About: Social Change Central

About Social Change Central

It’s an exciting time for social enterprise in Australia with more than 20,000 social enterprises now operating.

Despite the recent growth and interest in the sector there are several factors holding it back from reaching its full potential as a catalyst for widespread change. One major hurdle is the time consuming effort required to find the ever-increasing number of funding and capacity building opportunities.

The latest opportunities are typically found via closed Facebook groups, Google searches or organisation-specific newsletters. As a result, many of our most eager and promising entrepreneurs don’t find the support they need to get their ideas off the ground. Potentially life changing ideas stay just that – great ideas.

Social enterprises can be a powerful driver of positive change. We believe encouraging increased support for social enterprises and connecting them with available opportunities is a critical step in this process.

What is Social Change Central

Social Change Central (SCC) is Australia’s first dedicated online hub for social enterprises. SCC connects, encourages and supports social enterprises and aspiring entrepreneurs through an easy-to-use, comprehensive self-service database which collates the most up-to-date opportunities available in Australia and internationally.

Vision & Mission

The vision for SCC is a cohesive Australian social enterprise ecosystem which enables social enterprises to thrive, resulting in widespread and transformative social change. SCC’s mission is to ensure that Australia’s social entrepreneurs and social enterprises get access to the critical support they need to convert their passion and ideas for social good into real social impact.

Membership

SCC members aren’t just social enterprises. They also include changemakers, entrepreneurs, startups, charities, community groups and local grass-roots organisations. SCC is for anyone passionate about social progress.

A Social Change Central Membership gives you unlimited access to the hundreds of opportunities we have listed on our platform for an entire year. We spend hours and hours (and hours!) collating and tagging and uploading these opportunities every week so that you don’t have to. With a Social Change Central Membership, you can add the relevant opportunities to your tracker, so you never experience that ‘where was that good funding opportunity I saw the other day?’ question again. A Membership is only $50 for the entire year– that’s less than $1 a week!

JOIN TODAY | ONLY $50 FOR THE YEAR

Who We Are

Based in Sydney and Melbourne, the SCC team is comprised of committed and enthusiastic individuals who are passionate about social change and innovation. We’re motivated to stay ahead of the curve so that our members never miss out on an opportunity to create effective and sustainable social impact.

Jay Boolkin

Founder

Jay Boolkin ( Founder )

Jay is serious about positive social change and the power of social entrepreneurship to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems. Believing that they can become part of the mainstream, he is enthusiastic about advocating for business models that are genuinely built around a social or environmental mission. Previously a Strategy Advisor at Spark Strategy and co-lead of Social Impact & Partnerships at Seventh Street Ventures, and now Enterprise Development and Communications Manager at the Social Impact Hub, Jay is an expert connector and proponent for how technology can be used to scale impact in the social enterprise space. Jay was selected as a 2015 Myer Innovation Fellow, one of Australia’s top 50 young social entrepreneurs by the Foundation for Young Australians, the Young Entrepreneur Finalist in the Sydney SHINE Awards and SE100 Innovations and Social Entrepreneurs. He blogs at Social Good Stuff, which was named one of the "Top 15 Social Enterprise Blogs & Websites To Follow in 2020".
Anne Lennon

Founder

Anne Lennon ( Founder )

Anne Lennon is a corporate lawyer who spent 8 years working in a leading international law firm before moving full time into the social enterprise sector. In her role as General Manager of Social Enterprise Development and Investment at Fitted for Work she led the development of award-winning social enterprise, SheWorks, which aims to increase the workforce participation of women experiencing disadvantage by providing recruitment services to organisations operating in traditionally male dominated industries. In 2014, Anne was recognised as an emerging leader for social change and awarded a scholarship by the Australian Centre for Social Impact. She is also a recipient of the Quinn Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.