Our Yanalangami: Strong Women, Strong Communities Program is thriving and making positive impacts to First Nations women from many Nations all around Australia, entering its fourth year. Yanalangami seeks to further empower Changemaker Graduates to be leaders that inspire ripples of change in their home communities.
To achieve this, we have developed a Yanalangami ‘Train the Trainer’ program which has and will continue to build upon women’s leadership skills, providing the frameworks, tools and resources necessary to lead Yanalangami: Strong Women, Strong Communities programs in the Communities where they live, work and belong. To make a lasting impact throughout Australia, we know that change needs to be led by Communities themselves.
We know that when First Nations women are supported, uplifted, empowered, and encouraged to heal in safe spaces, whole Communities benefit. Our women are the backbones of our Communities and take on immense amounts of unpaid care work for our children, families, and Communities as a whole. We can’t pour from an empty cup; Yanalangami provides our women with the tools, resources, and support to help them on their healing journey, grow their leadership skills and confidence, and recognise and share their dreams of change.
The Train the Trainer program was developed by our Yanalangami team through extensive Community consultation and internal discussions, resulting in a hybrid delivery model of both online and in-person training with selected Yanalangami Changemakers. Yanalangami’s Train the Trainer program launched in January 2024, with three weekly online sessions, and a 5-day intensive in person on Gadigal Country.
We were blessed to be able to bring together a group of our deadly Changemakers from our 2021, 2022, and 2023 Yanalangami cohorts to Gadigal Country to learn facilitation and leadership skills from our Lead Yanalangami Facilitator, and Program Lead, Aunty Bernice Hookey. This allows for us to expand and grow our program, whilst ensuring the unique facilitation style and leadership practices from Aunty Ber continue to be the backbone of our program.
Our facilitators are encouraged to lean into their vulnerability and their personal strengths, while growing their confidence and leadership skills. Our Train-the-Trainer program includes a mixture of leadership and facilitation activities, yarning circles, self-reflection, Cultural activities, and opportunities for our women to connect and continue building strong relationships with each other.
We now officially have 7 Yanalangami Facilitators who have graduated from this program, resulting in long-term sustainability of Yanalangami. Our deadly facilitators are then able to join us for in-person, place-based, co-designed programs across Australia, as well as assisting us in facilitating our online program, and our monthly YarnÚps. This program also provides our women with the tools to facilitate Yanalangami individually in their local Communities, sharing tools and resources for whole Communities to thrive.
We are so excited for what this opportunity will bring for Yanalangami, our Changemakers, and their Communities!
Stay deadly,
The Yanalangami Team
