Innovated Alumni Spotlight: RESN

The Regional Education Support Network (RESN) delivers high-quality academic support to regional and rural students, through innovative online methods. This targeted support aims to minimise the disparity between metropolitan and regional and rural students. RESN seeks to empower regional students to take control of their future by providing an educational network of schools, tutors and communities. Providing RESN free for students reflects their belief that neither cost nor distance should be barriers to education. It’s incredible to think since getting started RESN has helped around 4000 students through the work of around 900 tertiary student volunteers. We spoke to Jade Vergara, RESN’s Chief Executive, about what inspired her to initially volunteer at RESN and how InnovatEd has helped them on their journey.

RESN logo

Jade is currently studying a Juris Doctor at The University of Melbourne, after completing a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Politics/International Studies and Psychology. She moved interstate to work as a Policy Adviser in Canberra. Jade began volunteering at RESN during her undergraduate degree because education is something she always cared deeply about. Growing up in the Philippines, she knew what different educational trajectories could look like, and didn’t want a location to be a determining factor in whether students could achieve their goals.

“In Australia, some students in regional or rural areas may not get access to the same academic resources such as private tutors compared to those in the inner-city.”

RESN team hosting a BBQ in a Melbourne park
RESN team out and about in Melbourne

The most exciting thing about working at RESN is the impact it has on students. For example, students can expect to receive an answer to their question in less than 24 hours. Jade says that having these replies goes a long way in improving student’s learning. RESN has provided 7000 question answers over the last four years.

Jade’s commitment to RESN is unwavering. A typical day in her life begins with her policy job, going home and making dinner, and then often spending two hours at night with the RESN team to address how they can improve their services. The most challenging part is having such a large team of volunteers. “Since we have a team of over 400+ people including volunteers and staff across Victoria and New South Wales, it is key to manage tasks and so we often need to delegate effectively to others.”

RESN team participating in a marketing workshop at the Aussie Broadband Melbourne office
RESN participating in a marketing workshop at the Aussie Broadband Melbourne office

Jade remembers the nerves she felt when pitching their idea at Melbourne InnovatEd’s Incubating funding program.

“It was almost a feeling of imposter syndrome — we were definitely the youngest people there!”

However, Jade recounts that the university was a very welcoming place and in hindsight, her team had nothing to feel nervous about. When she joined InnovatEd, the team received help on gamifying RESN — for example adding points, scoreboards and leaders. Jade’s advice for newcomers is to do your research so you can be prepared for every scenario. They did their research and learned that some studies showed that students don’t respond well to gamified learning, so being able to adapt and be flexible is an important skill to have when building any new solution.