The Reach Foundation

The Reach Foundation is a youth not-for-profit organisation established by Jim Stynes OAM and film director Paul Currie in 1994.
Reach runs national school and community-based programs for young people aged 10 to 18 designed to promote their mental health and wellbeing. Programs are run by the young Reach "Crew" in over 500 metropolitan and regional schools and communities across Australia. The main focus is on prevention and early intervention. Programs aim to identify the underlying reasons for negative behaviour and enable young people to redirect their energy towards more positive outcomes.

Working with teachers and youth professionals

Reach works in partnership with The Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to offer the Finding Heroes program to teachers, educators and youth professionals.
Finding Heroes is based on the positive psychology framework and aims to provide teachers, educators and youth professionals with the practical skills and resources to improve the emotional and social wellbeing of students.

Working with indigenous communities

Reach works in partnership with DEEWR with the aim of creating relationships with young people in indigenous communities to encourage them to voice their concerns and aspirations for their lives.

Locations

Reach programs are held at the Reach National Office in Collingwood, Sydney, the Hunter Region, and in various other locations throughout Australia.

Leadership

Trisha Squires commenced as CEO from 14 September 2015, taking over from Sarah Davies, who took the position in 2011 when Jim Stynes fell ill with cancer.
Anthony Klein began his role as chairman of the board in 2020.

Alumni

Reach Alumni include:

Jules Lund, TV and radio personality
Trisha Silvers, 2006 Young Australian of the Year
Harley Webster aka Phrase, Hip hop MC
Josh Schmidt Twentysomething, writer and actor
Saskia Hempele TV personality, Neighbours
Jess Harris Twentysomething, writer and actor
Kayne Tremills ABC3, TV presenter
Jordiie Leigh, Filmmaker, ''What Would You Do Australia ''
The Open Book Project

The Open Book Project was a national campaign launched by Reach in 2011 that endeavoured to show today's teenagers that they're not alone in their lives. Celebrities and members of the general public shared pages of their teenage diary revisiting the thoughts, feelings and ambitions they had as a teenager.
Celebrity entries included Hamish Blake, Cathy Freeman, Kerry Armstrong and Jesse Martin.