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Meet 17 of Melbourne’s Best Purpose-Driven Businesses

Impact
business covid 19

Hub Australia

7th January 2021

5 min. read

Hub Australia is welcoming some of Melbourne’s best social enterprises and purpose-driven businesses to our growing membership base as part of the 2021 Flexi Impact Program, based in our three Melbourne locations: Hub Parliament Station, Hub Southern Cross, and Hub Collins Street.

We chatted to our new members about what their businesses and organisations work towards, and how they hope to grow their impact in 2021.

We Teach Well

We Teach Well works to reduce educational inequality globally through implementing quality digital resources, professional development, and coaching programs for teachers no matter where they live and work. In 2020, they developed and presented a number of free professional development sessions for teachers in India.

What are your goals for 2021?

We intend to create a number of digital courses covering aspects of English and literature teaching as well as virtual coaching programs for teachers. We have a world literature podcast launching at the end of January aimed at decolonising literature and broadening cultural understandings.

I find the presence of other business owners really helps me to keep focussed, and I’m looking forward to joining the community at Hub in 2021!

WORK180

WORK180 is a SaaS marketplace – their purpose is to empower every woman to choose a workplace where they can thrive, achieved by connecting women with best-practice employers screened against equality criteria.

In 2020, the business launched in the US and began onboarding large organisations like Microsoft, Atlassian, and TE Connectivity.

What are your goals for 2021?

In the next year we’re aiming to continue our growth, reaching new users and businesses while scaling further into the US and UK markets ready for a larger capital raise in FY21-22.

We’re looking forward to accessing Hub’s coworking space and a community full of social impact startups.

Road to Refuge

Road to Refuge is on a mission to change the national conversation on seeking refuge and asylum. We work with refugees and people seeking asylum to determine the national narrative and work to create a society that includes, respects, and values the diversity of our individual identities and experiences.

Our work is divided into three pillars:

  1. Refugee storytellers have the knowledge, skills, and networks to share their stories at scale;
  2. Refugee voices are amplified across all platforms;
  3. Institutions where stories are shared represent the diversity of refugee experiences in all facets of their work.

What are your goals for 2021?

In 2021 we are hoping to continue along the steep growth trajectory we’ve started in 2020. We have plans to scale existing programs, launch new publications, conduct research, develop training programs, and run storytelling events.

Becoming a member at Hub enables me to have a dedicated space to work on Road to Refuge, as well as provide the organisation with a central ‘hub’ in which to hold our meetings and workshops.

The Epicurean Collective

The Epicurean Collective operates a customer loyalty and rewards program for the Australian wine industry, alongside Australia’s first wine industry-dedicated charity, ‘VINE AID’, a partnership with TEC and Rural Aid established to support rural farmers with mental illness and general personal hardship.

What are your goals for 2021?

We’re aiming to continue establishing our charity, allowing us to begin to raise funds to effect change in rural Australia for those in need. Hub Australia’s Flexi Impact Membership provides us with a great base to work from, and diverse networking opportunities.

spur:org (Spur Projects Ltd.)

spur:org exists to make it easier for Australians to take action to get mental health assistance, with projects focussing on reducing loneliness and social isolation (especially for older Australians).

The organisation has recently completed a 6 month research initiative to understand how social isolation has impacted older Australians during COVID (through project #OLDMATE).

What are your goals for 2021?

We aim to generate at least 100,000 volunteer hours of people spending time with older Australians.

After working from home by myself, I look forward to meeting new people to brainstorm with and be inspired by, uncovering new pathways for #OLDMATE to flourish

ygap

ygap is an international development organisation that supports early-stage social impact ventures with locally-led solutions to local problems. 

They believe in the power of entrepreneurship as an effective and sustainable way to provide opportunities for people to lift themselves out of poverty and disadvantage, and work to find, accelerate, and support the growth of impact ventures led by local entrepreneurs who understand the unique challenges of their communities and are best placed to develop solutions.

What are your goals for 2021?

In 2021 we are running programs in Australia, Kenya, South Africa, Bangladesh, and the Pacific Islands. Our accelerator programs aim to back impact entrepreneurs – or as we like to call them ‘local leaders’ –who have solutions to local problems in some of the world’s toughest communities. 

Rather than imposing our perceived solutions on a foreign community, we support these local leaders who live there and have developed their own, meaning our role is simply to help refine and scale their solutions.

Halad to Health

“Halad” means an offering in the Bisayan language – Halad to Health is an Australian charity closing the gap in global health inequality by delivering free health education programs in rural Philippines.

In their first year, the organisation taught 4,100 students in rural/remote Philippines through a social enterprise model, providing a course for aspiring medical students and offering a portion of tuition fees towards their social cause abroad.

What are your goals for 2021?

As an early-stage charity, we grew topline revenue from $5K – $122K in the 2020 operating year and our dedicated team is on track to double our fundraising efforts this next calendar year!

Starting a social enterprise model from scratch and building a community around our cause during a pandemic was a challenge, to say the least, so we’re so grateful to finally have Hub serve as our home-base, where our team can finally meet safely together.

AbilityMade

AbilityMade uses technology to develop innovative products to promote mobility and accessibility for children living with disabilities using 3D scanning and modelling technology to manufacture custom-made ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs), allowing children with physical disabilities to walk independently.

AbilityMade’s mission is to ensure that every child that needs an AFO can access one, enabling them to do the things they love and live the life they deserve.

What are your goals for 2021?

We plan to accelerate our social impact even further to deliver more than 940 AFO units and empower 470 children with disabilities to walk independently. We are also increasing our reach and impact to empower children in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

Cultivating Community

Cultivating Community works with diverse and low-income communities to create resilient, fair and secure food systems, aiming to inspire a healthy and just world.

In 2020, Cultivating Community collaborated with Moving Feast to coordinate the growth of 950,000 seeds, and harvest of 60,000 fresh culturally appropriate products for food security, helping feeding thousands in Melbourne.

What are your goals for 2021?

Next year we are aiming to develop more Social Enterprise employment and training pathways, improve our management of 800 garden plots in 21 public housing sites, and increase our impact in School Gardens especially special educational schools, secondary, and early years, along with a range of other projects

Hub offers us a quality base to carry out meetings and discussions, and an enriching opportunity to learn from others and collaborate stronger.

Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN Association)

SDSN is a network of academic and research institutions, providing expertise to help institutions and governments implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

SDSN Youth is a global youth program that aims to train a new generation of leaders in sustainable development via education, collaboration, and innovation – enabling any young person to understand and create solutions for a more sustainable planet.

What are your goals for 2021?

Our main focuses this year are fundraising, localisation, and strategy, working to consolidate our branding, strengthen the localisation of our programs, and diversify so we can provide more resources to our volunteers and scale our work further.

Joining Hub will allow me to meet and learn from other founders and non-profits, helping us shape and accelerate our mission.

Narrun-Milloo Consulting (NMC)

NMC is a 100% Aboriginal owned and run consultancy firm, offering finance and supply chain management for Aboriginal businesses and working to build the cultural capability and capacity of Australian workplaces to design and lead social Indigenous practice.

What are your goals for 2021?

Through our partnership with the Dhadyan Group and Indigenous Procurement Management, we plan to become the premier social procurement specialists for the Australian market.

In addition, we want to maintain and adhere to our core objective of eradicating poverty, build beyond parity, strengthen First Nations excellence, and build truth-telling frameworks for corporate and government accountability of the RAP sector. Hub will provide us with a centrally-located home base near our customers and corporates.

Good Business Matters

Good Business Matter’s vision and purpose is for all businesses to create positive social impact, with effectiveness instrumental to business success.

In 2020, GBM coproduced The Good Business Festival with a global team, delivering the closing session on values-based leadership with New Zealand Climate Change Minister, James Shaw, alongside other panelists and recordings from over 20 inspirational thought leaders, including Adam Bandt.

What are your goals for 2021?

We’re looking to grow in 2021, and relaunch goodsmiths.org with State and Federal Government support and a new team in place to support 500 Australian social enterprises.

We work so much more effectively when we can connect with and share ideas with others, and I’m looking forward to making the most of Hub Australia’s space.

Strong Brother Strong Sister

Strong Brother, Strong Sister is a culturally safe place for Aboriginal young people to access and thrive. The structure and programs within the space guide, mentor, and empower Aboriginal young people to achieve excellence. The outcomes also improve Aboriginal young people’s health and wellbeing.

What are your goals for 2021?

We hope to expand our services across Victoria and continue to support First Nations young people to be safe and thrive. Hub will provide a Melbourne base for one of our youth mentors centrally located in the CBD.

Same Way Nation

Same Way Nation is an Indigenous-owned and managed boutique consultancy, with Directors drawing on their culture and business experience to provide consultancy services to the arts, entertainment, and events industry.

With a core business designing unique mentoring programs and business development strategies for Indigenous and non-Indigenous small business owners, their mission is to connect clients with a network of like-minded people, to share resources, discover different ways of doing business through a cultural lens, and empower business owners to make a meaningful impact.

What are your goals for 2021?

We’re aiming to expand our reach from Victoria to across Australia in 2021, and looking forward to having access to a professional place like Hub Australia to demonstrate to our clients that they can build a successful professional business.

isgood.ai

isgood.ai is a social enterprise creating systemic change towards a sustainable future and building technology platforms that solve humanitarian and social problems at a global scale.

isgood.ai is an evolutionary leap forward in social impact measurement, management, and evaluation, using the power of big data, AI, and machine learning.

What are your goals for 2021?

This will be the year we finish our build and take our product to market after a long period of testing and validating our platform. This Hub membership offers us a professional setting to work from, helping us with our launch meetings and productivity.

Ngarrimili

Meaning ‘to dance’ in Wadawurrung, Ngarrimili was established to nurture and support business and entrepreneurship opportunities amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Victoria.

Ngarrimili support and nurture First Nations business excellence across Victoria, supporting over 150 businesses and creatives throughout 2020.

What are your goals for 2021?

We’re looking forward to expanding our services nationally, and using Hub as a base, connection, and opportunity for our staff and networks.

Yolanda Finette Holistic Coaching & Consultancy

I am a holistic life coach and wellbeing facilitator. I support First Nations people to navigate personal and professional development shifts through a culturally safe and trauma informed lens

What are your goals for 2021?

We want to continue empowering First Nations people around radical self-care and prioritising their own wellbeing to be in the best position to be of service to the community. Hub Australia is providing a space to run my workshops and coaching services outside of my home, and connections and networking with other businesses.