Partnerships & Community Engagement
WENDY MAWOYO
RESTORED FINANCE
Drouin,Victoria
Work Preference
Desired Job Title
Strategic Partnerships Managersocial impact & partnerships managerCommunity Partnerships/Community Investment ManageCommunity Engagement Lead/ManagerFinancial Inclusion/Financial Wellbeing Manager
Work Type
Part TimeContract WorkFull TimeConsultingSeasonal Work
Location Preference
RemoteHybrid
Location:
Drouin, Victoria, AUMelbourne, VICWarragul, VICMorwell, VIC
Open to relocation:
No
Minimum Desired Compensation
$120000/yr
Important To Me
Flexible work hoursCareer advancementCompany CultureWork-life balanceWork from home optionStock Options / Equity / Profit Sharing4-day work week
23
Years of experience
1
Certificate
Partnerships and engagement leader with more than 15 years' experience across the not-for-profit, financial wellbeing, banking and commercial sectors. I am energised by building trusted relationships, understanding the challenges and what matters to people and organisations, and finding opportunities and solutions that create mutual value and sustainable growth.
At Berry Street, I helped build Saver Plus across three LGAs into a top-performing site nationally by identifying influential community stakeholders and leaders, developing referral pathways and building partnerships that increased participation. I also bring a strong commercial mindset from my banking background identifying opportunities, building genuine buy-in through influence, and turning strong relationships into measurable outcomes and growth
Work History
Founder
8 Years 8 Months- Identified support gap for professional women to build money confidence and strengthen financial decision-making, and created She Prospers financial capability and leadership program addressing practical and behavioral barriers to financial wellbeing.
- Built She Prospers from concept to delivery by developing strategy and capability framework aligned to real financial challenges women shared, rather than assuming needs.
- Identified multi-service expertise as essential for lasting financial wellbeing, then cultivated strategic relationships with accountants, financial planners, and finance professionals to understand expertise areas, client needs, and service complementarities.
- Established and maintained partnerships with external businesses to enable effective collaboration and unlock larger growth opportunities- leads increased by 20% each month.
- Collaborated with over 10 professional partners to identify service gaps and resolve referral barriers, fostering trust and complementary expertise, increasing client satisfaction.
- Led business strategy, partnerships and program development, using participant and partner insights to refine She Prospers and identify opportunities to strengthen its reach, relevance and impact.
- Developed and executed strategic business plans to drive growth and profitability.
Community Development Coordinator
2 Years- Assumed ownership of underperforming parish partnerships portfolio across 24 Gippsland communities and prioritized rebuilding trust and participation through active listening to parish leaders to identify locally relevant needs and new opportunity areas.
- Re-engaged parish leaders and worked alongside stakeholders to assess community needs, develop viable initiatives, and grow funded projects from three to eleven per funding round.
- Sought opportunities beyond immediate portfolio to create greater impact through Anglicare program collaboration with senior leaders, aligning service priorities with parishes, schools, and community organizations for mutually beneficial partnerships.
- Looked beyond my immediate portfolio for opportunities to create greater impact, working with Anglicare program and senior leaders to understand service priorities and connecting them with parishes, schools and community organisations where I saw potential for mutually beneficial partnerships.
- Developed strategic plans outlining goals, objectives, and action steps for sustainable community growth.
- Saw an opportunity for a better response to local family violence issues and brought together specialists, Victoria Police, educators and community partners to understand the challenges and explore what they could do together.
- Oversaw parish partnership grants program end-to-end, conducting need viability assessments, evaluating grant budgets and alignment, submitting funding recommendations, and tracking program outcomes and acquittals.
- Represented Anglicare and senior leaders across regional networks, building relationships that strengthened Anglicare's presence and enabled new collaboration opportunities with Grammar schools and businesses.
Financial Wellbeing & Community Engagement
2 Years- Identified lack of established referral pathway for Financial Independence Hub(FIH) in Gippsland and built referral pathway from ground up to expand program regional presence- 15 new organisations in a year to increase access for women experiencing financial abuse.
- Identified financial counsellors as key strategic partners and built trusted relationships through regular face-to-face meetings, networking forums, and information sessions focused on understanding challenges and FIH value.
- Implemented two-way cross-referral system between Anglicare Victoria's Financial Counselling Team and FIH to support timely specialist referrals when required, while maintaining ongoing client support through hub services.
- Cultivated over 50 coaching partnerships with diverse women through strength based and trauma informed coaching, consistent communication, addressing concerns and fostering collaboration.
- Expanded the referral network through relationships with Gippsland CASA, the Family Violence Alliance and multicultural organisations, creating stronger pathways across financial wellbeing, family violence and community services.
- Engaged professional and community stakeholders across Gippsland, connecting FIH with local networks via tailored presentations and conversations to reinforce understanding, trust, and confidence in referring women to the program.
- Used participant and stakeholder insights and identified a gap in the FH loan and created a document that was later adopted as part of the FIH loan documentation and process.
Community Engagement & Recruitment Specialist
1 Year- Managed Berry Street's broader Saver Plus community engagement and recruitment function, with responsibility for partnership development, community reach and recruitment performance.
- Analyzed LGA demographic and socioeconomic data to determine outreach coverage and opportunity gaps, using insights to prioritize community engagement and partnership development.
- Managed end-to-end stakeholder engagement across ANZ councils, schools, universities, TAFEs, neighborhood houses, and community organizations to establish referral pathways with Monash University Financial Wellbeing Team, supporting increased program awareness and uptake.
- Built partnerships with ANZ branch leaders and staff to align understanding of program value, supported development of local champions for ongoing eligible-customer identification and referral, and drove 80% lead conversion.
- Moved into Community Engagement & Recruitment Specialist role to support wider Berry Street engagement and recruitment strategies, expanding awareness and participation beyond original three-LGA portfolio.
- Evaluated recruitment channel disruption, mapped influential community leaders across multicultural groups, briefed leaders on Saver Plus, and facilitated feedback to shape culturally informed engagement and advocacy within networks.
- Managed recruitment performance through COVID by adapting online engagement and facilitation, improving participant conversion, reducing withdrawals, and coordinating dissemination of successful practices across regional teams.
Saver Plus Coordinator
5 Years- Took ownership of an underperforming Saver Plus portfolio across Greater Dandenong, Knox and Monash, independently managing regional strategy, partnerships, performance and compliance and helping build the site into a top-three performer nationally.
- Utilized LGA demographic and socioeconomic data to identify gaps in engagement, focusing partnership activity on reaching overlooked communities rather than established referral channels.
- Built increasingly strategic relationships across ANZ, councils, schools, universities, TAFEs, neighborhood houses and community organizations, identifying where mutual value could turn relationships into sustainable referral pathways and increased participation.
- Established strategic relationships with ANZ, councils, schools, universities, TAFEs, neighbourhood houses, and community organisations, creating sustainable referral pathways that enhanced participation.
- Developed strong partnerships with ANZ branch leaders, building their understanding of Saver Plus and creating local champions who actively identified and referred eligible customers into the program - became a win win situation - ANZ improving their KPIs, Saver plus increasing recruiting numbers within 6 months of role starting.
- Identified and engaged trusted leaders within Vietnamese and Burmese communities during COVID, adapting outreach strategies based on their guidance to empower community leaders in promoting Saver Plus.
Community Partnerships & Financial Wellbeing Lead
5 Years- Co-founded a community initiative supporting women, girls, and families based on connection and education needs identified through community research and engagement.
- Built partnerships with Bendigo Bank, local government, and multicultural organisations, leveraging expertise and resources to develop community-led initiatives.
- Developed financial capability program for over 100 refugee women Southern Migrant Refugee Centre in collaboration with community leaders and partners, reflected cultural needs and women's lived realities - resulting in 85% program attendance.
Business Banker
7 Years- Established commercial foundation in business banking, consumer lending, and mortgage broking while managing SME and individual client portfolios, progressing to a Senior Lending Consultant. ( 3 different roles - senior mortgage consultant , business banker, finance broker )
- Achieved commercial results by understanding customer and business needs, building trusted relationships, and identifying tailored financial solutions. Conducted credit assessments and responsible lending while managing referral partnerships and end-to-end lending, ensuring a balance between customer outcomes and risk management.
- Exceeded sales targets through proactive strategies including targeted marketing campaigns and personalized consultation services.
- Actively participated in networking events and community outreach programs to build brand awareness and generate new business leads.
Education
Master of Commerce - Finance & E-Commerce
Bachelor of Business Studies - Finance & Marketing (Honours)
Diploma in Finance & Mortgage Broking - Finance & Mortgage Broking - MFAA
Skills
Strategic partnership development
Stakeholder engagement & Relationship Management
Community Engagement & Consultation
Grant administration
Commercial Acumen
Facilitation skills
Program Design & Evaluation
Strategic governance
Financial Inclusion
Timeline
Community Development Coordinator
ANGLICARE VICTORIA
01.2024 - 01.2026Read More
Financial Wellbeing & Community Engagement
GOOD SHEPHERD AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND
01.2022 - 01.2024Read More
Community Engagement & Recruitment Specialist
BERRY STREET
01.2021 - 01.2022Read More
Founder
RESTORED FINANCE
01.2018 - CurrentRead More
Saver Plus Coordinator
BERRY STREET
01.2016 - 01.2021Read More
Community Partnerships & Financial Wellbeing Lead
FOUND BY GRACE
01.2011 - 01.2016Read More
Business Banker
NAB
01.2004 - 01.2011Read More
Deakin University
Master of Commerce from Finance & E-Commerce
Read More
University of Zimbabwe
Bachelor of Business Studies from Finance & Marketing (Honours)
Read More
MFAA
Diploma in Finance & Mortgage Broking from Finance & Mortgage Broking - MFAA
Read More
Accomplishments
- Rebuilt an underperforming portfolio by strengthening relationships across 24 Gippsland communities, increasing projects from 3 to 11 per funding round.
- Helped turn an underperforming Saver Plus site into a top-three performer nationally, improving conversion by 10% and reducing withdrawals by 12%.
- Exceeded recruitment KPIs during COVID by developing trusted relationships with multicultural community leaders and adapting engagement approaches.
- Built the Financial Independence Hub’s Gippsland referral network from the ground up, 10 new networks under 6 months including two-way referral pathways with specialist services.
- Identified an unmet financial wellbeing need and developed She Prospers, building partnerships with finance professionals around complementary expertise and referrals.
- Progressed to Senior Lending Consultant, exceeding sales targets of $1M+ per quarter and earning multiple top-performer awards by understanding customer needs and delivering strong commercial outcomes.
Certification
Social Impact Fellowship – In Progress, Accredited MoneyMinded Facilitator, Accredited MoneyBusiness Facilitator, Mental Health First Aid
reading, travelling, hiking/walking, dance exercise, movies
- I go on daily walks or whenever I can. It's my non negotiable together with my morning smoothie
- I love reading and journaling -though I have not been doing it as much as I would like to because my family life is busier than usual with teenagers with sporting activities daily.
- I enjoy going on holiday with my family. Went on a family holiday to Vietnam in April - thoroughly enjoy these holidays with my family.
- If I'm not walking I will put a song on and dance for exercise.
- I love anything to do with nature that allows for self reflection and growth