Bursaries are more than just a ticket

The Social Enterprise World Forum 2022 (SEWF22) saw a huge opportunity for the Australian social enterprise community to come together. Impact North – an ELP Initiative – seized this opportunity with both hands, looking to not only come together with the wider community, but to ensure Northern Australian entrepreneurs were able to access this opportunity and contribute their voices to a bigger conversation. 

Impact North is a community of social entrepreneurs committed to positive change in Northern Australia.

The three key principles driving Impact North’s work are: Acknowledging the intersection of Indigenous business and social enterprise, amplifying voices and opportunities and connecting passionate for-purpose leaders across Northern Australia and beyond. 

About the SEWF22 Bursary Campaign 

Our Impact North team identified SEWF22 as a valuable event for their community to attend to develop knowledge, grow networks and be inspired by global stories of impact. Consequently, the team held a hugely successful campaign to secure Bursaries for members of the Impact North community to travel to Meanjin, Brisbane and attend the event.

Impact North offered additional support on top of the cash bursaries from SEWF, to help people coordinate their travel and notify them about accommodation, flights, etc, helping the contingent from Northern Australia travel together as a group, meet others from the region and share the experience together. 

The Bursary campaign saw: 

• 83 hours of work invested by the Impact North team to support those who applied for bursaries. This involved explaining the opportunity, submitting applications and supporting references. 

• 37 candidates were directly engaged, showing a huge interest in attending the forum. 

• 26 bursaries won by (predominantly First Nations) entrepreneurs in the Impact North community, giving them an opportunity to attend SEWF22.

“I wouldn’t have even known that this was a relevant space for us to be in if it weren’t for you telling me to apply, but actually it was incredibly important that we could be there.” 

- Impact North bursary winner SEWF22 

The Northern Territory crew at SEWF22

Why are bursaries so important for Northern Australian social enterprises? 

Global Community – Many social entrepreneurs in Northern Australia work in isolation every day, while the forum gave an opportunity to realise they are not alone, find support and experience community. 

New Ideas – It was critical that attendees could participate with others who come from a similar context. Concepts that were presented from a different lens could be reckoned with, translated and considered for local relevance. 

Renewed Purpose – SEWF22 was a great chance for busy entrepreneurs to stop, reflect and rethink their focus, being reminded of their purpose and the impact they’re creating. 

Building Skills – Many of the entrepreneurs attending reported new skills and ideas that they can take back to their work across Northern Australia. 

“We felt good about attending the forum, it was overwhelming at first, in the big smoke and so many people, but after a while we felt like we were part of something big. The best part was meeting so many people doing business with purpose. For us it’s given us some confidence that we are on the right track and given us many ideas to think about.” 

- Impact North bursary winner SEWF22

The impact of SEWF22 doesn’t stop here 

Perhaps one of the most exciting outcomes is that community representatives from Tennant Creek are exploring hosting their own local social enterprise showcase in February 2023, engaging Impact North to produce the event. They hope to bring a sense of the breadth of ideas and inspiration from this event, back to the broader community. They also hope that this opportunity will inspire the development of new social enterprises in their region. 

There’s no secret ingredient involved in the success of this Bursary campaign for SEWF22. The campaign brought Impact North’s key principles together and required hours of work and dedication to bring this opportunity within grasping distance for the Impact North community.