NFP Enterprise Offers Cultural Diversity Training
7 April 2015 at 12:14 pm
Welfare Not for Profit, Melbourne City Mission, is to launch a unique social enterprise aimed at delivering cultural diversity training and consulting services to business, Government and community organisations.
CQ Cultural Consulting is set to help Not for Profit, Government and businesses manage team and customer diversity and develop intercultural communication skills.
Reverand Ric Holland, CEO of Melbourne City Mission, said that CQ Cultural Consulting will redefine the narrative around cultural diversity by nurturing Australia’s next generation of intercultural practitioners.
“The CQ team is comprised of aspiring leaders who are young and diverse with real, lived experience as refugees and migrants, and this authentic experience will be embedded in the services that they deliver to employers and service providers,” Rev Holland said.
“Australia has a unique history that has shaped the diversity of its peoples, their cultures and lifestyles and today our population is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the world. Since European settlement, Melbourne’s history has been a story of migration, welcoming arrivals from more than 200 countries who speak 260 languages and follow 135 religious faiths. We are richly multi-cultural.
“It is imperative that we therefore develop cultural competence to better understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures, and work with varying cultural beliefs and schedules.
“CQ is the first of its kind in Australia, as no other training provider offers such young, diverse trainers to directly help organisations understand and embrace diversity and social inclusion in the workplace, and community.”
CQ team member Daniel Haile-Michael, an Ethiopian Civil Engineer who has already been involved in improving the way in which Victoria Police engage with diverse communities and received the 2014 Human Rights Award in recognition of this work, said that the primary aim of the work will be to support organisations to realise the benefits of diversity and inclusion.
“I have been navigating between cultures all my life, and want to share my experiences to help others communicate across cultures,” Haile-Michael said.
“Working across Government, business and the Not for Profit sector as well as the multicultural space as a whole has instilled in me the desire to enable both individuals and organisations to maximise their potential by developing their overall cultural competence and expertise. I truly believe that when diversity is managed effectively, an organisations true potential is then unleashed.”
Melbourne City Mission said the initiative has been in development since 2012 when CQ wrote a business plan, recruited and trained their team, and piloted their training programs to Government, local Council and businesses.
“CQ successfully secured start up investment from Social Traders, Westpac Foundation and Scanlon Foundation,” Rev Holland said.
Established in 1854, Melbourne City Mission is described as Melbourne’s oldest charity.
The Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott will officially launch the enterprise, with a panel discussion entitled ‘Cultural Diversity – Challenges and Opportunities’ in Melbourne on Wednesday 8 April.
The panel will showcase key stakeholders including Dr Hass Dellal OAM from the Australian Multicultural Foundation and Safa Almarhoun, youth leader and CQ Facilitator, and Siobhan Toohill, Westpac’s Head of Sustainability and Community.
