In November, 14 representatives from across Australia joined a global gathering of Y leaders at the the World YMCA Accelerator Summit in Mombasa, Kenya.
It was an incredible opportunity to connect with fellow Y teams and be reminded that we’re part of something much bigger – a global movement reaching over 65 million people a year! During the summit, we celebrated the successes of Vision 2030 and its four Pillars of Impact: Community Wellbeing, Meaningful Work, Sustainable Planet, and Just World. Through workshops and discussions, we worked collectively to set the agenda for the next two years.
Reflections from Mombasa
Three Y WA staff attended the Global Summit and were deeply inspired by the experience. Below, they share their reflections on attending the event. One thing is certain: they all had an incredible experience and are profoundly grateful to the Y WA for the opportunity to visit Kenya.
The trip provided valuable learning, meaningful connections, and a chance to contribute to shaping our strategic agenda. Each staff member left the Summit with a stronger commitment to the global movement and a deeper understanding of our mission to support children, young people, and communities.
Allison Ross, Executive Manager - People and Culture
“The opportunity to attend the global YMCA Accelerator Summit in Mombasa, Kenya was a once in a lifetime experience for me. It was inspiring to hear stories and achievements from YMCAs around the world and to see our Vision 2030 progressing.
We had the opportunity to work on two pillars of the strategy – Sustainable Planet and Meaningful Work – to collectively set the agenda for this work over the next two years. We also got to visit some community organisations in Mombasa and experience the amazing work being done in their communities.
I valued having the time to talk to colleagues all over the world and find the similarities in what we are doing, but more importantly the chance to share learnings and partnerships and explore opportunities for leveraging these in Australia and Western Australia.
It was wonderful to share this experience with Anjie and Frances from the Y WA, but also with colleagues from Ys around Australia and the Y Australia team. We look forward to working together to build on our learnings from the Summit and continuing to embed Vision 2030 across Australia.”
Anjie Brook, Executive Manager – Education, Youth and Leisure
“Attending the YMCA Accelerator Summit in Mombasa was an incredible opportunity to connect with the global Y movement, hear of the inspiring work of Ys who tackle similar youth issues but in incredibly challenging communities.
The greatest gift was having time and space to reflect, learn and challenge my own thinking and explore new opportunities, programs and experiences the Y WA could offer the children and young people in the communities across Western Australia and to investigate further what we can learn from other countries to expand and enhance the great work our teams already achieve.
Hearing of the remarkable work of the Change Agents has inspired me to ensure our Y WA team are aware of this opportunity as did the Global Awards - celebrating the incredible work being done by different countries to achieve the Y's vision to inspire young people in body, mind and spirit.”
Frances Steen, General Manager Finance
“It was amazing to meet people from Y’s across the world – meeting volunteers and young board members from other countries was unbelievable. I got an appreciation of how lucky we are here in Australia. I saw people doing a lot more with a lot less comfort than we have here.
What really stuck with me was the amount of other organisations that know the Y and want to work with us. Organisations like Generation Unlimited and IBM – lots of different people who know and trust the Y and want to work with us.”
Check out the best moments from the YMCA Accelerator Summit 2024 held from 21 to 25 October in Mombasa, Kenya - click here to watch!