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Leading Not-For-Profit Innovation program
The Leading Not-for-Profit Innovation Program offers a series of practical workshops to explore how Not-For-Profit Boards and Executive Teams can better enable purposeful change through developing an innovation mindset and better understanding what ‘innovation’ might look like in the context of their organisation.
Participation in the program will enable Board and Executive members to:
- increase their confidence in understanding and talking about innovation (and having a shared language around innovation in their organisation);
- be more confident about managing risks and governance best practice for innovation;
- Integrate and prioritise innovation in the strategic planning process;
- foster effective Board and Executive conversations and collaboration around innovation; and
- feel comfortable pushing for innovation/innovative ideas for their organisation.
The program runs from 23rd February 2021 until 17th March 2021. Cost to participate is $250 for up to 10 people from a single organisation.
To register, please Email Lee Reece, Administration Support Officer at City of Parramatta Council's Community Capacity Building Team, with the names of all participants to be registered.
Email: lreece@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au
Phone: 02 9806 5138,
Registrations close on 15 February 2021
Pitch Events
Pitch events are opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop a community of interest and raise funds for social investment ideas.
For the last three years Council has run an annual pitch event for social enterprises called Pitch for Good Parramatta. The event has enabled 10 new social enterprises to raise enough funds to run projects and operate in Parramatta. Two videos have been developed showing how the Pitch for Good event runs and highlighting some of the social enterprises featured at previous events. Pitch for Good videos are available for the Pitch for Good Parramatta 2016 event and the Pitch for Good Parramatta 2017 event.
Community-Business Partnerships and Shared Value
City of Parramatta Council, Western Sydney Community Forum and the Western Sydney Collective ran a series of interactive events during 2016 and 2017 to encourage local businesses and local not-for-profit organisation to talk about and develop new community-business partnerships that were based on a shared value model.
The overarching aim was to help business, community and government to work together to create positive social impact in Western Sydney and strengthen Western Sydney as a fair and inclusive place to live, work and play. See a video here.
Videos and information about the various events can be found here.
Co-working Spaces
Collaboratory Riverside is committed to helping start up social enterprises grow their community based initiatives. Offering a co-working space overlooking Parramatta River, Collaboratory provides a knowledge sharing environment with access to a support framework that will help connect you with the social enterprise community.
A co-working space providing access to a professional work environment to work from, hold meetings, network, collaborate. They offer access shared desk spaces, meeting rooms, internet and printing facilities, barista made coffee and teas, call answering services and a professional business mailing location.
Grounded Space is a professional community of ambitious small businesses, freelancers and start-ups who network with each other to offer opportunities, support and guidance.
School Programs
Young Change Agents is a design-thinking based social entrepreneurship program for 10-18 year-olds that helps our youth see problems as opportunities. Our programs also build the capacity of teaching teams in design thinking and social entrepreneurship.
Generation Entrepreneur run a hands-on entrepreneurship program for high schools across Australia. They run in-school programs, a weekend hackathon program called Initiate 48 and a 3-month incubator program for supporting High School entrepreneurs with high-potential start-ups.
Parramatta Community Fund
The Parramatta Community Fund is an incubator for place-based philanthropy in Parramatta. The Fund wants to encourage members of the City of Parramatta Community to give where they live.
Through grant making, the Parramatta Community Fund will address our community’s needs and assist people who are suffering from disadvantage. The Fund will also support local projects that foster cohesion, social sustainability and culture.
For more information visit the Community Fund page
Other Links
Office of Social Impact Investment
Social Enterprise Exchange – Sydney
Social Enterprise Finance Australia
Social Impact Measurement Network of Australia
The Australian Centre for Social Innovation
