Changemakers leeanne marshall

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Changemakers - Leeanne MarshallBy Jackie HanafieCreated 18/03/2013 - 08:11

Posted: Monday, March 18, 2013 - 08:11

Title Slideshow: Changemakers - Leeanne Marshall

Leeanne Marshall is the General Manager of Architects without Frontiers Australia.This week we profile Leeanne in Changemakers – a weekly column which examinesinspiring people and their careers in the Not for Profit sector.

Leeanne Marshall is the General Manager of Architects withoutFrontiers Australia. This week we profile Leeanne inChangemakers – a weekly column which examines inspiringpeople and their careers in the Not for Profit sector.

Architects without Frontiers [1] (AWF) is Australiaʼs firstarchitectural Not for Profit organisation. Its mission is toimprove the living conditions of vulnerable communities in theAsia Pacific region, with focus on sustainable design outcomesin the health and education sectors.

What are you currently working on in your organisation?

Although my role as General Manager requires me to work across a number of projectsand programs within the oganisation, the main project I am managing is theCakaudrove Womenʼs Resource Centre (CWRC) in Savusavu, Fiji. The CWRC is acollaborative project between the local women of the area, AWF and AusAID Australiaand involves the design and construction of a number of key community buildings onthe site. These buildings will not only provide space for the indigenous women of theregion to sell and exhibit their craft, but will also provide training facilities and mentoringfor young women along with safe accommodation for women travellers. The projectaims to strengthen cultural traditions and improve the standard of living for the localwomen of Cakaudrove. We also hope it will provide a precedent in the region forsustainable building processes utilising local craftsmen and materials.

We are lucky to have had an incredible team of design volunteers from Australia who

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have developed designs with the women in an extensive period of communityconsultation and feedback over the last 5 years. Currently the local architects in Fiji aretranslating these ideas and designs into final documents and we hope to be startingconstruction in the coming months.

Itʼs important to me that we arenʼt just leaving a set of buildings but that weʼre alsoworking with the women to capacity build so that they will be able to run the centre in asustainable way when the construction process is complete. At the moment Iʼm havingconversations with Austraining and Australian Business Volunteers to sourcevolunteers who can mentor the women in business practices and processes.

How long have you been working in the Not for Profit sector?

Iʼm a trained Architect and had worked in practice for many years, but in 2008 I startedvolunteering on a small preschool building project in India called the Anganwadi Projectrun at the time by AWF and Bholu. Living and working with our partner organisation inIndia, Manav Sadhna enabled me to learn very important skills that I wasnʼt reallytaught about at university or on the job - particularly around community engagement,facilitation and community based design. Ultimately this volunteering work led to megaining a paid position with AWF soon after and I have been with them ever since. Iwould find it difficult to return to regular practice after the experiences I have had withinthe not-for-profit sector. Being able to work closely with communities and help themfind solutions to their own built environment challenges is much more than a job to me,itʼs a continual learning experience, a chance to be creative/ innovative and at the endof the day it is also very rewarding.

Favourite saying...

Not really a saying, but I like this quote from Pema Chondon. It encapsulates myfeelings about both being human and doing the kind of work that I do.

“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's arelationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we bepresent with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize ourshared humanity.”― Pema Chödrön

School taught me...

To be independent. I spent 5 years at boarding school and I think it gave me more of asense of confidence in my ability to look after myself and also to connect with newpeople. Straight after school I went on a student exchange to Bolivia for a year, whichjust cemented that independence and also instilled my insatiable desire to travel,connect with other cultures and keep learning about the places and people of ourworld.

What does a typical day for you involve?

There is definitely no typical day for me in the work that I am doing. My week can beextremely varied with everything from skyping clients, approving drawings, managingthe newsletter and website to developing our training courses and managingvolunteers.

To add a bit more into the mix, apart from my role at AWF I also work part time atanother not-for-profit social enterprise called CoDesign Studio. CoDesign Studio uses

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teams of professional volunteers to work very closely with communities to assist themin undertaking neighbourhood improvement projects that improve public space andcommunity facilities. In my role there I am managing the delivery of 3 projects – aYouth Services Hub fitout in Frankston, a Youth Organisation fit out in Melbourne CBDand a Signage Redesign Project at North Richmond Housing Estate. Iʼm alsoresponsible for the development and delivery of training courses and inductions for ourprofessional volunteers.

So, I guess each new day can present a number of challenges and opportunities inmany different forms. Ultimately I consider myself lucky to be doing something Iʼmpassionate about and engaging with some very talented and visionary people – I justwish there were more days in the week sometimes.

Iʼm always being asked...

How to get involved in the Not for Profit sector – especially by fellow architects anddesigners. I believe there is an enormous will within people to get involved and giveback using their skills in some way, but there is not always an easily identified path fordoing it. In both organisations where I work we are actively trying to provide avenuesfor people to engage in the sector. In 2012 AWF ran the first of our ʻPathways toworking in the Humanitarian Sectorʼ courses for built environment professionals. Therewas such great interest in the course that we are running another two courses thisyear. Additionally, through CoDesign we are also delivering training and information toassist young professionals to get involved with and work effectively on communityprojects. Iʼm really passionate about giving people a space to learn about and engagewith the sector in these ways – so Iʼm always happy to answer this question.

What (or who) inspires you?

I think itʼs easy to find inspiration from the people around us – I certainly do. I amsurrounded by some incredible people both in the actual organisations I work for andon the projects we carry out. People who are motivated to improve the way things are,question current reality, be creative. All of the time, effort and enthusiasm that ourvolunteers and community teams put into their projects is astounding – even whenprojects take years longer than hoped. I really believe in the power of people to shapeand improve their own communities and futures and Iʼm continually inspired by thepeople that I see actually making an effort to do this.

Is there someone in your organisation who would make a good Changemaker?Let us know at [email protected] [2]

Like this story? Want more? Subscribe to our Online NewsService - it's FREE! [3]

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Changemakers leeanne marshall

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