CA SE STUDY Koorie Youth Council: Marram Nganyin Program Building strength in young people Marram Nganyin, which translates to ‘we are strong’ in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri People, has been run for five years by Victoria’s Koorie Youth Council (KYC) in partnership with the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria (YACVic). It launched in response to Aboriginal young people calling for greater mentoring support during the 2015 Koorie Youth Summit held in Naarm/ Melbourne. For Indi Clarke, executive officer at KYC, the beauty of the Marram Nganyin Youth Mentoring Program has always been its ability to implement place-based solutions that are designed and delivered by community. There was a really clear understanding from the start that local communities needed to put in place local responses, so neither party were coming in saying ‘you have to do it this way’. But rather, we were asking, ‘which way are you going to do it and what do you need from us to support you to deliver that program?’ It’s the essence of community-designed, community-delivered.” Indi Clarke, Executive Officer at Victoria’s Koorie Youth Council “It’s been a strong, robust and deadly program to get up and running – governments don’t normally fund strengths-based programming or place-based solutions like this,” said Indi, who is a proud Mutti Mutti, Wemba Wemba, Boon Wurrung, Trawlwoolway and Lardil man. Marram Nganyin acknowledges that Aboriginal peoples have engaged in mentoring for generations, carried out through Elders’ traditional role of sharing their wisdom, knowledge and spirit. The program seeks to build on this history and has been supporting five local Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs) to deliver strong and culturally safe mentoring programs for Aboriginal young people aged 12–25 years, recognising that culture is a protective factor. Marram Nganyin has been a community partnership from the start, consulting widely with Victorian Aboriginal communities and organisations on their priorities, as well as hosting consultations and workshops to ask young people what they wanted to see in a mentor and mentoring program. The first two programs supported were a contrast – the small Melbourne-based Aboriginal Wellness Foundation, “running on the smell of an oily rag and the goodwill of community”, and the Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-Operative, which operates multiple health and social services in regional Shepparton. Connecting these organisations led to them sharing their mentoring experiences and playing a leadership role for other partner organisations. 36 Transforming Power: Voices for Generational Change