Support & Training

Here at OWP, we value creating a positive, feedback-driven, feminist internal culture, filled with opportunities for support, training, and personal and professional development. This includes:

  • Meetings and Training;

  • 2022 Calendar for internal and external events;

  • Key Policies & Procedures;

  • Managing Conflict;

  • Offline, semi-offline and online time;

  • OWP Wealth Redistribution Fund;

  • Personal and Professional Development;

  • Social Activities;

  • Working Groups;

  • Caucuses; and

  • Reviews & Feedback.

Meetings & Training

Throughout the year, we have several compulsory/mandatory activities. These include:

  • Monthly team meetings on Wednesdays from 6.00PM (AEST). You will hear more about these upcoming meetings from your team;

  • Monthly National meetings if you are a National Director;

  • Teal Training Program which you will need to attend at least once in your first 12 months of being with OWP;

  • Mid-Year Training held on one day in June each year (on a Saturday); and

  • End of Year Training held across two days in November each year (on a weekend).

We completely understand that things will come up that may prevent you from attending the above compulsory/mandatory meetings and trainings. That is perfectly okay - just let us know. The key component is communication - if you let us know we can sort out an alternative and make sure you don’t miss out on anything important!

There are also optional opportunities and activities throughout the year. You do not have to attend these, but they are opportunities for you to engage with the rest of the team, hear from incredible external guest speakers, build your personal and professional skills, and have some social time! These include:

  • Social activities;

  • Attending OWP events and seminars (internal activities); and

  • Personal and Professional Development (see below for more).

If you are unsure if something is mandatory or optional, just ask!

Below is the 2022 calendar for internal and external OWP activities. Put these in your diaries so you are aware of the upcoming commitments! Some notes on how to navigate the calendar:

  • WP Meeting: compulsory whole team and portfolio meeting.

  • ET Night: optional engagement and training sessions.

  • You can ‘Filter’ the calendar according to Portfolio or Working Group (who is responsible for its organisation).

  • Once you have access to Airtable, you can see a more detailed version of the calendar.

key policies and procedures

We have a number of key policies and procedures in the organisation. Make sure you have a read over these before your first day!

  • Accountability Policy;

  • Disability & Accessibility Policy;

  • Environmental Policy;

  • Child Protection Policy;

  • Contingency and Succession Planning Policy;

  • Finance Policy;

  • Intellectual Property Policy;

  • Knowledge Management Policy;

  • Maintaining Charitable Status Policy; and

  • Privacy Policy.

As part of our Child Protection Policy, you are required to have an active Working with Children check at all times. Please download the form relevant to your state, and submit it to people@onewomanproject.org as soon as possible:

MANAGING CONFLICT

Here at OWP, we know that sometimes conflict and divergence of opinions, personalities and ideas are unavoidable, so we have put together some guidance on managing conflict within OWP.

Check out this training below:

Offline, Semi-offline and online time

Here at OWP, we acknowledge that volunteering isn’t going to be your highest priority all of the time, and that other aspects of life will need to take priority.

So we have established an open leave policy. At all times, every volunteer is either:

  • Online: you’re doing your role, and responding to emails and Slack messages as normal;

  • Semi-offline: you’re still answering emails and Slack messages, but you’ve got some stuff going on and cannot do your full role for a short period (like during exams, or a family emergency); and

  • Offline: you are taking some time off - no emails, no Slack, no role.

If you ever need to go semi-offline or offline, just let your supervisor know and they will make sure everything gets done! You can read the full process for taking leave/offline time here.

OWP Wealth redistribution fund

The OWP Wealth Redistribution Fund is an opportunity for current volunteers to receive extra support from the organisation.

We recognise that having the time, resources, ability and education to volunteer is a privileged position, and many volunteers balance this alongside paid employment, unpaid roles, study, family and caring responsibilities, and a variety of other commitments. This Fund - sourced from finances and resources external to OWP - is an opportunity for the organisation to give back to those who have given so much.

Volunteers can request:

  • Financial Support up to $100.00 AUD;

  • Additional funds for a professional development opportunity (where the PD opportunity is over $100.00 AUD);

  • One-on-one mentoring with a National Team member, State Team member, or member of our Board of Directors;

  • Support in accessing a mentor, connection or introduction to an individual in your relevant field of work; or

  • Another suggestion!

Each month, a minimum of one volunteer will be selected from the applications received. Any applications not selected in a given month, will be carried over to the following month.

Volunteers are encouraged to apply as many times as they would like.

You can choose to nominate yourself, or a fellow team member!

You can apply for the Fund here.

Below is a full (7 minute!) video explaining FAQs about the Fund:

personal and professional development

One of the other massive things OWP is keen on, is personal and professional development. We regularly host opportunities for volunteers to undertake training and development from fellow OWP volunteers, guest speakers, and even attending external events!

We also disseminate a monthly email detailing podcasts, books, articles and events to build your skills across a variety of areas!

And if you’re active on Slack, you will find our #continuous-learning channel, which is a collection of articles, videos, events and resources to continue to learn, build and develop your skills!

For past training and development, check these out:

  • Story of Self & Personal Narrative;

  • Class & Feminism;

  • Governance & Structure in Nonprofit Organisations;

  • Project Management & Workload Management;

  • Ecofeminism, Gender & Climate Change;

  • Leadership Skills;

  • Managing Teams;

  • Public Speaking Training;

  • Creative Design;

  • Self Care 101; and

  • Anti-Racist Work, Performative Allyship & Feminism.

Social activities

In addition to training, we host a number of social activities throughout the year. These include:

  • OWP Online Socials, Friday from 6.00pm (AEST) each month; and

  • Ad hoc events.

Keep an eye out on Slack and your emails for the next social activity!

working groups

Within OWP, we have the opportunity for you to join a Working Group!

Working Groups are short-term teams established separately to our existing portfolios, to work on a particular project for the benefit of all within the organisation.

Any team member can join a working group – all you need is an interest in the particular area, and the capacity to engage in discussion and undertake small tasks related to the working group!

 To find all of our current working groups, jump into Slack, click ‘Browse channels’ and all working groups are ones that begin with #wg- !

To join a working group, just join the channel on Slack and introduce yourself!

Cacuses

Within OWP, we also have caucuses to provide resources, support, voice and action to systemically and structurally marginalised groups. At present, we have the following caucuses established:

  • BIPOC/CALD Caucus: for Bla(c)k, Indigenous and People of Colour and those from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background (#caucus-bipoc-cald on Slack);

  • LGBTIQ2SA+ Caucus: for individuals who are LGBTIQ2SA+ (#caucus-lgbtiq2sa+ on Slack); and

  • Caucus for individuals with a disability: for individuals who have a visible or invisible disability, chronic illnesses, medical conditions, etc (#caucus-disability on Slack);

  • Bodies Caucus: for individuals passionate about challenging the societal norms around bodies, exploring body neutrality/versus body positivity, fat-phobia and more (#caucus-bodies on Slack);

  • Caucus for gender-diverse individuals: for individuals who are not cisgendered (#caucus-genderdiverse on Slack); and

  • Caucus for neurodiverse individuals: a caucus encompassing different ways the brain works, including: dyslexia, ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, tourette’s and more (#caucus-neurodiverse on Slack).

These caucuses are spaces for individuals to reflect, find support, identify pain points and solutions, share memes, and more!

To join a caucus, just join the channel on Slack and introduce yourself! And to create a new caucus, just email info@onewomanproject.org!

Reviews & feedback

A massive part of the organisation is regular opportunities to provide feedback. There are several ways through which you can do this:

You will hear a lot more about all of these opportunities to provide feedback: we value honest, constructive and open feedback, and aim to continuously learn and improve. We even have a training session (below) on how to give and receive feedback within OWP: