From August to November of 2020, Beacon Strategies were lucky enough to have Navi & Manuel join us in the office two days a week. Navi and Manuel were both completing their Masters of Public Health, undertaking their student placement with us before graduating at the end of the year. Their 12 week placement flew by and before they left, we wanted to give them the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions of their internship experience during the weird and wonderful year of 2020.

Given the serious nature of the pandemic itself and also due to the project requiring extensive stakeholder and community engagement, the decision was made to put a hold on this project for 6 months in April 2020. The recommencement of the project was then reviewed in September of 2020 where the decision was made that it was appropriate to re-engage the project and its relevant stakeholders.

The following blog is written by Julia Mullin, a recent graduate who has undertaken a pro bono project for Gateway Baptist Church. The blog explores in detail how Julia approached a ‘needs assessment’ for a new service to successfully and innovatively enter the ‘homelessness’ sector and what Julia learnt conducting a needs assessment within a vulnerable community.

COVID-19 has prompted a setting for organisational change for many companies. In such unpredictable times however, it forced organisations to consider whether this is a time to take risks with change or to play it safe with certainty. This blog explores our positioning on this topic at Beacon Strategies and gives insights into how we believe organisations can evolve during these challenging times.

Over here at Beacon Strategies we have been been through lots of internal changes during the pandemic that we haven't had a chance to keep you updated. Not only that, we have been extremely busy on the project front and are always thinking of ways we can deliver more value to our partner organisations.

Walking on a tightrope requires a specific blend of physical attributes, concentration, and coordination between several of the body's systems in addition to regular training and persistent dedication. The fact of the matter is that not all of us are born with the right makeup to automatically walk the tightrope. 

Like many organisations, the uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation and the pace at which it unfolded left many of us scrambling to explore how to go remote and digital quickly, and to try and re-calibrate our business models for survival and sustainability.

From this week, the Beacon Strategies team will be implementing social distancing measures to ensure the health and safety of our staff and their families, and to help contribute to slowing the transmission of COVID-19. Our team will employ remote working arrangements and work closely with our client partners to ensure we continue to deliver on our current projects and to explore and take on new work.

The aim of Changemakers Spotlight is to develop and share insight that showcases ‘how’ great things happen and profile some of the people leading change across the health and social services sector. In this edition we’d like to introduce Paul Martin - Executive Manager (Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs) at Brisbane North PHN.