Summit Drives Social Change
15 May 2018 at 7:30 am
What type of world do you want to live in by 2030? This is the question attendees are being asked to ponder on 2 June at the Social Good Summit Australia.
The Social Good Summit Australia is part of a global effort to drive social change related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were set by the UN as a target for 2015-2030.
Since 2010, the Social Good Summit has been held annually in New York to provide an opportunity for members of the public to engage in dialogue on the key social issues of our time, in parallel to the debate occurring at the UN General Assembly. The aim is to expand and broaden the debate to the general public. Speakers at previous summits have included Al Gore, Melinda Gates and Malala Yousafzai.
In 2015, with the support of the UN Foundation, Australia held its first Social Good Summit to bring an Australian voice to the implementation of the United Nations 17 SDGs. Speakers came from private enterprise, social enterprise, not for profits, media and government agencies.
This year the Social Good Summit Australia aims to inspire the audience to take action by demonstrating how everyday people; be they entrepreneurs, company founders, employees at not for profits or the private sector, are tackling social issues both domestically and internationally.
One of the domestic social issues being highlighted this year is homelessness. According, to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the five years to 2016, homelessness in Australia has increased by 14 per cent.
Seeing the challenge facing homeless persons, Nicholas Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, the 2016 Young Australians of the Year, founded Orange Sky Laundry. Orange Sky Laundry is a world-first, free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness. As well as providing access to an essential service the focus is on conversation and connection while the washing occurs.
Leveraging technology to address homelessness is Infoxchange CEO, David Spriggs. Infoxchange, is a not-for-profit social enterprise that has delivered technology for social justice for over 25 years. In 2014 they won the 2014 Google Global Impact Challenge for a mobile website called Ask Izzy. Ask Izzy connects homeless people, or those at risk of being homeless, with the nearby services they need such as housing, meals, healthcare and counselling.
On the international front, reaching the SDGs globally requires great commitment and appropriate financial support to fund initiatives that drive change. Innovative approaches have been highlighted by Gary Bencheghib, founder Make a Change World, Masami Sato, founder B1G1 and Audette Exel founder of the Adara Group.
Gary Bencheghib is an environmental activist and filmmaker. He founded Make a Change World, a media outlet and a not for profit that uncovers some of our world’s most pressing problems and those fighting to combat them. Gary will join us from New York to explain how he managed to convince the president of Indonesia to commit more than 7,000 people to clean the Citarum river, considered the most polluted river in the world.
Masami Sato is impacting the world through B1G1, a global giving initiative she founded which makes it easy for business owners, particularly SMEs, to give back to society via an online giving platform. B1G1 has “giving” projects in over 30 countries and since 2007 has worked globally with more than 2,300 businesses.
Audette is the CEO of Adara Advisors and Partners which delivers financial services and expertise at the highest levels to clients. The fees generated on transactions go to directly benefit people living in extreme poverty through the work of Adara development. Adara development is a not for profit that works to improve the health and education of women, children and communities living in poverty.
Audette, Masami, Gary, Nicholas, Lucas and David, plus many other inspiring people will be speaking at the Social Good Summit on 2 June this year.
For tickets to the Social Good Summit Australia please visit https://www.socialgoodsummit.com.au
