Ladder’s Step Up Latrobe Valley’s program participant, Taylah, and ANZ employee Trent are Ladder’s first official mentor match of 2020. Taylah, who was a Program two participant has been involved in several Ladder events and opportunities since graduating the program in December 2018 and is a major fan of AFLW. She has made the most of her AFL industry  opportunities provided to her by Ladder, the AFL Players’ Association and AFL, but recalls being able to attend the 2019 AFLW Season Launch as her highlight.

 “It was the atmosphere at the AFLW Season Launch, being in the same room as all of the AFLW captain and having a chance to take a photo with Ellie Blackburn and Melissa Hickey is something that thanks to Ladder I will never forget.”

Mentor, Trent, has been a driving factor behind developing the partnership with Ladder and ANZ. Trent formed a committee with his team of ANZ representatives who began looking for organisations to partner with, focusing on those who work with disadvantaged young people and have a focus on financial literacy. This resulted in ANZ hosting their first group mentoring session in 2019, which saw Trent’s first interaction with Ladder’s young people. Leading from the front for his team, Trent decided that mentoring was the next step in his personal support towards Ladder.

Taylah is currently working in the youth work sector, where she continues to develop her skill sets and workplace experience with a long-term goal to secure housing of her own. Trent’s expertise in the area of finance allows for a perfect match to help guide Taylah towards achieving her goals and providing handy tips on budgeting, income and expenditure.

Ladder are delighted to able to make this match official and continue to provide Taylah with the necessary support to help her work towards her goals and develop key living skills as she takes the next steps into her journey.