ACRE is the proud recipient of a 2022 Australian Rural Education Award.
Since 1994, Australian Rural Education Awards (AREAs) have been awarded annually to an individual, institution, organisation or industry to recognise excellence in rural education in Australia. The 2022 AREAs were announced last night at the National Conference for Regional, Rural & Remote Education conference dinner Barossa Valley.
ACRE received the Innovative Projects Award for Social Enterprise Schools, a program delivered with our enterprise learning partner, the Social Enterprise Academy.
ACRE CEO and Co-founder, Matt Pfahlert, was honored to receive the award from Fiona Nash, Australia’s first Regional Education Commissioner and Chris Ronan GAICD, president of SPERA Australia.
In accepting the award, Matt acknowledged the incredible Social Enterprise Academy Australia team and funders who believed in Social Enterprise Schools since its launch in Australia in 2016, including Yulgilbar Foundation, Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, The William Buckland Foundation, The Jack Brockhoff Foundation and auDA – .au Domain Administration Ltd.
Matt enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with Emeritus Professor John Halsey who led a 2017 independent Federal review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education.
” John even remembered the mindset shift we’re driving through Social Enterprise Schools ‘from job seeker to job creator’!” said Matt.
” With more than 15,500 students now engaging with Social Enterprise Schools curriculum both online and face to face, we’re thrilled that so many educators are starting to see the engagement, employability and self employment benefits of student-led enterprise learning,” he concluded.
Read more about Social Enterprise Schools and discover how to bring this program to your community.