Inspirational Success Story - Jo Green

Inspirational Success Story – Jo Green

In April 2010 I wrote a story about Jo Green, one of my coaching clients who, through the identification of her personal and career values, desire to follow her passion and her personal dedication and commitment to the community has become an inspiration to us all.  Jo Green Success Story of the Month

Roz Taylor, National Partnerships Manager (left) and Jo Green for Canteen at City2Surf

Nearly a year later, I’d like to share with you Jo’s thoughts on how rewarding her transition from a corporate market research role to the not-for-profit sector has been.  Jo is National Community Fundraiser at CanTeen, The Australian Organisation for Young People Living with Cancer - a national support organisation for 12 - 24 year olds who are living with cancer.

Here’s what Jo has to say:

“It’s amazing to work at an organisation where everyone is so passionate about the cause we support.  From day one it was clear that everyone enjoys their jobs and at the heart of everything we do are the young people living with cancer that we support.

CanTeen runs over 250 programs a year for these young people, and I’ve been lucky enough to attend two in the nine months I’ve been working here. I’ve been blown away by what these young people have to face when they or a member of their family has been diagnosed with cancer.  Sitting in a room full of teenagers who have lost a parent to cancer, the reason for CanTeen’s existence, for these young people to be able to share their experiences, became so clear.  CanTeen has been a huge support to them, and the thousands of other young people affected by cancer, and allowed them to gain something positive from the upheaval in their lives.

There is rarely a quiet day working at CanTeen.  From looking after our fundraisers and organising events, to training new staff and selling bandannas it’s been a busy 9 months since I started work here.  

Having found a gap in CanTeen’s community fundraising program’s my newest project has been launching a new initiative called Terrific Picnic. http://terrificpicnic.org.au.  This initiative encourages people to hold a picnic and raise funds for CanTeen, on any day that is suitable for them.  We really felt that picnics resonate what CanTeen is all about, bringing people together to connect and share experiences, and have a break from daily life.

As I had never worked in fundraising before it has been a learning experience, a completely different way to look at marketing and a rewarding place to be from 9-5.“

To continue to be inspired and for more information on CanTeen and how you can help this truly worthwhile cause, go to:  www.canteen.org.au

Keep up your amazing work Jo!