Zoom Meeting with Dr. Thu-Trang Tran
By Graeme Thompson
Originally from Sydney, Dr Thu-Trang Tran, CEO of Volunteers West. is a former refugee from Vietnam who became aware of Rotary whilst at school. At school she was the recipient of a Rotary scholarship and during her days at University of New South Wales was involved in Rotaract and was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to Argentina.
On relocating to Melbourne, she has been involved with Volunteer West and at our September 2nd meeting gave an insight into the activities of the organisation.
Volunteers West provides training and support for volunteers and acting as an advocate for funding of volunteer organisations by raising the profile of volunteering and marshalling resources in the west. The aim being to Improve the health and well-being of people in Melbourne’s west through meaningful volunteering that empowers and engages.
VolREACH ( Volunteering Research, Engagement, Advocacy, and Community Hubs) program is structured to:
- Provide more resources to people and communities in the West
- Raise the profile and importance of the volunteering sector
- Advance volunteering practice towards a person-centred, systems-change model for enduring impact, leveraging pioneering best-practice projects
- Innovate data-informed evaluation, research, and policy insights to measure what counts for volunteers and communities.
Volunteer West has a very informative website which is worth a visit.
Thu -Tran provided food for thought, indicating areas that Rotary could be involved with Volunteers West.