In Victoria and New South Wales, young people aged 15 to 19 who show leadership potential and come from mixed socio-economic backgrounds are matched with high performing PwC coaches. Through the course of the program, the youth develop their leadership, employability and enterprise skills. At the same time, the coaches, identified as having management potential, exercise their leadership skills and broaden their social awareness and impact. Elevate recently expanded to include other companies, including Vodafone.
Hard and soft outcomes are evaluated annually, and this year social evaluator Urbis conducted additional, independent evaluations of the program. The results speak for themselves.
Key impacts of the program on coaches include:
- development of a broader sense of perspective on their professional lives, social roles and personal challenges;
- enhanced capacity to see development of and caring for others as both worthwhile and a core responsibility;
- refreshed and renewed enthusiasm for their workplace.
Key impacts on the young participants include:
- developments in maturity, empathy and self confidence;
- development of communication and organisational skills.
As stated in the Urbis Longitudinal Evaluation of Elevate, 29 June 2007:
"An overarching goal of the Elevate program is contribution to the broader social good. This closely aligns with both the role of Mission Australia as a charitable organisation and PwC’s corporate responsibility goals.”
