By Jess Wheeler, Chair RYLA District 9800 Committee
In District 9800, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a leadership program focused on personal growth, leadership development and community for people aged 18 to 25 years. Over the course of seven days, participants are immersed in content designed to challenge, inspire and provide space to reflect.
RYLA 9800 is entirely designed and run by a team of volunteers who are recent alumni of the program. A committee that includes a mix of Rotarians and team members provides support, liaising with Rotary clubs, managing finances and ensuring that the program aligns with Rotary’s values.
In March 2020, the RYLA committee realised that the usual program may not proceed as planned in December due to the pandemic. Given the enormous effort put in by the team in preceding months, we felt a duty to avoid a situation where our program may be cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. We were mindful of the impact that the pandemic was having on clubs’ fundraising capabilities and sought to find a way to continue to keep costs low for clubs who wanted to support RYLA. We also saw an opportunity to add value to future in-person programs by allowing online engagement and contact before and after the retreat week.
The team, led by 2013 alumna Claire Bryan, showed remarkable innovation, adaptability, and resilience through the challenges of 2020 to create a program of which we are proud. The design process of the program was highly consultative, with input from alumni, past speakers and RYLA leaders from around Australia and New Zealand, who were also altering their programs in response to the pandemic.
Our online program will run over six weeks from 8 February 8 to 21 March and will comprise 4 modules: Wellbeing and Values, Grit, Leadership Skills and Goal Setting. Thanks to the generosity of our alumni and the broader RYLA community, almost all of our speakers in this program have an affiliation with RYLA, including many alumni of our own program.
We thank those clubs who have sponsored candidates and encourage them to keep in regular contact with their candidates throughout their RYLA journeys.