Wrapup: 2022 Social Enterprise World Forum Day One

With 2,600 representatives from 93 countries, the Social Enterprise World Forum is the largest social enterprise conversation in the world. Here’s all the news from day one. 

The 2022 Social Enterprise World Forum kicked off in Brisbane today, with over 2,600 sector professionals representing 93 countries joining in-person and online sessions about social impact.

The first day of the forum opened with an address from Queensland Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills, Di Farmer, who announced additional funding to the social enterprise sector and encouraged leaders to lobby their governments to ensure social enterprises had a place in addressing labour shortages.

A great @_SEWF opening event thanks to @DiFarmerMP announcing more SE grant rounds, research and social finance programs, extended funding for QSEC (more details to come)… Exciting to be beginning 2days of SocEnt learning @boxenterprises pic.twitter.com/tjhqDeR2pJ

— QLD Social Enterprise Council (QSEC) (@QSocEnt) September 27, 2022

CEO of White Box Enterprises Luke Terry shared his excitement for the future of social enterprise, announcing “this is the time for our sector to shine” and citing the development of the new national peak body, Social Enterprise National Strategy, and corporate and government collaboration as key progressions for the sector.

Next up was a ‘fireside’ conversation with Laura Thompson, Clothing The Gaps CEO and co-founder who spoke about her journey creating the social enterprise, freeing the Aboriginal flag and the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement on her work.

“That’s the point of the t-shirts, to spark a conversation; to spark that conversation!”

Our online and in-person participants just heard from Laura Thompson, CEO & Founder of @clothingthegaps about her experience going into social enterprise.https://t.co/GPUQlVpLP3#SEWF22 pic.twitter.com/rT28Wc6qfr

— SEWF – Social Enterprise World Forum (@_SEWF) September 28, 2022

The conversation from First Nations leaders continued in the session entitled ‘Shifting power and making space for indigenous enterprises’ where CEO of Common Ground Rona Glynn-McDonald powerfully discussed a need to shift the concept of leadership in Australia. 

She commented that non-Indigenous people need to step back to make space for Indigenous people, and hand over funding and power to First Nations communities in order to best support self-determination.

Living in the world of we not me. First nations #socialenterprise leaders share the mindset & structural shifts to cultivate reciprocity & balance. @SobahBeverages @_SEWF #sewf22 #sewf2022 #FirstNations #IndigenousThoughts pic.twitter.com/YPQSQnQj5V

— Impact Boom (@ImpactBoomOrg) September 28, 2022

Leaders from enterprises including Good Market, Cambiatus, Yume Food and Infoxchange came together to discuss the need to use digital transformation to help social enterprises build their capacity – and importantly address the impact on Australians that are digitally excluded, including those from rural and regional areas, who come from low socio-economic backgrounds and have a poor educational status.

Elsewhere, a lively debate about social enterprise being too narrowly defined opened the dialogue about creating impact regardless of structure, before a second ‘fireside’ conversation with 2022 Australian of the Year and disability activist Dylan Alcott AO, networking and additional virtual sessions rounded out the day.

The two-day hybrid event co-hosted by White Box Enterprises is focused on the theme ‘co-creating the future’, with speakers from a range of enterprises from around the world including Australia, Canada, Singapore, Netherlands and New Zealand.

The second day of the forum focused on the climate emergency, social procurement and the global economic climate.