This week, CCA CEO Dr Don Perlgut attended the TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) Conference in Adelaide, where he presented about leveraging economic development through VET.
In this blog post, Don reflects on some of the messages arising from the conference. He observes that a while ago, Tim Costello (World Vision Australia CEO), proposed that the not-for-profit (NFP) sector should rename itself as the “for purpose sector”. The role of NFP leaders, according to Costello, is to keep our organisations “focussed on purpose” - what are we here to do. While this idea has captured the imagination of many, it has not yet replaced the concept of “not for profit”.
Costello also said that, “To be local and not for profit we must understand the forces of our world.” Those forces were on full display at the TDA Conference: “Sitting in a room (almost) full of people who work for public (TAFE) vocational providers, it struck me how little the conference talked about government,” writes Don. What they discussed, instead, was leadership, entrepreneurialism, innovation, technology partnerships and innovation ecosystems.
The highlight was undoubtedly social commentator Bernard Salt (pictured), who spoke about “Preparing for jobs of the future”. In Don’s post, he details some of Salt’s most interesting – and hilarious – findings, with some valuable messages for Australia’s community education sector.
