AIME is an Indigenous Corporation and not-for-profit organisation, providing a personal mentoring program for Indigenous Australian students from Year 7 to 12. The goal is to increase school completion rates and university admission rates. University student volunteers and high school students are partnered in a 0ne-on-one mentoring relationship. AIME commenced the program in 2005 with 25 mentoring partnerships.
In 2009 the AIME program was delivered at five university campuses in NSW. Across the five AIME sites there were 33 schools engaged in the program with over 325 Indigenous high school students participating in mentoring sessions. The program grew strongly in 2010. The Girgensohn Foundation supported the development of text books in both years.
In 2011 AIME expanded the program into Victoria and Queensland, and is now mentoring 1250 Indigenous children across 10 university sites on the east coast of Australia. Our contribution was used to purchase DVD production and screening equipment for teaching purposes.
The 2011 Annual Report demonstrates the AIME program success rate, based on an independent examination conducted by their auditors, KPMG. The data is based on Year 9 students. 25.1% of AIME students will progress from year 9 through to university. This is comparable to the non-Indigenous rate of 34.6% and significantly ahead of the national rate of 3.2% for Indigenous students. This remarkable result is also above AIME’s own targets and what was achieved in 2009.
The success of AIME was recognised in 2010, when Jack Manning Bancroft, its founder and CEO, was named NSW Young Person of the Year.
AIME has now achieved significant philanthropic and corporate support and is expanding rapidly nationwide. In 2014 AIME connected approximately 3500 mentees with 1250 mentors across 29 locations and in partnership with 16 universities in all mainland states and the ACT. By the end of 2015 they will be engaging well over 5000 Aboriginal and Torress Strait Islander students.
By 2018, AIME predicts they will annually engage 10,000 Indigenous high school students across Australia and support their transition to university, employment or further education at the same rate as every Australian child. This will build the Indigenous talent pipeline for employers to lead Australia into the future.