|
SVA News & Articles
Portfolio ventures in the news
 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
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 success 2 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.
|
