In the business community many of our celebrations and political rhetoric are centered around the fantastic contribution business owners in Australia make to the overall productivity and success of the economy – and rightly so! But sometimes, if we dig a little deeper, we find there are plenty of organizations who do tremendous work, but go unrecognized, despite making an amazing contribution to our society and overall economy.
The non-profit sector comprises over 600,000 organisations contributing $43billion to Australia’s GDP and 8 percent of employment. And like commercial businesses, they have revenue goals, infrastructure needs and marketing plans – all supported by passionate volunteers and team members who need to deliver similar services, processes and functions as profit focused businesses.
This year, MYOB has had the tremendous pleasure of helping honour the “quiet achievers” in the not-for-profit sector – the men and women who work tirelessly behind the scenes. As a sponsor of the Finance, Administration and Back Office Awards (the FABOs) we’re thrilled to be celebrating some very special people, who truly make a difference. This week, MYOB’s Tim Molloy (@Tim_Molloy) very proudly presented the MYOB Bookkeeper of the Year and the MYOB Supreme Award for outstanding achievement to 2 very special people.
Tasmanian Association of Community Houses finance and administration officer Pamela Bridgen has been awarded the MYOB Bookkeeper of the Year Award. Referred to in her nomination as a ‘bookkeeper extraordinaire’, 73-year-old Pam has managed the payroll, budgeting and bookkeeping for Tasmanian Association of Community Houses Inc (TACH) – the peak body for 34 Neighborhood Centres across Tasmania – for eight years.
TACH has an annual budget of close to $300,000, as well as a long term investment fund of over $1.5 million over 10 years to support literacy projects in the local community. Pam’s skills developed over 30 years as the Bursar at Tamona High School have been invaluable to guiding the executive officer in managing the budgets and providing highly rigorous reports to its volunteer board of management.
The MYOB Judges Outstanding Achievement of the Year Award went to Aboriginal Resource Centre manager and public officer Vicki Dodd for her demonstrated proficiency in all core office administration functions, including internal/external communications, and her positive approach.
Based in Port Augusta, South Australia, Vicki has worked at the Aboriginal Resource Centre for almost two years. The purpose of the service is to reduce the level of violence and provide a range of services for Aboriginal families, and to ensure supportive access to mainstream services. Vicki’s business acumen and passionate advocacy on behalf of the centre’s aboriginal clients to eliminate family violence is making a tremendous difference in her community. In her speech on awards night Vicki humbly and simply said “I do it for the people”
Pam and Vicki on behalf of the entire MYOB team, thanks so much for your passion and commitment. Your selfless approach is so very, very inspirational – we just LOVE your work!
