AIME creator wins NSW Young Australian of the Year
19 November 2009
Former student Jack Manning Bancroft has been named the NSW Young Australian of the Year for his work establishing the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience, which he runs from the University's Wentworth Building.
The AIME program matches up university students with Indigenous high school pupils in order to improve their educational aspirations and opportunities.
"It's a pretty amazing honour to be given this award," said Manning Bancroft, "but it's just a reflection of the hard work put in by all the uni students and school kids over the past few years.
"The really exciting thing about AIME though is that it gives everyone access to a common cause and a connection to Indigenous Australia, which is important for any Australian."
Manning Bancroft, 24, completed a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) in 2006; he began the mentoring program while still a student and was a resident of St Paul's College for three years. Many of the residents of the College act as mentors in the AIME program.
Five years since it began the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience now has a team of 13 and operates on five university campuses. It has provided mentoring to more than 500 high school students from years 7 to 12 and in August this year the scheme went national. Manning Bancroft predicts that in five years AIME will reach 3000 high school students and recruit 3000 mentors.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, is part of the group's advisory committee.
"I see [AIME] as one of the most innovative programs in the nation," he told The Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year.
"I get a buzz every time I meet with these guys. They are an Indigenous and non-indigenous team working together. A lot of us can learn a lot from this program."
Manning Bancroft was also named as one of Sydney's 100 Most Influential People in The Sydney Morning Herald's Sydney Magazine in 2008.
The NSW recipients of the Australian of the Year Awards will now join award recipients from all other States and Territories as finalists for the national awards to be announced on 25 January 2010 in Canberra.
Contact: Jacqueline Chowns
Phone: 02 9036 5404 or 0434 605 018