GameChange Reflection Session Summary
The final reflection session for the GameChange Collective brought together participants to celebrate achievements, examine collaborative change, and explore possibilities for future collaboration after the formal initiative concludes. The session was facilitated by Jane Yettica from Collaboration for Impact.
Key Achievements
Participants highlighted the following:
- Enduring relationships built over four years, marked by trust, open communication, and mutual respect.
- Community-led leadership with job seekers and local residents playing increasingly active roles in planning and delivering initiatives, such as the Jobs Expo.
- Cultural and linguistic diversity as a strength, supported by culturally competent agency staff and volunteers.
- Listening to community needs was critical to success, ensuring initiatives were relevant and responsive.
Collaborative Changes
GameChange transformed how organisations and community members worked together:
- Shifted from fragmented services to a cohesive and coordinated network with a shared purpose.
- Employment Hubs provided a ‘no wrong door’ approach, easing navigation through complex systems.
- Built a culture of experimentation and learning, allowing adaptations and improvements over time.
- Supported a more human-centred employment system, moving away from transactional approaches to truly seeing people as individuals with unique needs and aspirations.
Lessons and Capabilities
- Place-based, community-driven work takes time and trust but yields deep, lasting impact.
- Collaboration reduced duplication and created more seamless pathways to jobs.
- Participants valued opportunities for honest reflection, learning from both successes and failures.
- Funding proposals and program delivery benefited from cross-agency collaboration.
- The initiative cultivated individual and collective leadership, enhancing advocacy, coordination, and cultural safety.
Future Collaboration
There was strong appetite to continue working together, with reflections on:
- Embedding lived experience from the outset in planning and implementation.
- Maintaining regular communication and knowledge sharing across organisations.
- Leveraging lessons and relationships to influence other initiatives and systemic reform.
- Acknowledging the need for sustained investment and council leadership to support ongoing collaboration.
- The possibility of a federally funded Dandenong Employment Hub, viewed as a significant achievement stemming from the group’s advocacy and groundwork.
Closing Reflections
Participants shared deep appreciation for the connections, trust, and community care that developed through GameChange.
They expressed a strong sense of responsibility—and honour—to carry forward the values, relationships, and practices cultivated through the initiative into their future work.
