ICAN has an exciting new venture underway that will increase professional development opportunities in the national financial counselling, capability and resilience sectors.
Bernadette Pasco, ICAN’s newly appointed Business & Sector Development Manager will lead the development of ‘ICAN Learn’, the working title of a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) ‘Social Enterprise’ that will open for business in the first half of 2017.
“ICAN Learn will deliver accredited courses that support the career pathway of a financial capability or resilience worker moving all the way through to a financial counsellor and beyond, developing additional career pathways to higher education”, said Ms. Pasco.
Accredited courses on offer will include the Certificate 3 skill set in financial literacy education, Diploma in Financial Counselling and a Diploma level skill set in professional supervision that will eventually be incorporated into an Advanced Diploma in Financial Counselling.
Speaking on the professional supervision skill set, Bernadette explained, “Ever since professional supervision frameworks have been included in the National Standards for Membership and Accreditation, the financial counselling sector has looked forward to having its own training and opportunities to develop these skills, the ICAN professional supervision train the trainer course will be the first of its kind for the sector.”
ICAN CEO Aaron Davis said, “I’m absolutely thrilled to have Bernadette’s many years of financial counselling and vocational education and training (VET) sector experience on the team. We share a vision of building an RTO that innately understands the financial counselling, capability and resilience sectors.”
“We are also really excited about creating an RTO and working with financial counsellors that have training expertise in all states and territories, to deliver education in a way that is meaningful, regionally based and supports existing services, said Mr.Davis.”
ICAN will leverage current sponsorship arrangements with Financial Literacy Australia and the Commonwealth Bank to build on the success of our financial literacy program, Yarnin’ Money and Indigenous Financial Counselling Mentorship Program by creating the RTO, ‘Social Enterprise’, whose eventual profits will support much needed Indigenous consumer advocacy, financial counselling and resilience services.
ICAN has linked up with Social Ventures Australia, University of Queensland MBA program, Deloitte and Gilbert & Tobin (law firm) to develop a comprehensive business plan, that includes extensive market research, financial modeling and the development of a legal framework that supports our ‘Social Enterprise’ business model.
For more information on ICAN’s new venture, contact Bernadette on 0488229133 or email bernadette.pasco@ican.org.au.