At GROW, an initiative of the Give Where You Live Foundation, we know that inclusive employment changes lives—and this week’s morning tea at the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre site was a powerful reminder. Together we celebrated over 40 apprentices and labourers whose journey through the Geelong project’s Early Engagement Social Procurement (GEESP) program is reshaping what opportunity looks like in our region.
The GEESP program, co-designed by Development Victoria, our Give Where You Live GROW initiative and gforce employment + recruitment and being delivered by Built. as head contractor, is a pioneering collaboration embedding equity into the design of a major infrastructure development.
By connecting priority jobseekers—including the long-term unemployed, young people disengaged from education, culturally diverse communities and people from suburbs experiencing entrenched disadvantage—with pre-employment supports, accredited training, mentoring and real jobs, we’re creating lasting change.
We were proud to stand beside participants, their families, host employers and program partners to honour the resilience and hard work that’s gone into more than 32,000 work hours so far. From building confidence to building careers, GEESP is an initiative founded on shared commitment, reflecting one of the Give Where You Live Foundation’s key priorities – ensuring that everyone who wants to work has the opportunity and support they need to participate in meaningful employment.
This milestone is more than a celebration; it’s a signal of what’s possible when social procurement becomes business as usual.
Here’s to continued collaboration, impact, and stories of lives transformed.
