The Mindshop Educational Trust was established in 1995 to provide schools in Australia a no-cost one week work experience program for Year 10 students. It has since been experienced by over 3,000 students in Australia and more recently in the USA and UK. Industry is keen to work with schools in providing students a better understanding of work and its role in society.

The traditional Mindshop Excellence program is a one week employer hosted work experience where the students act as a consultancy team to solve a real issue of concern to the firm. The students are trained in Mindshop personal and business problem solving skills and they apply the skills to the issue, reporting back to the company, the school and their parents on their final day. This collaborative effort has seen some amazing solutions to many hundreds of issues including "How does Generation Y choose their main Financial Institution?" hosted by PowerState Credit Union in Adelaide or, as in the case of the Mars Factory in Ballarat, how do you minimise significantly the waste water at Mars in the most environmentally friendly way or, what improvements can be made to the processes for monitoring stock and the re-ordering systems at Holden's huge distribution centre at Hallam.

The Australian Government has approved the Mindshop Educational Trust as a Charitable Organization. Being a Charitable Trust allows the Board to develop its strategies and plans independently and allows donors tax advantages. The Mindshop network of skilled consultants and business leaders donate their time to facilitate Mindshop Excellence workshops.

The Mindshop Educational Trust also provides half day Mindshop Excellence workshops on problem solving skills for students from Primary School to University. More recently the Trust has developed on-line training resources and provides the courses at no cost to students and teachers.

The generic skills gained by students when undertaking the Mindshop Excellence program, include the ability to understand the ever changing requirements in the workforce in areas such as communication, technology and problem solving proficiency.

For further information on the Mindshop Excellence or to discuss running a program in your region,please contact: Julie Mason (jemason@mindshopexcellence.com)