A Decade of Empowering Change: Social Impact Hub Turns 10!
This year marks a momentous occasion for Social Impact Hub – our tenth anniversary! For a decade, we've proudly collaborated with the for-purpose sector, corporates, philanthropy and government to enable purpose-driven individuals and organisations to grow and scale their impact. It has been a privilege to be part of this growing community of change-makers; fostering collaboration, innovation and social change.
To commemorate this milestone, we're embarking on a year-long celebration. We will be sharing ten powerful stories of impact and reflections on the growth of the sector, hosting a special anniversary event bringing changemakers together to connect, celebrate and envision the next chapter of positive impact, and publishing a 10-year impact report....more details to come!
This first piece reflects on the inspiration behind our beginnings, and our evolution to grow and scale impact. Over the next few months, we will share stories on building the resilience and impact of for-purpose organisations, the evolving role of funders, raising impact capital, growing the impact investing ecosystem and more.
Reflecting on our Origins: Creating Opportunities for Purpose-Driven Individuals to Drive Impact
The Social Impact Hub was born from a pivotal learning experience had by our founder, Jessica Mendoza-Roth, as a postgraduate student at Harvard. Back in 2012-2013, she had the opportunity to be part of creating a new social enterprise focused on business and human rights, working under the supervision of experts in the field. Her experience of the clinic education model working on a practical project in small teams helped shape the Social Impact Hub's initial business model. The Social Impact Hub was initially focused on creating the same hands-on impact projects for Australian university students, working in teams under the supervision of local industry professionals with expertise in social innovation, philanthropy, impact measurement and impact investing.
The Social Impact Hub started in February 2014 with a pilot group of nine UNSW law students, working on three different projects covering impact measurement, the role of business in driving social change, and capability building to drive impact investment readiness,[1] three themes of our work that continue to this day.
This small pilot evolved over the years to include hundreds of postgraduate and undergraduate students from across the university who contributed to creating impact by applying their skills to a range of meaningful social impact projects.
“It [was] rewarding to work in a diverse team to develop, iterate and present our [sustainability strategy] proposal to our partner organisation in Cambodia. I truly enjoyed being able to deliver a tangible project with the potential to be implemented...This [was] a fulfilling learning experience to finish my degree with, graduate and embark on the first steps of my career.”
Social Impact Hub team members with UNSW law, commerce and engineering students.
Today, fostering the next generation of changemakers while simultaneously providing social enterprises access to high quality advice and education continues to form the core tenets of our work. What began as enabling students to undertake experiential learning projects has blossomed into a rich ecosystem, with the professionalisation of our services seeing an even greater depth and breadth of support for social purpose organisations and across sectors. Now, the Social Impact Hub brings together the full spectrum of stakeholders – impact-minded individuals, seasoned industry experts, social enterprises, not-for-profits, universities, foundations, corporates and government to collaborate, innovate, and tackle complex challenges - to grow and scale impact for good.
Building Depth of Capability to Support the Sector
Over the last decade, we have seen increasing recognition of the social and environmental value generated by social enterprises.[2] Policymakers, funders, and consumers are increasingly valuing the positive impact that enterprises create, which has meant increased government, corporate and philanthropic investment, and greater support for the sector.
A growth strategy workshop for Project Etico, facilitated by the PIN.
Although there has been increased interest and funding, social enterprises and not-for-profits still face considerable barriers accessing tailored, specialist and affordable support to enable growth and impact. To help address this, we developed the Professional Impact Network (PIN) in 2019, inspired by the innovative delivery model of Eastside Primetimers (now called Eastside People) where our Senior Enterprise Advisory Matt Knopp had previously served as a Director. Today, the PIN:
is an innovative and selective member network that leverages the talent of its highly skilled members to provide high-quality support and advice to social purpose organisations and build a body of best practice for the sector;
has members from a wide range of business, impact and management backgrounds, significant levels of achievement and a shared vision of deploying their expertise for good;
have access to an expert community and online portal housing best practice, and
undertake regular training with SIH to deepen and refine their skills.
Members of the network have found the experience professionally and personally rewarding.
“Becoming a member of The Social Impact Hub’s PIN has been one of the highlights of my career. Over the last 5 years, I have been humbled to support our client organisations as they create lasting economic, social and environmental change for the communities they serve. Being part of a team of changemakers –a force for good- has provided me with a sense of purpose and meaning, for which I am truly grateful.”
Importantly, the PIN has dramatically increased our capability and capacity to grow and scale our own impact – to help more organisations with tailored specialist support. Today the PIN is made up of more than 75 highly-experienced professionals, who have collectively provided advice, mentoring and education on over 250 projects with over 150 for-purpose organisations. From social enterprises seeking impact measurement advice to not-for-profits requiring strategic guidance, foundations navigating the impact investment landscape, and corporates upskilling teams to lead with an impact-focused mindset, the PIN has enabled us to be responsive to the needs of the sector, be flexible in our delivery and serve organisations across Australia.
“Social Impact Hub is a great business resource. They are a professional and responsive partner who can help facilitate business growth and development by providing easy access to a wide range of very experienced NFP consultants. They are an affordable, professional and responsive organisation who can help to drive business growth.”
Most members of the PIN are now also part of the FRRR Expertise Pool, a vetted network of seasoned and highly-experienced consultants from around the country run by the Social Impact Hub, to enable community organisations to deliver place-based projects - from leadership training and capability building workshops to networking events and small-scale infrastructure initiatives.
The PWC Australia Talent Development Social Impact Experience facilitated by PIN members Tim Prosser and Justin MacDonald.
As an intermediary, we believe our core role is to be a connector and enabler. By collaborating with supporters and partners, we have been able to bolster the capacity and capabilities of hundreds of social enterprises, thereby contributing to the growth and evolution of the sector as a whole.
In 2024, we are proud to work alongside clients, partners and collaborators to deliver an array of capability building education offerings and advisory services and to play our part in advancing the social enterprise and impact investing ecosystems. We welcome opportunities to collaborate, innovate and amplify impact as we continue to evolve in response to the needs of the sector. Together, the next decade holds boundless possibilities for positive change.
We thank our wonderful network of partners, collaborators and funders who've helped us, and the sector, get to where we are today: NSW Department of Communities & Justice, Snow Foundation, Sidney Myer Foundation, UNSW, Westpac Foundation, Paul Ramsay Foundation, Office of Social Impact Investing, Macquarie Group Foundation, KPMG, Yarranabbe Foundation, Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal, PwC, Philanthropy Australia, Australian Leadership Hub, English Family Foundation, EY, Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Macquarie University, Cages Foundation, Mercy Foundation, Seventh Street Ventures, Impact Investing Australia, ThinkPlace, Korn Ferry, Eastside People, Social Ventures Australia, Leadership Space, Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific, Digital Storytellers, Centre for Social Finance Law and so many more!
Social Impact Hub collaborates with bold, purpose-driven organisations to accelerate change, and this year we celebrate our 10th anniversary. To hear more good news stories and stay up to date with our anniversary celebrations, sign up to our newsletter.
[1] The three initial projects were:
Measuring the impact and value of multi-stakeholder initiatives, together with MSI Integrity. The authors of this project were Hermione Xing, Melissa Ann Gillies and Trisha Shastri.
Benefit corporations - a case study of the US and lessons for Australia, prepared for B Lab Australia. The authors of this report were Claire Achermann, Bettina Forde and Michael Ouzas.
A study of the Investment Contract and Readiness Fund in the UK and a model for Australia: a Fund for Australian Investment Readiness. The authors of this report were Jason Kim, Harry Liu and Miguel Vera-Cruz.
[2] Social Enterprise Australia's 2023 report Business for Good: The Size and Economic Contribution of Social Enterprise in Australia detailed a remarkable $21.3 billion economic contribution of social enterprise to the economy, with over 12,000 organisations employing 206,000 staff; with the economic contributions amounting to a staggering 1% of GDP.