Latest news from the JOY corner Australia's LGBTIQA+ Radio StationHello JOYsters!A very happy new year to you all – it's been so lovely to catch up with everyone over the past couple of weeks, after a short break over Christmas. As always there is lots of news to share with you, including some plans for the year ahead and highlights from the month just finished. In this CEO update:
Announcing the JOY Ambassador programJOY President David ‘Macca’ McCarthy launched the JOY Ambassador program by announcing Lord Mayor Sally Capp and legend Newsreader Peter Hitchener as the first ambassadors. On March 7, tune in to Saturday Magazine where they will jointly announce details about Radiothon 2020. Sally and Peter will outline how, in their new role, they will attract additional support for JOY. JOY Radiothon 2020Reflecting on lessons of the past, we have considered at length the best time to conduct this important fundraising event, to enable better management and predictability of our cash flows. Having JOY Radiothon happen at the end of the financial year creates major uncertainty around our financial performance for the year. We will now bring Radiothon forward, to start April 22 and run to May 1 – still close enough for our wonderful donors to think of their end of year tax deductibility. Our Communications and Events Manager Aleja, will work with the Radiothon Coordinator to ensure the success of the event. Increased engagement of all team members is the key factor in bringing these crucial funds for JOY. More to follow! Updates from The BoardJoining Gary Singer on the Board is Madeleine Swain who has accepted a casual position following Amanda Millar’s resignation earlier this month. I would like to thank Amanda for her service and commitment to JOY and the Board over the past years. Current board member Helen Jentz has been appointed Vice President, taking on Amanda’s previous role. Gary and Madeleine bring rich experiences to JOY, as well as skills and connections within the wider Australian community. This represents their next step in their ongoing support and commitment to JOY. Welcome Gary and Madeleine! Our independent Governance review is in the planning stage and will involve interviews/data collection with a sample of volunteers, members, Board and staff. The process will include a mixture of one-on-one and group discussion, plus the use of surveys. The work will commence in February. The Board and I will get together in February to participate in a goal setting session, to kick-off our strategic planning work for the next four years – our current plan expires 2020. We look forward to sharing the outcomes of the discussion with you soon. Latest on the Victorian Pride Centre moveThe team is working on a Pride Centre action plan. An initial information pack will be available to all JOY team members, within a couple of weeks. We will host an information session at end of March for all those interested in knowing more about the move. By then, more detailed information will be available to clarify your questions. In his role as Site Relocation Project Manager, Michael Strauss is working closely with the VPC (Victorian Pride Centre) team to finalise our space design and build requirements. Michael and I are working through the initial project planning steps and look forward to calling out for JOYsters to participate in this significant milestone in JOY's history. JOY Nation kicks off!You are most likely aware that our JOY Nation strategy is focused on creating new income streams to help us sustain our work. We were recently commissioned by NAB to combine our audio production, diversity and inclusiveness knowledge and experience to produce a series of podcasts. These podcasts, aimed at Australian workplaces, aim to build a more inclusive Australian workforce. You can find them on Apple and Spotify Podcasts. NAB have provided positive feedback on our involvement in the Loud & Proud Project series. This is being promoted through JOY channels. Congratulations to the JOY team who worked hard to make this happen, especially to Ash Edge, Jack Traynor and Lisa Daniel. Our expanded service offering will soon appear on our website for other potential clients. This is the start of the future! Shout out for volunteers to join us during Pride Season 2020It’s already been a busy start to our summer season of OB's with the JOY team out and about at Melbourne Town Hall, Midsumma Carnival and Better Together Conference! This weekend is Pride March, and we would love to see as many people there as possible, putting a strong JOY foot forward. Coming up we have OB's at Midsumma Pride March, Gaytimes Music Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras and the AFLW Pride Round, as well as a presence at the Geelong Rainbow Festival and Chill Out. It’s a really busy time for us, and a great opportunity to introduce JOY to new audiences. Thank you everyone who is participating and giving their time to make these gigs a success. Interested in helping us out during Pride season events? Contact our Comms and Events Manager Aleja at alejandra.laiton@joy.org.au Get to know our new operating modelThe recent appointment of two new staff members has prompted a review of the JOY Operating Model (some call it an organisational structure) to reflect our current needs. Working with the team we have identified five streams of JOY activity that will be managed by a stream leader, reporting to me. The five streams and leaders are:
Activities where teams will collaborate closely include - Communications Content, Training Content, Events, Grant applications, Projects, Succession Planning, Quality Control, Induction, Policy. The table below sets out the responsibilities for each stream leader, and I encourage you to reach out directly to each of them regarding any matters within their responsibility.
Is your membership up to date?Membership is an expression of support and belief in JOY for us all. It of course gives you a voice, an ability to participate and provides significant funding to keep JOY alive. Please check if your membership is up to date, and reach out to friends, family and your listening community to join the JOY family too! Thank you for your cooperation in this important expression of your support for JOY. I am conscious that there is quite a bit of information to take in here, so do please ask any of the stream leaders to explain or answer any questions you may have. I also hope that a clear delineation of responsibilities and structure will help us all in our internal communication and navigation, making sure you feel informed or able to access information that you require to be your best JOYster. I wish everyone a wonderful Pride Season 2020 and look forward to marching with you. Ange Barry CEO |