are that I need to contact if I want to be heard”

- Michelle Dunn LBWR14, photographer and film-maker

“There are three key lessons from LBWR that continue to impact my leadership development. The first relates to the benefit of shared experiences and the power of perspective. The second concerns the importance of people networks to the region and the last, perhaps most significant lesson, relates to the impact of skilled volunteers in our community. LBWR impacts across all three of these areas”

- Tim Waller LBWR11, Development Manager - Golden Plains Shire Council

 “The best thing LBWR did for me was to open my mind and broaden my thinking. The networks, issues explored and the speakers we met thought LBWR really broadened my thinking of the issues in our community and what community led leadership really is. I could not get that experience through a corporate leadership course. This was probably the most significant learning from LBWR for me – think bigger, beyond my circle, look for the greater good of the wider community”

- Rachaele May LBWR08, Director Regions and Emergencies - Agriculture Victoria