Good Will Hunters

Welcome to Episode 26 of Good Will Hunters, with Christopher Thorn AM, Outcome Measurement Partner at EY. Christopher and I chat about his early aspirations of becoming a truck driver, and how he instead ended up a New York stockbroker, with a mission to prove that creating social value was good for people, and good for profits. Christopher was integral in establishing the philanthropic division of a major stockbroking firm, before eventually transitioning to EY, leading the firm's outcome measurement and long term value service-lines. We chat about why the private sector is the key to achieving the SDGs, and how to stay "close" to the frontline of impact when working for a private sector organisation. Christopher also shares some handy resources for those looking to enter the sector! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on iTunes or Facebook - we're always grateful for your support, as it allows us to continue to grow our audience and share the wisdom of our guests far and wide! Enjoy,

Welcome to Season 3 of Good Will Hunters! I am so excited to be back, and can't wait to share our latest line-up of guests with you. Kicking off Season 3 is a collaboration I recently did with Humans of Purpose host, Mike Davis. If you haven't already heard of the Humans of Purpose podcast, you should have! Mike is a superstar of the podcast world, his show has tens of thousands of listeners globally, and he has been a great inspiration to me in setting up Good Will Hunters. Mike approached me a few months back and suggested we do a collab, in the form of a shared episode which we both air on our channels. I jumped at the idea, and I'm thrilled with the final result! We chat about: - How we each started our podcasts - Pursuing a career in politics - Reflections on the NFP sector - Swapping preparation for authenticity - My "word of the year" (Hint: It's surrender) - Where we'll be ten years from now - Lots more! I'd love to hear your thoughts! I'd also love to know - if Mike and I were to do a live pod

Welcome to Episode 23 of Good Will Hunters, and our second last episode of Season 2! This week on the show we have Paul Brown. Paul is the CEO of ChildFund New Zealand, a position he has held for 14 years with industry-leading results. In this episode, we chat about the Pacific Islands, and the new approach being taken by the NZ Government on development in the region. It's an enlightening take on our nearest neighbours and Paul's extensive leadership in the sector is apparent from the get-go. Enjoy, Rachel and the GWH Team Royalty free music by Bensound

Welcome to Episode 22 of Good Will Hunters! This week, I chat to Ross Piper, CEO of Christian Super. Prior to this role, Ross was the Chief Operating Officer of World Vision Australia. Ross has over 25 years’ experience as a leader in the finance and not for profit sectors, including roles as the Head of Corporate Risk at Macquarie Group, and Senior Director of Operations for the Middle East and Eastern Europe at World Vision International, where he worked closely with peer to peer microfinance programs. Upon his appointment as CEO, Ross remarked that Christian Super has a track record of operating with purpose and intentional impact within the Superannuation sector, and he has continued that legacy in his role. Ross was also a Founding Board Member of Agroinvest, a microfinance bank providing credit services for agricultural enterprises in rural Serbia and Montenegro. In addition Ross was an Advisory Board Member of the Shared Value Project, a regional community of practice committed to driving adoption

Welcome to Episode 21 of Good Will Hunters! This week on the show we have Mark Harwood. Mark leads the Social Enterprise and Economic Development (SEED) Unit of World Vision, with a focus on inclusive business, economic opportunities for women and impact investment. Mark and I met a few months back in Jakarta, where we were participating in a workshop on impact investment, and specifically how to promote gender-lens investment to the region. Mark's insights were fascinating in Jakarta, and they're equally as fascinating in this episode! We chat about what "innovation" actually means for the SEED program, the challenges women face in securing impact investment, and the role the private sector can play now and in the future If you enjoy this episode, please leave us a review on iTunes and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram @goodwillpod. Enjoy, Rachel and the GWH Team [Royalty free music by Bensound]

Welcome to Episode 20 of Good Will Hunters! This week on the show we have Alison Covington, Founder and CEO of Good360 Australia. Good360 is to manufactured goods what OzHarvest is to food - a recycler, a repurposer (if there is such a word!) and a champion of the circular economy. Alison discovered Good360 in the USA and knew immediately that it was a concept Australia desperately needed. Australian corporations are not required to report on the end-use of their goods, meaning we have very few ways to track where unused manufactured goods end up, but we could safely assume that many go to landfill. Landfill is cheap in Australia compared to other countries, and the combination of a low cost and little transparency means that we have a waste crisis in our manufactured goods sector. Enter Good360! Good360 takes brand new, unused goods that may have been surplus or "last season" and connects them to charities who distribute them to people in need. The stories Alison shares in this episode are truly heartwarm

Welcome to Episode 19 of Good Will Hunters! This week I chat to Alicia Curtis, Founder of Alyceum and 100 Women. Like last week's guest, Dr Jemma Green, I came across Alicia at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. Alicia was nominated for her work in establishing and growing 100 Women, a giving circle intended to ignite women's philanthropy. Alicia gave a TEDx talk on this very topic in Peth last year. In that talk, Alicia spoke about how many women, traditionally, don't view themselves as philanthropists because they're not on extraordinarily high wages. When we think of philanthropists, we think of Bill Gates or Andrew Forrest, not ourselves! Alicia and her team at 100 Women are out to change this perception, teaching us that we can all be philanthropists. You'll have to listen to the episode to find out how..! Alicia and I also chat about why we should all consider joining a not for profit board, and the skills needed from modern day board members. I am inspired by every guest I have on this show but

Welcome to Episode 18 of Good Will Hunters, with Dr Jemma Green, Co-Founder and CEO of PowerLedger, the leading peer to peer marketplace for renewable energy trading. A few weeks ago I attended the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Sydney. Jemma was nominated, and won! Just days earlier, Jemma was on Nekker Island with Richard Branson himself celebrating a whole different award. Suffice to say, Jemma is on a winning streak. But in this episode, Jemma explains why she doesn't have that winning feeling yet - PowerLedger has a huge decade ahead of it, not least due to Jemma's vision of PowerLedger playing a significant role in achieving the Paris Climate Goals and democratising energy, for good. I'm the first to admit that I don't really "get" blockchain. I also haven't made an effort to understand it, until I attended an event a few weeks ago showcasing the incredible impact blockchain can have on conservation efforts (check out this website for more on that: https://www.wwf.org.au/get-involved/panda-la

Welcome to Episode 17 of Good Will Hunters! Phew - have we got a great episode for you today! Simon Doble is an inventor, an entrepreneur, a CEO, and one of the kindest and most compassionate individuals I've ever met. The SolarBuddy story is an amazing one. SolarBuddy started because Simon was outraged by the fact that so many people globally were living in energy poverty, and so few knew about it. Energy poverty means a person uses toxic kerosene lamps to cook at night, and it means a student can't do their homework because they can't see the pages past sunset. It means that during the evening, very little can be done because there is simply no light - this is a powerful metaphor. As I aptly (albeit accidentally)say in this episode, you'll "see the light" when you hear Simon's story. Simon is inspiring - he saw a problem, he invented a solution, and then he created a social enterprise around it. Not only is SolarBuddy wildly successful, it also enables Australians to engage in international development i

Welcome to Episode 16 of Good Will Hunters! This week on the show I chat with Kaitlin Tait, the Director of YHER, a part of YGAP which focuses on supporting female entrepreneurs in the Pacific, Bangladesh and parts of Africa. Kaitlin and husband Aaron started Spark International back in 2008, after getting caught up in the violent election crisis that plagued Kenya that year (much like our guest from two episodes ago, Annabelle Chauncy!). Spark International grew into a highly impactful organisation, and merged with YGAP in 2015 - you may recall we had YGAP Co-Founder Elliot Costello on the show in Episode 6! In this Episode, Kaitlin and I discuss why female entrepreneurs need specific, tailored support - generally, female entrepreneurs are less likely to attract the same amount of investment capital as their male counterparts, despite being MORE likely to demonstrate innovation... it's a frustrating reality and one that Kaitlin and her team work tirelessly to change. Kaitlin is considered to be of the mo

Welcome to Episode 15 of Good Will Hunters! This week I chat to Rosie Wheen, CEO of WaterAid Australia. I firstly wanted to take a moment to thank you for your support since Season 2 kicked off a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been really enjoying recording these episodes and never take for granted what a privilege it is to chat with leaders in the sector every week, and to share my learnings with you. We’ve got a really exciting line up for season two, and I’m so thrilled to hear from more listeners every week. Today on the show we have a woman I have admired for some time. Rosie has been on my podcast wishlist since the very beginning. She leads WaterAid, one of my favourite not for profits in Australia, and has a humble, grounded, servant style of leadership that really resonates with me. In this episode we chat about access to water, and the ways that water access impacts on gender equality. We chat about the importance of access to water and sanitation facilities for women, and we also chat about water fu

Welcome to Episode 14 of Good Will Hunters, with Annabelle Chauncy, the Founder and CEO of School for Life Foundation. Annabelle would be well-known to many of us in the not for profit community. I first heard of Annabelle and the School for Life Foundation at a conference a few years ago, and then my memory was triggered when I saw a segment on television about a year ago, showcasing the incredible work the Foundation is doing in Uganda. I resolved to get Annabelle on the show, and after a series of serendipitous events and chance meetings, it happened! Annabelle was sincere, relaxed and incredibly clear on the vision she leads her Foundation towards. Emphasising the power of education, Annabelle and I chat about the origins of School of Life, the challenges of getting seed funding, why staying true to your mission is more important than gaining new investors, and how important a strong and united local team is. A true leader and pioneer in the international development sector, there is a lot to be learnt

Welcome to Episode 13 of Good Will Hunters, and our first episode of Season 2! In this episode, I chat with Tom Perry, Pacific Communications Lead at the World Bank. Tom and I worked together years ago when I was also at the World Bank, and ever since I’ve been so impressed and inspired by his work. Tom and I chat about virtual reality, investing in communications, creating platforms for storytelling, regionalism, communications for development, and what success looks like in ten years. This is one of my favourite episodes to date, and I’d love to hear your feedback as always. Enjoy, Rach and the GWH Team.

Welcome to Episode 12 of Good Will Hunters! This week on the show I chat with Jeremy Meltzer. Jeremy is a socially and environmentally conscious entrepreneur and expert in ‘business for purpose'. He is the Founder of i=Change, the world's first cause-marketing platform and Australia's fastest-growing social enterprise tech startup. i=Change partners with global brands, who give back a portion of profits from every sale and uniquely empower their customers to choose where it goes. The company has positively impacted the lives of over 90,000 people in 14 countries. In this episode, we chat about how i=Change is transforming the buying journey of customers, by creating experiential purchases. In doing this, Jeremy and his team are connecting the retail sector to international development in brand new ways. We chat about radical transparency (one of my favourite concepts of 2018!) and Jeremy very generously shares the emotional journey that led him to where he is today. His courage to take on issues like gend

Welcome to Episode 11 of Good Will Hunters! This week on the show I chat with Maddy Vaughan, the Senior Programs Manager at Adara Development. Adara is proof that the power of business can be used to improve the lives of people in poverty. The Adara Group consists of two Australian corporate advisory businesses, Adara Advisors and Adara Partners, whose sole purpose is to support the non-profit international development organisation, Adara Development. Together, the organisations work to improve health and education for women, children and communities in need. The Adara businesses fund all core support costs of Adara Development, allowing 100% of other donations received to go directly to our projects. Maddy and I chat about Adara’s programs in Uganda and Nepal, and why being "100 metres wide and 100 miles deep" can be a great thing! Adara focuses on doing small projects to the highest possible standard, exemplifying best practice or “gold standard development” in all that they do. Their impact is being felt

Hello, all! Welcome to Episode 10 of Good Will Hunters! Can you believe we’re at 10 episodes?! I can’t think of a more perfect guest to mark this milestone with than the wonderful, bubbly, intelligent, hilarious Clare Press. Clare is the Sustainability Editor At Large of Australian Vogue and an absolute powerhouse in the world of ethical fashion. Our conversation is funny, timely and inspiring, for anyone who wears clothes (AKA most of us, right?!) and wants to be a more responsible consumer, and help change the world in the process. Check out the Oxfam ‘What She Makes’ Campaign here - https://whatshemakes.oxfam.org.au Asian Floor Wage Alliance - https://asia.floorwage.org Ethical Fashion Initiative - http://ethicalfashioninitiative.org To learn more about Mimco’s work with EFi, check this out - https://www.mimco.com.au/mimco-gives-back/ethical-fashion-initiative And lastly, to pre-order Clare’s fantastic new novel, go here - https://www.mup.com.au/books/rise-resist-paperback-softback Royalty free m

Welcome to Episode 9 of Good Will Hunters! This week on the show we have Giles Gunesekera. Giles is the CEO of the Global Impact Initiative (GII). The Initiative works with a variety of organisations to create impact investments, seeking both a positive financial return and a positive social or environmental impact. The business creates bespoke investment solutions that map the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Global Impact Initiative is currently in the process of developing 10 different impact investing mandates totalling over $2bn AUD. Giles has over 20 years’ experience building and development teams, businesses and distribution strategies for global enterprises. In 2017, Giles received an Outstanding Alumnus Award from Oxford University for creating an innovative, sustainable business that generates positive social impact. In this interview, Giles provides a great “Introduction to Impact Investing" - I was learning new things in the first 5 minutes! We chat about the importance of aligning with the

Welcome to Episode 8 of Good Will Hunters! On the show this week we have Andrea De Almeida. Andrea is the Executive Director of B-Lab, the not for profit organisation which supports the community of B Corps in Australia. Prior to this, Andrea worked for Social Ventures Australia where she was the Director of Venture Philanthropy. In this role, Andrea was responsible for incubating and testing innovative solutions to complex social problems. Andrea holds a Bachelor of Public Policy and Management and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne. In addition, Andrea is a Vincent Fairfax Fellow, enabling her to work with other senior executives throughout Australia to undertake an advanced leadership experience. In this episode, we discuss the rise of B-Corps in Australia, and why more and more businesses are looking for an independent certification that distinguishes them as being socially and environmentally responsible. In the wake of the Financial Services Royal Commission, many are questioning the e

Welcome to Episode 7 of Good Will Hunters! In todays episode I chat with Georgina Camp, the CEO of Huber Social, an innovator bringing a fresh approach to solving complex social challenges. Georgie was introduced to me by Caitlin Barrett, the CEO of Love Mercy Foundation who we had on the show a few weeks ago. Georgie and Caitlin worked together on assessing the impact of the Cents for Seeds Program in Uganda. Georgie’s passion for reinventing the way we measure social value and reconsidering what truly contributes to wellbeing is apparent from the moment she starts speaking! She’s a trail-blazing leader, innovator and thinker and I’m thrilled to introduce you to her today. Georgie and I chat about the importance of measuring social value alongside financial value, and the method Huber Social uses to determine the contribution a product or service makes to an individuals wellbeing. We chat about Amartya Sen’s ‘Capabilities Approach’ and other methodologies for analysing wellbeing, and chat about what the fu

Welcome to Episode 6 of Good Will Hunters! On the show this week we have Elliot Costello, the Co-Founder and Former CEO of YGAP. In this episode, Elliot and I chat about investing in entrepreneurs, why more not-for-profits should consider merging, the value of volunteering and where YGAP might be by 2028. Since its inception, YGAP has invested in 397 impact entrepreneurs, on the basis that investing in local people is the most effective way to create impactful change in a community. The entrepreneurs receive ongoing guidance, and YGAP is there as a beacon of support, through success or failure. YGAP’s success throughout African and Asian countries has earned them a reputation of being true innovators and game-changers in the Australian development landscape. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on this episode! Also, check out this article for the Lowy Interpreter on the topic of entrepreneurship and the informal economy: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/aid-and-new-face-entrepreneurship