Community Leadership Award Recognises Lee Martin
August 18, 2025
Ballarat Foundation launches Adrian Ohlsen Community Leadership Award, recognising Lee Martin as inaugural recipient.
The Ballarat Foundation, together with the Committee for Ballarat and the Bill Wood Family Trust, is proud to launch the Adrian Ohlsen Community Leadership Award for Future Shapers. This new initiative honours Adrian’s lifelong commitment to mentoring and developing leaders who make a difference in their communities.
The award provides a scholarship for an emerging community leader to take part in Future Shapers, the region’s flagship leadership program delivered by Committee for Ballarat. The first recipient is 2025 Future Shapers graduate Lee Martin, a passionate volunteer whose work spans mentoring women escaping family violence to coaching basketball.
Lee Martin is the first ever recipient of the Adrian Ohlsen award for emerging leaders, pictured above with members of the Ohlsen family.
Lee describes her motivation simply: “How can I help?” She said, “I feel disconnected from my community if I’m not involved in volunteering. I don’t pretend to be an expert in something. I just go within my realms of ability and the time that I’m willing to give.”
Thanks to the support of the Adrian Ohlsen Community Leadership Award, Lee was able to participate in Future Shapers. “If I wasn’t successful in receiving this award, I wouldn’t be able to do the program. It’s been eye-opening to see the different struggles that we have at the moment, and it’s helped me to identify where I want to go,” she said.
Ballarat Foundation CEO Andrew Eales emphasised the importance of the award in building community leadership. “This is just such a great way of getting people involved in a more positive conversation about leadership and about what you can do to make your community better. Every day, people in our community have passion for the places they work, for the places their kids go to school, and for where they live. There has to be a role for them to lead a more positive conversation about community.”
Through the Adrian Ohlsen Community Leadership Award, the Ballarat Foundation will continue to invest in future leaders, ensuring that Adrian’s legacy of generosity and mentorship lives on for years to come.
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