To investigate the use of venture philanthropy to grow enterprises that foster economic inclusion

I was driven to apply for this Fellowship in 2018 after becoming increasingly aware that the operating environment I was immersed in was limited at best, dysfunctional at worst. I was running a not for profit working to attract resources to enable Aboriginal people living in remote Australia to build the skills, knowledge, networks and confidence to create opportunities for their community through enterprise.

I worked hard to learn about and navigate the philanthropic sector to unlock this precious source of capital. Despite my best efforts, my experience was that it was nearly impossible to take a strategic approach to secure philanthropic funding. I felt like I was one of many seagulls at the bottom of an ivory tower, squabbling over the few chips that were dropped down from a great height by invisible and lofty benefactors. Sustained systemic social change work is near impossible under these circumstances and I found myself manically contorting myself, my organisation and our mission into small projects that would have the best chance of receiving philanthropic grants. I saw other organisations do the same. Surely there had to be a better way.

I was driven to find examples of more engaged, intelligent approaches - ones in which the social change organisations and the philanthropic capital providers came together as equal partners, where many forms of capital (not just grant funds) were harnessed and where there was a culture of experimentation, learning and transparency.

My hope is that the findings and recommendations in my Fellowship report (available via the Download Report button above) can contribute to improving the operating environment for everyone in the impact sector in Australia.