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Whitney Teluk on Social Enterprise, Community, and Meeting Meghan Markle

Impact
Whitney Teluk

Hub Australia

26th October 2018

Whitney Teluk has grown a career at Hub Southern Cross, working every day to support our members as a Community Lead. Outside of her work with Hub Australia, she is passionate about impact and global change and has launched social enterprise Monochrome Co with her husband Matt, as well as working with the Foundation for Young Australians.

Whitney was recently invited to a reception for Victorian Youth Leaders at Government House with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) as an acknowledgement of her work and the positive impact it has on the world.


How did you begin working at Hub?

I first found out about Hub in 2015 when I visited Melbourne for a month to see if I might want to move here from Queensland. A friend recommended I check it out – I came for a tour, loved it and signed up as a member straight away. At this time I was in the process of starting a business and looking for a community in a new city.
I made so many wonderful friends and decided to move to Melbourne permanently. Turns out I loved Hub so much that I got a job here!

What are the highlights of your current role?

My absolute favourite part of being a Community Lead is the time I get to spend with our members. I get to learn about fascinating businesses in industries I didn’t even know existed.

I learn about their projects, business models, challenges, vision and everything in between.

I love business so these conversations are so much fun for me.    

What other projects and organisations are you involved in?

My husband and I run a social enterprise called Monochrome Coffee Co. The business exists to transform developing communities through the education and empowerment of youth.

Monochrome co

Our vision is that young people around the world are empowered and enabled to lead bold social and economic movements that transform the communities around them. We do this by selling amazing specialty coffee and directing the funds back to our impact programs in Tanzania, East Africa.
I am also involved with the Foundation for Young Australians. They have been amazing and are very supportive of the work I do with both Hub Australia and Monochrome Coffee Co.

Read more: Making an impact – Foundation for Young Australians

How did you get interested/involved?

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Whitney with some of the parents Monochrome Co has worked with in Tanzania

After a trip to Tanzania when I was 18, myself and a few friends started a non-profit organisation and began supporting 25 children in a school in Arusha, Tanzania.
Monochrome Coffee Co. came about as a way for us to expand the impact we were having and to be financially sustainable.

What have you achieved and what is next?

To date, we have funded 30,000 education days through our social enterprise. This has allowed a cohort of 25 children to attend six years of primary school in Tanzania.

We have delivered empowering parenting seminars to over 400 parents across East Africa, and we have responsibly sourced and roasted over 2.5 tonnes of coffee.

The next step, which I am very excited about, is to design and launch a program that works with young social entrepreneurs in developing communities.

Read more: Making an Impact with Zoë Condliffe

Whitney Telux and Sherry-Rose Bih Watts at an event with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

What was is like being invited to a reception for Victorian Youth Leaders at Government House with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle)?

It was a great honour and I was surprised to be invited. I am not that into the Royals but it was very cool to meet Meghan Markle – I love that she is using her platform to impact social issues she cares about.
It was a fantastic event and I was able to connect with some really amazing young people.


If you are interested in supporting a school age young person in Tanzania, reach out to Whitney.
Hub Australia has a number of career opportunities open so you can grow your own career at Hub, or join as a member if you’re ready to take the leap on your own small business.