South East Queensland's High Potential Impact Entrepreneurs Join The Elevate+ Accelerator Program To Meet A Range of Social & Environmental Issues
A group of 12 high potential social enterprises from across South East Queensland have started impact boom’s Elevate+ Accelerator Program.
each of the enterprises, led by purpose-led entrepreneurs, are meeting a broad range of community issues in both their local community and globally.
After a highly competitive, region-wide application process, these chosen entrepreneurs shone through as hard working, passionate leaders striving to create positive impact and to prove that it’s absolutely possible to do good and make money.
These inspiring social entrepreneurs are well worth watching as they evolve, develop their enterprises and expand their impact.
This Social Enterprise Sector Development Grant project is proudly supported and funded by the Queensland Government. We’d like to thank the Yunus Centre, Griffith University for their ongoing support, as well as the entire cohort for the hard work and grit they have demonstrated in getting to where they are.
Meet the 2022 Cohort of impact enterprises
AniCca ceramics
Anicca ceramics’ intention is to create mindfulness, inspire positive action and nurture resilience.
Anicca Ceramics’ core philosophy is the thread that connects and drives each creation, because the first change start with you. Every piece of work, embedded with soul & story, has its unique character. This is the beauty of receiving a gift handcrafted from the earth and packaged with 100% sustainably sourced materials.
Our vision is to conduct workshops to our local community. The aim is to contribute to unleashing the creative mind through the medium of ceramics in a mindful, collaborative supportive environment.
Founder - Corinne trang
bushcare solutions
Bushcare Solutions is building a unique, scalable, cloud-based platform that is designed to boost the hours spent on caring for the local environment.
The platform allows an individual to record their activities and outcomes in real time, conducted at a time that suits them and not overseen by a group. Photos can be added to their blogs and citizen science performed. Businesses can have their employees’ positive work digitally displayed on the platform, their website or via QR code on-site.
Bushcare’s platform enables small business to advertise their ties to the local community and environment. For larger businesses with ESG/CSR obligations, the platform has scope to face the public, offering transparency and recordable outcomes for effective and meaningful change.
Founder - cameron tolmie
cirqle group
Cirqle Group is a Technology Services and Recruitment business that exists to shift the world closer to kindness, sustainability, awareness and action.
Operationally they provide organisations with IT project delivery and strategic talent acquisition solutions. Cirqle Group are a fully registered Social Enterprise with profits split 40% towards social causes, 40% towards environmental causes and 20% into a grant and investment fund to support up and coming purpose driven businesses and NFP's. Their goal is not to solve a single problem, rather to enable solutions through a cash flow for good.
Founder - michael coolican
hassle free hampers
Hassle Free Hampers’ goal is to provide a healthy food source for hungry veterans, homeless, indigenous, elderly & disabled persons through the delivery of their weekly food hampers.
Currently, the food sources that are available are general without the thought to nutritional needs. Hassle Free Hamper’s program is based on dietitian prepared meal plans to assist with better health, gut health which in turn provides a greater mental health, improved living standards and a reduced stress on our hospital systems.
The feedback from participants has shown that the hamper program and its associated social contact has not only met hunger needs but also reduced anxiety and been supportive with cultivating meaningful human connection.
Founder - david johnston + team
hello good world
Hello Good World is “The Amazon for Impact”. An online marketplace where consumers can shop by the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) to create an impact with every transaction.
Their vision is to help the United Nations achieve their goals by 2030 through the power of conscious consumption. A proud advocate for purpose-led business, you will only find brands that reach an ethical, sustainable and impactful benchmark on platform. Their motto, 'an impact mind for humankind', Hello Good World is bridging the gaps between consumers and business for good to create a range of products and technologies for a better tomorrow.
co-Founder - rachel whitworth
mend
Mend is a patient-focused, social enterprise designed for the chronic-health community.
Mend work towards empowering, engaging and supporting those living with chronic conditions to manage their health journey, improve health outcomes and contribute to changing the patient experience. They are currently building a mobile app + are exploring ways to expand their business to maximise social impact.
co-founders - Matt Davey & Noah Davey
renee shea
Renee Shea is a coach, photographer and facilitator who is working to bridge the gender gap in leadership.
Renee knows that sharing your story through a personal brand is powerful. Personally, it increases self-confidence, deeper identity, alignment to values, and greater fulfilment. Professionally, it also gives a platform for greater visibility so that purpose-led female professionals can be seen, heard and acknowledged so they can make the greatest impact. The women she works with see this resulting in better representation, and aligned career success whilst breaking-down workplace biases. Renee is creating the ripples of a more equal world of work with fairer levels of economic participation, inclusion and purpose.
Founder - renee shea
stuffit student film festival
STUFFit Student Film Festival is an international festival run by high-school students for high-school students.
Established in 2011 by three teachers/staff of St. John’s College Nambour who sought to provide real-world experiences for students keen to develop skills in the creative industries.
St. John’s College covers insurance, governance etc needed for this group generating minimal income. Now 11 years old, and with an annual average of 150 entries coming from students in Australia and over 20 countries, STUFFit requires a new structure to capitalise on growth.
By creating a for-profit social enterprise, STUFFit Student Film Festival can capitalise on the opportunity built over years to become an educational asset for Queensland/Australian film/television industry.
team - robyn cook & Sophia maglis + team
sweet peanuts
If someone you knew had a miscarriage, would you know what to say or how to support them?
Sweet Peanuts is a social enterprise that educates and enables friends and family to support bereaved parents. A study in 2018 found that few women received support from their social networks following from a miscarriage however, most still reported a lack of support from friends and family.
Their care packages are an aid to complement the education and have been developed by the bereaved parents' community to provide care, comfort, and compassion. Sweet Peanuts strives to fill the gaps in support for women and couples who experience this loss in our local community as well as regional, rural, and remote Australia.
Founder - barbara armstrong
tivoli social enterprises
Tivoli Social Enterprises exists for the social and economic benefit of the wider community of Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley regions.
They do this through their Drive In, offering low cost entry to weekly blockbuster movies, providing work skills traineeships in conservation, construction, hospitality and business for young unemployed or disadvantaged long-term unemployed people. They also run a Food Coop supporting local families with low cost groceries.
Tivoli also operate the Food Hub which provides food to other local charities. They recently renovated a house to appropriately transfer it into a DV Shelter for local domestic violence victims.
They host events year round, with their major annual events Community Christmas Carols, New Year’s Eve Celebrations and fundraising corporate dinner event generating proceeds to support Tivoli Social Enterprises to expand their impact in the local community.
Events Co-ordinator - lisa schubert + team
ulift
There are approximately 63 million people in the world that are wheelchair dependent. 2.8 million in the USA, 127,000 in Australia.
Something as simple as sitting on the ground or transferring oneself can be a very difficult task. Even with the help of caregivers, performing this task can cause serious injury. So we've come up with the solution. The ULift.
The ULift is a portable lift designed to assist people with disabilities or injuries to be transferred in an easy and safe manner. Unlike other devices, the ULift can be used independently and with dignity, allowing individuals to have more mobility when not supervised or assisted by professionals.
Founder - cohan warn
Youth Flourish Outdoors
YFO is a unique organisation, offering early intervention programs to engage young people in therapy utilising complex trauma focused outdoor adventure therapy.
Their framework is backed up by new and emerging research in mental health showing the underlying importance of regulating the hind brain before accessing talking therapy, such as counselling. This is achieved using a phased treatment process of outdoor activities which allow participants to recognise their physiological states and emotions. Supporting young people with both emerging and established mental health concerns, Youth Flourish Outdoors adventure therapy practitioners embed their practice with human rights, along with neurodiverse affirming and trauma informed approaches.
