Participants from a wide range of sectors will meet regularly for the 10-month experiential program, learning about community issues, themselves and how they can create positive change.

Founder of grassroots organisation Food Is Free Lou Ridsdale received a scholarship to join the program and said she was looking forward to meeting like-minded people.

"I am really excited for the year ahead and I am very keen to meet fellow participants, to rally together and make real impact in this town," she said.

The 2022 Future Shapers cohort participants come from a wide range of sectors, including social welfare, local government and food manufacturing.

"It is always good to pull yourself out of one organisation to see how other people do things and give you a broader scope on how you can impact community," Ms Ridsdale said.

"We are all here to learn from each other."

Central Highlands Water technical specialist Heath Baker said he was motivated to join the program when he returned to Ballarat where he grew up after 20 years away from the region.

"I saw it as a good opportunity to use some of my experiences and learnings to create positive change for my home community," he said.

"It is about integrating and collaborating with like-minded professionals in the broader community and being able to harness the capacity of our organisations that wouldn't be possible if we acted individually."

Mr Baker is currently training two guide dog puppies and took one along to the Future Shapers launch event on Wednesday.

Participants were introduced to the program, had photographs taken, a chance to mingle and talk and meet program partners and sponsors.

They will travel to Melbourne together next week for an overnight stay opening retreat and a tour of parliament house.

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Future Shapers program lead Ellen Jackson said major changes to the program introduced last year would be continued, including the community project element.

Ms Ridsdale said she planned to focus on food security education for her community project and also look at the benefit of gardening in addressing mental health issues, continuing her long leadership journey.

"Community leadership is nothing I aspired to, to be honest I fell into it accidentally," she said.

"I think that is the way a lot of people gravitate into these roles, going with a full heart and seeing issues in our community, gathering troops and seeing how we can ease peoples problems.

"That is what community leadership is all about. It is almost more about listening than leading."

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Ms Jackson said the program would help participants understand the roles they could play as leaders in the community by understanding the issues, the opportunities and initiatives already under way.

"Then it is about giving them the skills and the confidence, knowledge and the networks and the relationships they need to be able to have an impact across any of the fields that light a fire within them," she said.

"We are excited to see all that growth happen. It is a privileged position to be in."

It is the 17^th year Committee for Ballarat has delivered the Future Shapers program, formerly known as Leadership Ballarat and Western Region.

Gforce is a major partner of the program, which is also supported by Regional Development Victoria and City of Ballarat.

FUTURE SHAPERS 2022 PARTICIPANTS:

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