As recipients of the CEO Leadership Investment award, housing professionals Billie-Jo Williams and Samantha Ace last year attended the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) National Housing Conference in Pheonix Arizona on behalf of the AHI.
They both enjoyed the whole experience, particularly the opportunity to be exposed to different ways of thinking. Billie-Jo, Team Leader, Domestic & Family Violence Services at Link Wentworth said, “as a visitor to the city, being able to get out and about on the site visits and see the ways that the city of Phoenix are trying to address homelessness and housing security, was really interesting. They take a collaborative approach ensuring homelessness isn’t viewed in isolation but seen as one part of a collective issue, along with aspects such as health or employment.”
Reinforcing how important informal conversations at conference can be, both Sam and Billie-Jo found meeting and comparing notes with people who work in similar situations was very interesting.
Sam, AHI Victorian Branch Chair, was also particularly impressed with how NAHRO supported the delegates who were new to the housing sector and/or at their first NAHRO conference. They had their own introduction session and materials and were encouraged to make connections and buddy-up to support each other.
Both named the ‘Women of NAHRO’ event as one of the conference highlights. As well as providing space for the women in the sector to network and share ideas, the session included some role-playing to address common scenarios and equip women with ideas and solutions on how to deal with issues.
Sam and Billie-Jo found themselves energised by the whole experience. As Sam said “I think sometimes we get bogged down in the day-to-day of work. The conference allowed for us to step out of that, be exposed to new ways of thinking and come away feeling inspired and energised. It was a fantastic experience, and I’m very grateful to the AHI for the opportunity.”
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