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SVA News & Articles
Portfolio ventures in the news
 Building bridges for at-risk students hits troubled waters
SchoolAid’s Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal
School for Social Entrepreneurs celebrates!
Third Annual Youngcare Benefit Concert
Social entrepreneurship at the heart of social inclusion
Give meaningfully this Christmas. Check out the Youngcare Catalogue
AIME’s CEO wins NSW Young Australian of the Year
School Aid launches Asia Pacific Emergency Appeal
Change for the better for Marina Vit
A persuasive push all the way to university
A Bike, A Budgy, A Bloke, AIMEin for a Dream
SVA venture partners helping Victorian bushfire victims
A drive to help people survive
Home Hospice featured in Sydney Morning Herald
Entrepreneurs increasingly seeking spiritual capital
How social firms are making a difference
School Aid launches emergency appeal for child victims of Burma cyclone
The Age examines how social firms are cultivating success
Pathways into Womanhood program featured in Vive magazine
Home Hospice CEO talks with The Sydney Morning Herald about matters of the heart
OzGREEN co-founder listed among Sydney’s top movers and shakers
Employment creation work of social entreprise hubs featured in The Australian
SVA congratulates our 2007 Community Gathering Awards recipients
 Click on links to view other news sections
SVA in the news
Community partners in the news
Building bridges for at-risk students hits troubled waters
13 February 2010
Former SVA venture partner Hands On Learning recently featured in an article in The Age, where Denise Ryan highlights the critical funding shortage at a number of their partner schools, which has forced the closure of their program at Mornington Secondary College and Monterey Secondary College in Frankston North. Read the full article here or find out how you can help support this practical program. SchoolAid’s Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal
SVA’s venture partner SchoolAid has teamed up with Plan Australia and Save the Children for their Haiti Earthquake Emergency appeal.
The catastrophic 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on 13 January 2010, severely damaging the capital Port-au-Prince. 3.5 million people have been affected with tens and tens of thousands of people confirmed dead.
SchoolAid is urging schools and their students to get involved via both fundraising support, as well as sending messages of hope to the children of Haiti.
Find out how you can get involved here.
School for Social Entrepreneurs celebrates!
SVA is proud to be a major supporter of the School for Social Entrepreneurs as the school celebrates a number of significant milestones.
In February 2010, the inaugural 2009 Sydney class will be graduating, with a ceremony planned to recognise the achievements and stories of these inspiring students. The second Sydney class is already underway, and applications for the third program to be run during 2010 are now open.
The school continues its expansion program and in April will be launching the Melbourne branch of the school, with the first Victorian program to be run from April to December 2010 Applications for this program are also open now.
So if you have an innovative project, business or idea to address an unmet social or community need and are seeking a supportive and collaborative environment to develop skills that can effect change, why not find out more?
Third Annual Youngcare Benefit Concert
The Youngcare Benefit Concert 2010 at the Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane on 26 March 2010 promises to be an event to remember, with two stars of Australian music, Bernard Fanning and Clare Bowditch, performing to raise funds and awareness for SVA venture partner Youngcare. Fanning and Bowditch will be joined by a special line up of guest performers, including host Julian Morrow.
Find out more.
Social entrepreneurship at the heart of social inclusion
In the Spring 2009 edition of Australian Philanthropy magazine, Benny Callaghan, CEO of School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Australia, explains that SSE was created on the basis that it is not enough to invest money alone in community initiatives. Benny believes that for community projects and social enterprises to be successful and genuinely sustainable, they require investment in the the people that are building them through upfront and ongoing personal and professional development..
Download the pdf here.
Give meaningfully this Christmas
This Christmas you can give a meaningful gift that will make a real difference in the life of a young person with 24/7 care needs, via the Youngcare Christmas Catalogue.
Following on from the success of the first Youngcare Apartments in Brisbane, Youngcare need your help to commence construction on their second Youngcare Apartments on the Gold Coast.
Youngcare won't actually send you a kettle or recliner in the post, but the individual items you purchase will bring joy, dignity and a brighter future when they come together as an appropriate home for young people. Whatever you give will buy you immeasurable gratitude.
Check out the Youngcare Catalogue here.
Young Blood
3 December 2009
Laura Trieste reports how the ambition and compassion of Jack Manning Bancroft, CEO of AIME, has led him to be named the NSW Young Australian of the Year.
The article reports on AIME’s progress and how the program is now involved with 40 schools, five universities, 500 school students and more than 500 university volunteers across the state.
To read the full article, go to the 3 December edition of the Inner West Courier – Inner City Edition.
School Aid launches Asia Pacific Emergency Appeal
October 2009
In response to the devastation witnessed over the past month in our Asia Pacific neighbours, SchoolAid has launched The Asia Pacific Emergency Appeal to provide Australian school students with an opportunity to turn their compassion and concern into action to assist the recovery of children's lives in these disaster areas.
School Aid Founder, Sean Gordon, has just returned from visiting Samoa. Read the graphic account of his trip here. And to learn how you can get involved, visit http://www.schoolaid.org.au.
Change for the better for Marina Vit
9 September 2009
Mike O’Connor from The Courier Mail talks to Marina Vit, chief executive of Youngcare about her transition from the corporate world to the non-profit world why her current job makes her ‘want to get out of bed every day.’ Throughout the interview Marina tells real life stories that help reinforce the importance of the work undertaken by Youngcare. Read the full article here.
A persuasive push all the way to university
3 August 2009
On 3 August 2009 an article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald by Nick Galvin, highlighting the work of Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME).
The article featured an interview with AIME CEO Jack Manning Bancroft discussing AIME’s progress over the past four years. The program currently operates in five university campuses and provides mentoring to more than 500 Indigenous pupils. AIME now aims to expand nationally and touch more than 5000 Indigenous high school students within five years.
Also included in the article were a number of quotes from mentors and mentees participating in the program.
 Read the full article here.
A Bike, A Budgy, A Bloke, AIMEin for a Dream
10 – 13 April 2009
Over the Easter long weekend, Gi Singh, armed with nothing but a pair of Budgy Smugglers, will ride his bicycle from the Entrance to Port Macquarie (over 300km) to raise money and awareness for the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME).
AIME CEO Jack Manning Bancroft is honoured by the commitment of Singh to raising funds with his journey. Manning Bancroft says, 'I think it’s just a wonderful story. It’s humbling when anyone comes to offer their support to us – but Gi’s journey is a bit more special than your average donation. Plus there is an element of humour and youthfulness with this journey that we can really connect with. We hope everyone can get behind him, and hopefully in the end raise some funds to help us support Indigenous kids through school.'
For more information and to make a donation visit http://www.gofundraise.com.au/gi
SVA venture partners helping Victorian bushfire victims
12 February 2009
The team at SVA, like all Australians, is deeply saddened by the devastation and tragedy left in the wake of the Victorian bushfires. At such a time, when so many Victorians are affected and struggling to come to terms with their new reality, we are heartened to know that SVA-supported ventures are doing their bit to help. FEO, situated in Eaglehawk, is helping the local community to re-build after a number of homes were destroyed. Meanwhile, SchoolAid and Kildonan UnitingCare have also launched appeals to help those in need. SchoolAid has launched an emergency online appeal to encourage children across the country fundraise and help other children who have been affected by the fires. An Emergency Appeal Action Kit with fundraising tips and ideas, teacher resources and information about how schools can get involved is now available online at www.schoolaid.org.au. Since its launch on 11 February, almost 300 schools have signed up to the appeal. Kildonan UnitingCare, through its site at Whittlesea, has been offering much needed emergency relief, assistance and support to the local community and the hundreds of people now living in temporary accommodation. They are working with local agencies, government and networks to provide immediate assistance in the form of financial support for school books and uniforms and vouchers for groceries and mobile phone recharge cards and family counseling. Longer term support with financial counselling to ensure people can access their entitlements and develop strategies for financial stability will be Kildonan’s key role. Further information on Kildonan’s work can be found on their website www.kildonan.unitingcare.org.au SVA is thankful that these supported ventures are able to react quickly to help those most in need. We look forward to supporting more innovative social entrepreneurs in the future who will be well placed to deal with whatever challenges they and their communities may face.
A drive to help people survive
18 January 2009
Alex Shead and the SVA-backed Fair Business were featured in the Talking Shop section of The Sunday Telegraph on 18 January 2009.
Alex was interviewed by Elias Jahshan about the social enterprise sector and why he wanted to set-up Fair Business, a non-profit organisation that buys and grows businesses, creating new jobs for long-term unemployment people. When asked about his most memorable moment working with Fair Business, Alex replied ‘Fair Business was formed late last year so the most memorable moments to date have been acquiring two businesses quickly. Eventually we plan to hand over each business to its employees, giving them the chance to own shares and control the business’s future. When this starts to happen I believe that my involvement will be my proudest achievement.’
Home Hospice featured in Sydney Morning Herald
27 September 2008
Adele Horin in the Sydney Morning Herald writes that Australian research has shown that most terminally ill patients say they want to die at home but fewer than one in three actually end up doing so.
Part of the problem, according to Melanie Greblo, chief executive officer of organisation Home Hospice, is an unwillingness on the part of hospitals to allow family members to take a dying person home for fear that they will not be able to cope.
Home Hospice supports carers by rallying the help of family and friends so that they are free to look after the dying person at home. And in the process, the organisation hopes that everyone’s fear of death will be lessened through familiarity.
Grants from the Cancer Council of NSW and Social Ventures Australia have enabled the organisation to expand rapidly, with 64 mentors in NSW now helping to harness a network of useful support for the carers of terminally ill people.
Click here to read the entire article. Entrepreneurs increasingly seeking spiritual capital
25 September 2008
Greater numbers of young professionals are looking for more in their life beyond a good job, enough money and a happy family, according to an article by Tony Featherstone in BRW magazine. These things help build strong foundations, but the real goals are becoming more about finding one's place in the world, interacting with others and giving back to the community.
Entrepreneurs today are becoming more engaged than previous generations of professional have been. And they are passionate about the non-profit groups they support which include Beacon Foundation, an organisation which runs programs such as ‘No Dole’ which seeks a commitment from students in about 100 Australian schools to stay in education or move on to a job.
Social Ventures Australia, led by former Macquarie Group private equity executive Michael Traill, is working to help develop stronger funding models in the non-profit sector.
How social firms are making a difference
16 August 2008
Living with a mental illness is no easy task. Conditions such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia have a devastating impact on a sufferer's confidence and self-esteem, as well as their work and social life, according to an article in The Age newspaper.
To make matters worse, Australians with a psychiatric illness who feel ready to return to work face a 75 per cent unemployment rate. This is where social firms make a difference. Social firms are not-for-profit businesses whose employee mix includes 25-50 per cent of people with disabilities. These businesses provide the same opportunities, rights and obligations to both able and disabled staff including pay at the award or productivity-based rate. Sue Lewellin, who suffers from depression and anxiety, had struggled to find work for years before learning of one such organisation, Bonsai the Imagination Tree, at a local community health centre. Since starting work there last September, she's seen a marked improvement in her confidence and her social life. She is also completing a certificate in education through a local community group. Ms Lewellin thinks there ought to be more social firms. ‘These sorts of opportunities can really help people and make a difference in their lives,' she says.
School Aid launches emergency appeal for child victims of Burma cyclone 7 May 2008
Schools across Australia are being urged to rally together and immediately respond to the emergency situation in Burma, following the devastating Cyclone Nargis. Through its revamped web site launched in April, School Aid enables students around Australia to join together to raise funds that help kids impacted by this tragedy. School Aid partners with trusted, credible non-government organisations working on the ground in crises like these. Over 50 schools have already registered to support the Burma appeal, with more joining every day. Students can also send 'Messages of Hope' to children and their families in Burma, as well as to those affected by the recent earthquake in China. To learn how you can get involved, visit http://www.schoolaid.org.au/. The Age examines how social firms are cultivating success2 May 2008
Research shows that people with a psychiatric illness comprise three per cent of the population, yet 75 per cent of that population is unemployed. Bonsai the Imagination Tree is an enterprise that is tackling this statistic head on. Up to 50 per cent of the nursery’s staff have a psychiatric illness. Bonsai provides them with a nurturing place of employment but still offers them real work and real pay. Bonsai was relaunched as a ‘social firm’ in 2006 with the help of the non-profit organisation Social Firms Australia (SoFA), in partnership with Social Ventures Australia and Eastern Access Community Health and aided by government grants and loans from Bendigo Bank and a philanthropic Investor. The company now runs totally independently. SoFA is seeking additional owners interested in selling their businesses for a future as a social firm. Click here to read the entire article.
Pathways to Womanhood program featured in Vive magazine February/March 2008
In its February/March issue, Vive magazine spoke to Moana O'Brien and Bodhi Priti from the Pathways Foundation about how mothers can positively impact their daughters on body image issues. In 2006 the Pathways Foundation started the Pathways to Womanhood program, which includes a camp for teenage girls and their mothers that helps make their transition to adulthood an optimistic experience. According to Priti, the best a mother can do is to lead by example and encourage recognition of body qualities 'like strength and ability and not just its beauty or how it is seen by others. Endorse yout daughter's pleasure and enjoyment in what her body can do'.
Home Hospice CEO talks with The Sydney Morning Herald about matters of the heart 12 January 2008
'Sometimes I ask myself, "What on earth is a 33-year-old woman doing being the chief executive of an organisation about death? “'
So says Melanie Greblo of her role with Home Hospice, a non-profit organisation that helps family, friends and carers of people approaching deah about the range of options available in that journey.
It’s a hugely responsible job, but one that Greblo finds satisfying after a career largely in the no-profit sector but also running her own contemporary art gallery.
Greblo tells Herald reporter Kristie Kellahan that there are more parallels than differences in working in entrepreneurial enterprises and the non-profit sector.
'At the art gallery I was trying to get clients to invest in art; at Home Hospice I seek out people to invest in social change,' she says.
OzGREEN co-founder listed among Sydney’s top movers and shakers January 2008
OzGREEN’s Sue Lennox has been named among Sydney’s 100 most influential people in a list published in the(sydney)magazine.
Lennox was one of five people included in the environment category of the inaugural list, with the former teacher recognised for her 16 years of work in educating young people about environmental values.
Environmental writer James Woodford reports in the magazine’s January issue that Lennox’s success has been in her belief that 'kids are powerful educators of adults'.
Employment creation work of social enterprise hubs featured in The Australian
13 October 2007
National affairs editor Mike Steketee reports how the social enterprise movement is going beyond ordinary businesses to increase employment opportunities for people otherwise excluded from the workforce in the 13 – 14 October weekend edition of The Australian.
Social enterprises – supported by SVA, PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation, Allco Foundation, Brisbane City Council and Parramatta City Council via Social Enterprise Hubs – are providing real jobs for people like Hone Shzaric, delivery coordinator for Food Connect. Before starting at Food Connect 18 months ago, Hone, a sole parent with the traditional Maori full facial tattoo, had been knocked back for eight or nine jobs and worked for just 3½ months in seven years.
Read the entire article. SVA acknowledges and thanks News Limited for permitting our use of this article. SVA congratulates our 2007 Community Gathering award recipients
July 2007
Pathways Foundation received the Tipping Point award for being a catalyst for individual transformation and social change.
Lindley Edwards received the Torch Bearer award for inspiring others to take the road less travelled.
Duncan Brown of Dimension Data received the Outstanding Mentor award for sharing skills and passion to help make a venture's vision become reality.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation received the Social Investment award for courage, innovation and leadership in corporate investment.
Col Lennox of OzGreen received the Stanford Scholarship to attend the 2008 Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Non-profit Leaders.
Adrian Appo of Ganbina received the SVA-Perpetual Harvard Scholarship to attend the 2008 Harvard Business School Strategic Perspectives in Non-profit Management course.
Caroline Crosse received the Inspirational Social Entrepreneur award for creativity, resourcefulness and vision in bringing ideas to reality.
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