Alcoa Helps Communities Take Control

As part of its commitment to building stronger and more sustainable communities, Alcoa provides a number of scholarships each year through the Alcoa Foundation to allow its community partners to attend Australia's largest community conference, Communities in Control in Melbourne, where the focus is on empowering local communities to take control of their own future.

Dr Rhonda Galbally AO, co-founder and chief executive officer of Our Community, says Alcoa has an innovative and highly effective approach to supporting local Australian communities where they operate.

"Alcoa has set a great example of corporate support. It's not just about providing financial support but using its capacity to bring people from around the country to expand their knowledge and skill base with the main aim of taking that knowledge back to their own communities where it can really make a difference," Dr Galbally said.

"The Alcoa scholarships have set a new benchmark in how corporates can support communities and community groups - they provide a great acknowledgement of the work these people are doing in their own communities, and also recognise their standing as leaders who can spread the knowledge, spread the skills and spread the inspiration so that the ripple effect of the conference continues to flow."

Alcoa Foundation Manager, Kylie Cirak, said that many community and not-for-profit groups did not have the resources to access conference and training opportunities.

"We hope that bringing our community partners together in this way will not only provide learning and development opportunities in a formal setting, but will also facilitate the development of an informal partnership network, where the groups can continue to share experiences and ideas on joint capacity building."

In a further demonstration of its commitment to community capacity buidling, the Alcoa Foundation also supports community representatives to study for a Certificate IV in Business (Governance), a new qualification developed specifically for the community sector by Our Community's training arm, the Australian Institute of Community Practice and Governance.

The Alcoa Foundation is a separately constituted not-for-profit U.S. corporate foundation with assets of approximately US$534 million. Alcoa Foundation's mission is to actively invest in the quality of life in Alcoa communities worldwide. Throughout its 55 year history, Alcoa Foundation has been a source of positive community change and enhancement, with nearly US$437 million invested since 1952.