THE FOUNDATION
OVERVIEW
The Step to the Future Foundation was established on April 1, 2005 as a non-profit foundation under the Corporations Act.
The Foundation has a Board of Directors whose members include: Diane Allan, Chris Bath, Kerry Chikarovski, Barbara Holborow OAM, Dr Ian Lin, Ted Pretty, Mark Reading, David Storrs and Robert Van Houten.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is the accounting advisor and a partner of the Foundation.
Mallesons Stephen Jaques is the legal advisor to the Foundation
Independent Auditors for the Foundation – Kelly & Partners Chartered Accountants
The Step to the Future Foundation is a collaborative effort which is supported by Federal, State and Local governments, Australian Defence Force Recruiting, Universities and the business community. Without this support, the Foundation would be unable to reach out to the youth of this country and give encouragement and confidence building in each participant to instill a “can do” attitude about his or her future.
Step to the Future Foundation Equity Policy
The Step to the Future Foundation Equity Policy guarantees that all young people including those who may be disadvantaged and may not otherwise have the opportunity to participate will be able to attend their local forum which will promote the development of skills and attributes including building self-esteem, self confidence and sense of community.
An equity measure subsidising tickets, travel and teacher release has been established by the Foundation to target young people who were ‘at risk’ of not being able to afford to attend forums in every city, regional and rural location. The aim is not to disadvantage any youth from attending due to economic reasons.
This involves consultation between the STTF Foundation, local schools and other local service providers such as Local Community Partnerships, local council youth workers and other youth related organisations to identify which schools, organisations or individuals do require financial support.
Step to the Future Foundation Regional/Rural Education Policy
Research tells us that regional and rural students are not achieving as well as city students on almost every score that counts – such as literacy and numeracy; school retention; Year 12 results; university enrolments.
There are a number of factors that continue to make ready access to quality education and extra curricular opportunities in regional and rural areas problematic such as, distance, greater costs, small enrolments which limit the opportunities available and affordable to these young people in these areas.
Through its collaborative structure, the Step to the Future Foundation has made a difference to the youth of Australia through these forums.
The Foundations approach to the planning, organising and conducting of its forums to improve rural and remote education is based upon six basic concepts:
- Openness to new ideas
- Partnerships and relationships with the local schools and communities
- Education is an investment and life long learning process
- Leadership – individual, community, education, business, government
- Reliable data collection and information to be available to all major stakeholders
- Community capacity building
To read more about our community capacity building click here.