This year’s Upper Murray Community Leadership Program has now come to a close, following several months of learning, reflection and connection across the region and beyond.
The program invited participants to explore leadership in context – beginning with a deeper understanding of self, and expanding outward to identity, community, systems and change. It encouraged systems thinking and adaptive capacity, with space to consider not only what is and what could be, but how change happens – and the unintended consequences it can leave behind.
With strong representation from younger people, the cohort brought curiosity, care and clear connection to place. Across the program, they built confidence and capability, alongside a shared sense of responsibility for what comes next in the Upper Murray.
The Tasmania study tour brought many of these ideas into focus. In Derby, the group explored the town’s transformation through Blue Derby mountain biking with Vertigo MTB, and experienced place-based wellness at the Floating Sauna Lake Derby. They visited Bridestowe Lavender to learn about agritourism and export markets, Barnbougle Dunes to explore tourism and regional employment, and Lot 40 Derby and the Blue Derby Foundation to reflect on small business, stewardship and identity. Later visits to Landfall Angus and Tasmania Feedlot offered different perspectives on farming systems, succession, and the future of agriculture in a changing environment.
Congratulations to our 2025 graduates: Brooke Anderson, Anthony Dore, Edward Durham, Bryan Green, Nick Herring, Carley Hodge, Sarah Lebner, David Mitchell, Chloe Mitchell, William Nankervis, Jillieanne Roberts and Anna Paton.
Thank you to our funders and partners, Upper Murray Inc. and Emergency Recovery Victoria, for enabling and supporting this initiative. And to facilitators Chris Mirams and Dr Gary Saliba, whose wisdom and clarity are instrumental in shaping the experience.
We look forward to returning in 2026 for a final delivery, with applications to open in coming months.
