Jay Wong assists City West Lotteries House with Strategic Plan Development
City West Lotteries House (CWLH) is a community service organisation that provides affordable office accommodation for not-for-profit organisations in a prime central location on the fringe of the Perth CBD. Located at 2 Delhi Street in West Perth, it is currently home to 17 NFP tenant organisations providing social, disability, environmental and community services to the WA community.
The Board of CWLH consists of 7 tenant representatives who meet monthly. It acts as a Trustee for the Property and for funds invested in the property by LotteryWest and focuses on strategy and oversight. To ensure CWLH continued to move in the right direction, they needed a 2019 Strategic Plan in place. They did not have the time or skills to progress this internally and engaged Volunteering WA to partner them up with a skilled volunteer to help them in this space.
Jay Wong, Development Lead at Woodside, had previous experience in Strategic Planning, but had not worked directly in that space for some time. He saw this as a great opportunity to do something good for the community and to share his skills for the betterment of the community, whilst developing his own skills as well, stating after the project, “I got to [dust] off my Strategic Planning hat again (it’s been a while), to provide [a] positive contribution to CWLH.”
Jay facilitated a strategic review workshop that delivered clear priorities for the year ahead with timelines and champions for each. Over and above this, Jay engaged all Board members in the discussion and encouraged them to take ownership for its success. By the end of the project, Jay assisted CWLH in developing a 2019 Strategic Plan with prioritised scope, interdependent timelines, priority scope champions, risks, opportunities and key performance indicators.
CWLH was very impressed with Jay’s work – how he worked and what he delivered – stating they valued a skilled volunteer over a cash donation. He improved their management system and provided assistance to their staff/volunteers. Reflecting on what Jay had done for the organisation,
“Jay got everyone engaged and taking ownership of tactics, and displaying renewed interest and commitment to our future. I’m hopeful that he might consider working with us again.”
As a result, the Board now has a clear plan with realistic goals and measures for success. This will enable the Board to move forward with focus and purpose and continue to contribute towards Sustainable Development Goal #9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
“Jay was fantastic to work with; a very humble and inclusive ‘expert’ that I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside of, and learn from … I loved his ‘easy’ facilitation style and his keen sense of humour which he managed to interweave into aspects of our discussion.”
Jay felt his contribution not only helped maximise CWLH’s performance, he felt he gained a lot personally as well. He expressed an increased sense of well-being and happiness and developed an awareness of wider social issues.
“Skills-based volunteering helped me look at problems [from] a different perspective. I have learned that there are many organisations and folk out there that are striving to solve far greater problems with a lot less resources. Fundamental to their cause, is their belief and passion in the activities/projects they pursue, and that has been an invaluable learning for me.”
Keen to volunteer again and to encourage his colleagues to volunteer, Jay had a few words of advice:
“Know what your skills are and be honest about what you can offer. Look for a cause that you’re truly passionate in. Make meaningful connections and learn from them.”
Thank you Jay for your excellent work ethic and the amazing job you did for CWLH.
