A partnership between the English Family Foundation, Philanthropy Australia and Social Traders resulted in the development of the Social Enterprise World Forum 2019 bursary fund, with the strong objective of providing a rich learning and sector development opportunity for Australian social enterprise leaders.

Having successfully raised bursary funds from 10 funding contributors, the partners group are pleased to announce 18 bursary recipients from across five States/Territories, who will attend alongside other key sector leaders in the Australian delegation. Contributors to the Fund included the Victorian and Queensland State Governments, Social Change Central, and other key philanthropic supporters.

Belinda Morrissey, CEO of the English Family Foundation said, ‘This bursary fund is a great example of cross-sectoral collaboration to unlock the incredible opportunity presented by SEWF 2019. The bursary recipients represent the full diversity of the social enterprise sector in Australia and mixes the most established practitioners with the rising stars. Attendance at the SEWF’19 will certainly ignite the minds of this group who are going above and beyond in developing and supporting the Australian social enterprise sector.’

SEWF is the leading annual gathering for international exchange and collaboration in social enterprise development. It is the main global platform for peer to peer learning, sharing of good practice, ideas and creating partnerships for the social enterprise sector. This is a historic occasion as it is the first time the SEWF will be held in an emerging market economy.

Social Traders Managing Director and SEWF Board Member David Brookes said, ‘There is strong evidence that awareness of the power of social enterprise to contribute to more inclusive economies and stronger communities is growing in Australia and around the world. The Bursary Fund initiative enables a greater level of Australian participation, knowledge exchange and learning with this international network of social enterprise practitioners, supporters and policy makers.’

The British Council is hosting SEWF’19 in Addis Ababa on 23 – 25 October 2019.

As SWEF enters its second decade, hosting it in Ethiopia provides a unique opportunity to create a truly global social enterprise movement that can share experience, build networks and deliver solutions for a more inclusive and sustainable future for all.

Ethiopian delegates announcing SEWF’19 during last year’s Forum in Edinburgh.

Jay Boolkin, Founder of Social Change Central and a funder to the Bursary Fund, said, ‘Having attended in 2017, I can personally attest to the nurturing, innovative, and transformative experience that is the SEWF. As Australia’s only social enterprise opportunities portal, SEWF is exactly the type of opportunity we love to see and share. It’s our pleasure to be able to contribute towards bringing together some of Australia’s key social change leaders to attend this year’s Forum. Our hope is that it will motivate recipients to continue their life-changing work, and improve how they go about it through sharing experiences, skills and ideas, and establishing new relationships, networks and synergies.’

This bursary package will assist with airfares, accommodation and ticketing for SEWF’19 to the following recipients:

• Susanna Bevilacqua, Moral Fairground (Vic)
• Rona Glynn-McDonald, YLab Global (Vic)
• Juanita Pope, Justice Connect (Vic)
• Sally Quinn, Green Collect (Vic)
• Matt Allen, Zero Waste Network (NSW)
• Tom Dawkins, StartSomeGood (NSW)
• Kat Dunn, Grameen Australia (NSW)
• Mikey Leung, Digital Storytellers (NSW)
• Sharon Zivkovic, Community Capacity Builders (SA)
• Bianca Stawiarski, Warida Wholistic Wellness (SA)
• Laura Egan, Enterprise Learning Projects (NT)
• Tom Allen, Impact Boom (QLD)
• Sabrina Chakori, Brisbane Tool Library (QLD)
• Davinia Nieper, #MakingItHappen (QLD)
• Emma-Kate Rose, QSEC & Food Connect (QLD)
• Tony Sharp, Substation33 (QLD)
• Luke Terry, White Box Enterprises (QLD)
• Jemima Welsh, QUT Bluebox ImpaQt (QLD)

Impact Boom will announce the full list of Australian delegates in October.

This article was first published on Impact Boom.