August newsletter
After three months of glorious parental leave - moving with the needs, pace and interests of little people - I’m back at work.
Thank you to Christina Chun, Alex Hannant, and our incredible team and Board for holding Social Enterprise Australia during my time away.
I return energised for the hopeful and messy work of collaboration toward social justice and climate safety. It’s great to be back working with others to grow what social enterprises do, and to build an economy that puts people and planet first.
Alongside time with little people.
Social enterprise national strategy
Big-picture change, like building an economy that puts people and planet first, takes people working together to make it so. That’s the opportunity of a social enterprise national strategy, and the reason that Social Enterprise Australia exists.
Social enterprise is a powerful and underused tool. To unlock its potential, we work with the sector to lead the social enterprise national strategy. The strategy has been developed through research and sector co-designs and consultations that established:
Shared direction - vision and mission
A challenge-led approach focusing on priority areas where social enterprise can drive the most impact - environmental care, people-centred services, access to decent work and community-led innovation
Agreed ways to work together - values and principles
A map of what Social Enterprise Australia will build momentum and infrastructure for, to support the sector to achieve our shared vision and mission and to live our values and principles
A commitment to active support for First Nations leadership, knowledge, and self-determination.
Based on this work, Social Enterprise Australia is coordinating and further developing the national strategy with diverse stakeholders. As part of this, we call on the Federal Government to partner with the sector on a national strategy - because it will take the knowledge, skills and perspectives of both sector and government to work.
It’s only through genuine partnership that we can get to big-picture change.
In the coming months, we’ll share more on the national strategy and how you can get involved.
Read our latest submission here.
Read more on the social enterprise national strategy here.
WISE Hub meeting in Sydney
The WISE Hub is a group that advocates for and connects people in jobs-focused social enterprise to grow and unlock greater economic inclusion. It’s convened by Social Enterprise Australia, and brings together people from our organisation, social enterprises, intermediaries and funders.
Following the Social Enterprise Jobs Summit, which generated key insights to inform the access to decent work arm of the social enterprise national strategy, the WISE Hub will meet face-to-face in Sydney this week. We will discuss how the Hub can evolve to meet current needs.
Sector opportunities
Social Impact Education Survey: Do you currently work, or have ambitions to work, in social impact? The Centre for Social Impact (CSI) at Swinburne University of Technology is inviting broad input via an online survey to inform development of its educational programs. The survey closes this Friday 15 August. Complete the survey here.
Local Jobs, Local People grants: The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations is funding organisations that create employment pathways and jobs for people facing barriers to work, including First Nations people, migrants, refugees and humanitarian entrants. Applications for grants of $50,000 to $250,000 are open now. Find out more here.
SEDI grants: Expressions of Interest for the Australian Government’s Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI) grants, administered by Impact Investing Australia, close 31 August. The grants of up to $120,000 are designed to help eligible social enterprises better demonstrate and grow their social impact. They are for social enterprises to purchase business and impact capability-building services. Find out more here.
Cheers,
Jess Moore
