Mitch McPherson (SVC 2000-2003), founder of SPEAK UP!Stay ChatTY left Tasmania on July 9 to take part in the exclusive International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States.
The IVLP is the US Department of State’s premier professional exchange programme. Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields experience this country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts.
Participation in the programme is by invitation only. ( Current Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, was an invitee to this programme when he was in his twenties.) Mitch was selected as a result of his ten year involvement with the suicide prevention challenge.
To quote from Sue Bailey’s article in the Sunday Tasmanian (July 10), Mitch said , “I aim to soak up as much knowledge and as many connections as possible. I aim to bring back as many learnings back as possible not onlky for Stay ChatTY but for all organisations and individuals working in the mental health space.
Mitch was inducted onto the St Virgil’s College Heritage Roll of Honour in 2018.
