A free eight-week pilot program in Lake Macquarie will give up to 10 Hunter young people the chance to learn digital literacy and job readiness skills.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Digital Marketing Accelerator program is an initiative of the Australian government-funded Hunter Futurepreneurs program.
It's the first program of its kind in the Hunter and will consist of workshops to develop an entrepreneurship mindset, 10 digital media training sessions, and weekly one-on-one mentoring.
Participants will be together two days per week in a shared workspace and also undertake one day of independent study per week.
The Hunter's entrepreneurship facilitator, Cheryl Royle, said there was demand for talent and business opportunities for young people in the booming digital, creative and technology sectors. She said the program would give young people training for both employment and freelancing work.
She is partnering with local digital media company KYU Media on the program. KYU will provide digital media training and participants will work in its Green Room co-working space at Warners Bay.
Ms Royle said the program was designed to inspire and help young people to understand their digital strengths and skills and find the right job or business opportunity.
"Digital skills are in high demand across Australia and globally and, particularly for young people," Ms Royle said.
"Gaining digital skills opens a pathway ripe with employment opportunities.
"Digital literacy isn't just essential for occupations such as programming and coding; it is a skill that all Australians need for the future of work.
"Requirements for digital literacy will continue to rapidly increase over the next couple of years. Ninety per cent of the workforce will require at least basic computer skills and more than 50 per cent will need to be able to use, configure and build digital systems."
The Digital Marketing Accelerator would help young people understand and experience the process that enables entrepreneurs with limited resources to identify, evaluate, and transform a simple idea into a sustainable business, she said.
KYU Media was established in 2018 by Matt Purcell.
The award-winning young entrepreneur runs a podcast The Examined Life and is the author of Life Hacks for Mindful Living.
A musician, life coach and youth mentor, he was nominated for Australian of the Year for his work with young people. In The Examined Life podcast series Mr Purcell interviews well known Australians including Mark Bouris, Pete Evans and Osher Gunsberg about business, leadership, mental health, spirituality, and relationships.
The program will start on Wednesday, May 1, and run until mid-June.
Free one-hour information sessions will be held on Wednesday, April 17, at 11am and 6pm
To nominate to take part in the program visit hunterfuturepreneurs.com.au
