Giving Back

06 Feb Giving Back

Dear Here to Help,

I am at a stage in my career where I want to give back to my community, by helping government make better decisions.

I have worked extensively with small business owners, not-for-profits and charities, to help them become more sustainable. I see how difficult it is for these organisations to operate within ever increasing government red tape, much of which is unnecessarily complex.

Is there a government panel I can join to help government make better decisions and improve the outlook for small businesses, not-for-profits and charities?

It’s so great that you want to give back to your community.

Government is a strange and complex beast. Just like any large, complex organisation (think a big bank or financial institution), if you want your input to be valued and acted on, there are a few steps you need to take and a few options to provide input.

First, do some research – think closely about which part of government you want to work with. There is Federal, State and Local government and each of these has numerous departments and even statutory authorities. Perhaps a good starting place for you might be considering which departments interact with small organisations most, or for which departments you have already identified some quick, easy wins.

Second, look more closely at those departments. Research their values, KPIs, webpages, etc.

Third, if are some names of staff in the departments who deal with the issues you are interested in, ask them if you can have a chat, based on specific alignment of your and their values.

Another option is to talk to your professional or industry association. A key part of association business is government advocacy – see “United We Stand” (Apr2020). Perhaps you could join their advocacy committee?

Again, in the professional or industry association sphere, many Boards have specialist advisors. Would you be interested in joining a Board as an advisor in your expertise, then assisting them with advocacy on those issues?

I’m happy to talk these though with you further.

This article comes from my column entitled “Here to Help” in Hunter Local, February 2026. If you have an everyday problem just begging for a simple, real world solution, send it to “Here to Help” and let’s see what we can achieve.

Elaine Abery has a closet full of great ideas and empowering solutions. She’s also the Director of Unravelling Red Tape, a company dedicated to helping everyday people, not-for-profits and companies change the world through improved decision-making and legislation.

Photo by Austin Kehmeier on Unsplash