Julie Macey On Connecting Changemakers In Local Ecosystems To Spark Sustainable Impact

Julie is a trailblazer in economic development, social impact, and climate action, with over 20 years of leadership experience across consulting and government. She specialises in educating communities on entrepreneurship, social impact, best business practices and sustainable development.

Julie is known for her expertise in implementing strategies and programs that drive inclusive, long-term job creation, stimulate local economic growth, foster innovation, and empower startups and social entrepreneurs to thrive.

In her last corporate role, Julie managed the Tech Startups, International Education, and Global Engagement programs at the City of Sydney Council.

In 2024, she made a bold career shift, stepping down from her leadership position in government to launch Impact Heroes, a social enterprise advisory committed to shifting the paradigm around impact.

Her mission is to redefine success by placing impact at the heart of every career decision and organisational strategy, ensuring that the positive contributions of individuals and businesses to society and the environment are recognised and promoted as fundamental measures of success, alongside traditional metrics like financial performance.

Through strategic advice, capability-building, events, and mentoring, Impact Heroes is nurturing the next generation of changemakers and supporting emerging purpose-driven leaders and organisations to accelerate their impact and build innovative and collaborative solutions to address the world’s most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges.

Originally from France, Julie is passionate about the growth of the for-purpose economy in Australia. She enjoys outdoor adventures and exploring the Australian Outback with her two sons, Juani and Noah.

Julie discusses the importance of the giving mindset for social entrepreneurs to build momentum in the business for good movement, and how changemakers can catalyse economic prosperity without compromising social outcomes through co-designing solutions.

Highlights from the interview (listen to the podcast for full details)

[Tom Allen] - To start off, can you please share a bit about your background and what led to your focus on economic development, entrepreneurship and social innovation?

[Julie Macey] - I was born in France and from a very young age I knew I wanted to travel the world. I've always felt such a deep connection to Australia, and I knew my adult life would be spent here.

In high school, I studied languages and economics. I received my HSC at 17 and then I went to university to study international business management and entrepreneurship. As soon as I completed my masters, I planned to move to Australia.

When I was 21, I remember sending hundreds of job applications from France. I was offered a sponsorship from a Sydney based advisory firm and they were willing to sponsor me. The following week I was on the plane ready to kick off my career as a senior consultant.

This was back in 2004, and since then Australia has been home for me. 10 years into my career as a consultant, I had just given birth to my second son, Noah, and I found myself at a crossroads. I knew I had done my time in consulting, and I was searching for more inspiration and fulfillment.

I was very curious, so I had lots of conversations with people and that's when I discovered the field of economic development which felt like a natural fit for my skills and passions.

Economic development inspired me because it's not just about numbers, it's about creating sustainable jobs through programs and events. It's about fostering growth and innovation in local economies and building vibrant communities through partnerships and engagements.

I felt like I want to be that exceptional connector, communicator, and storyteller. That's how I moved into that field, and I started my career in government, which was another 10 years of my career. I love changing career every 10 years.

I had the privilege to work with some of Australia's fastest growing local councils for the French Trade Commission in Sydney. It was a fantastic 10 years, and I think I fell into entrepreneurship because entrepreneurs inspire me with their passion, resilience, and boundless strategy.

Being around people who are constantly solving real world problems by pushing the boundaries of technology and ideas fed my curiosity and love for learning. Social innovation, on the other hand, excites me because it's not just about inventing something entirely new, like entrepreneurship, but it's often about rethinking existing solutions and making them more accessible, culturally relevant and impactful.

That's what drew me to social innovation, a focus on addressing wicked problems using system thinking. It's crucial to me because we have so many gaps in the market we need to fill because our existing market systems are not working properly.

For me I have a sweet spot for social innovation. It draws open traditional business processes like tech innovation and market distributed mechanisms to address unmet social needs.

I remember my journey in social impact was ignited three years ago. I became involved in a project you were also a part of, the Social Enterprise World Forum. That's when I knew I had found my new professional strength, so I worked hard to grow a new network and my knowledge in impact.

That's when I made the decision to enrol in a graduate certificate in Social Impact with UNSW, which then led me to launch my own social enterprise advisory called Impact Heroes last year.

I wanted to build a platform to experiment with my own ideas, share knowledge, and give back to the community. Impact Heroes is here to shift the paradigm around impact. It's here to start the conversation about how impact is no longer nice to have, but a must have, not only in businesses but also people’s careers.

You would know through your work at Impact Boom that a lot of people in organisations want to be involved in impact, but they don't know where to start. We're here very humbly to help guide them through educational content, capability building programs, purpose driven events and strategy advice.

With over 20 years of experience in government and industry, can you tell us a bit more about the projects and initiatives you've led and what you learnt?

I had the privilege of being involved in some truly exciting projects that highlight the power of collaboration and innovation in tackling big challenges. The first that stands out for me is the launch of Greenhouse Climate Tech Hub in Sydney in late 2023.

It's a $31 million initiative that was backed by my previous employer, the City of Sydney Council. It's now the largest climate tech hub in Australia. That space brings together start-ups, investors, corporates, academics, and government agencies to unite in the fight against climate change.

This hub has become such a cornerstone of Sydney's leadership in climate action. It's amazing to see how quickly it has made an impact. I remember a few months after launching that hub the team put together the first inaugural Sydney Climate Action Week.

You find Climate Action Week everywhere around the globe in cities like New York and London, so when the team decided to bring it to Sydney in 2023 there were more than 115 events organised during that week. More than 6,000 people joined the event, and it was organised with more than 200 partners and 170 speakers. It's a powerful demonstration of how we can bring together diverse groups to really drive change.

One of my favourite projects I worked on during my career was Raising the Bar, which is a U.S. based event concept. Raising the Bar turns bars into classrooms for one night to discuss important topics like climate action, systems change, and emerging technologies.

I had the opportunity to manage the largest non-U.S. editions of Raising the Bar in Sydney. This was in 2023 and 2024 in collaboration with University of Sydney staff. We had 50 talks across 25 bars, and more than 7,500 curious minds came to hear about smart farming, social change, ENZ, and achieving net zero.

We wanted to give a platform to our local heroes. People were doing amazing things in Sydney, and they just needed a platform to share what they were doing. It was amazing to see how much new knowledge attendees walked away with.

I remember we had a post event survey where almost 90% of attendees said, "we've gained fresh insights tonight, thank you so much for organising this kind of event." It shows how in our work we can take complex, serious topics and present them in a fun and accessible way, making them easier to understand and engage with.

I'll give you an example. Last year for Raising the Bar, we featured the Sydney based social enterprise, Humanitix. We gave them a platform to explain how they are disrupting the ticketing tech sector with a business model built around social impact, and it was a fantastic night.

The last project that I'm most proud of is the Visiting Entrepreneur Program, also known as VEP, which I managed for the City of Sydney. It's a program that exists to create global connections to help Sydney based start-ups tap into international networks and accelerate their growth.

It's a powerful platform because it connects local innovators with global thought leaders, and it gives them amazing opportunities for learning, networking and collaboration.

When I took over VEP in 2023, that's when we had the biggest version of that event. We had eighteen Australian speakers and five international speakers talking about climate action and emerging technologies with the help of the impact ecosystem.

I had 21 industry partners who helped me deliver a whole series of events where we had more than 2000 people attend over a week.

All three of these projects that I've mentioned have all been successful because of three things: collaboration, co-design, and supporting underrepresented groups. With the Visiting Entrepreneur Program, we made a deliberate effort to ensure local entrepreneurs from marginalised communities had access to these global knowledge networks.

For Raising the Bar, we ensured we prioritised diverse speakers and topics to reflect the experiences and interests of our audience. It's important to me that these projects have shown inclusivity is not just the right thing to do, but that it's crucial for driving innovation and achieving sustainable impact.

What advice then would you give to people who are looking to empower their local ecosystems and achieve economic and social impact?

When it comes to driving positive change on a local level, I’ve found that success lies in empowering changemakers and creating opportunities for them to thrive.

One of the first steps for me is always identifying the incredible individuals and groups you have in your community. Whether they're youth, migrants, women, people transitioning mid-career, or those with lived experiences of being disaffected, give them a platform to share their ideas and work.

It's that simple. You could do this through hosting events and providing spaces to collaborate with or showcase the work of these communities.

It could be about featuring them in media publications or even offering endorsements and financial backing, exactly like what I did when I worked with the City of Sydney to deliver their Innovation and Ideas grant program.

It's also crucial to focus on inclusivity and supporting everyone, no matter their background or stage in life. For me, this has meant working across different networks, so I've done a lot of work with universities. I've done a lot of work with local education providers and social enterprises.

Collaboration is key and co-designing solutions ensures the initiatives you create reflect the real needs of the community. The system thinking approach allows us to challenge things and holistically build solutions that just don't treat symptoms but also address the root causes of a problem.

My other recommendation is to develop a mindset of giving rather than asking, and I've always been focused on making sure I follow this principle. It means offering connections, resources, and knowledge without necessarily expecting anything in return. When you invest in others you create the ripple effect that builds a stronger and more resilient ecosystem. It's about building trust and fostering a culture of shared growth.

Change doesn't happen in isolation, it's all about partnership and working together with government, not-for-profits, education institutions, social enterprises, and local change makers. Through these collaborations innovation and progress can thrive.

What are important qualities for leaders driving innovation and positive change to have in these impact spaces?

The four main qualities for me are resilience, vulnerability, patience, and determination. These traits are the backbone of impactful leadership because they help leaders to navigate uncertainty, embrace challenges and remain focused in their mission, even when progress feels slow.

Beyond these personal traits, the mindset of these leaders is what sets them apart, because they think differently. They can dream big, and they have the ability to sell a bold vision of the North star inspiring their action.

They are pragmatic but at the same time they know how to start small, experiment, and learn as they grow. They take what we call a lean approach, and that's what I like about them. They're not afraid to fail, but they are always relentless in their pursuit of impact.

One of the most critical qualities of these leaders is their obsession with the problem, not the solution. They focus on loving the problem and they spend time with the people affected. They listen deeply and understand the systems that contribute to the challenges at hand.

When you focus on and love that problem, it requires empathy, curiosity and commitment to problem discovery. Those leaders are close to the communities they serve, and they make decisions informed by both the data and lived experiences.

Great leaders don't just see individual problems, they use systems thinking to understand the big picture. They recognise patterns, uncover cause and effect relationships, and identify leverage points where small interventions can create massive change.

They have the courage to challenge their assumptions and test new ideas. They're constantly searching for innovative ways to address systemic issues. That's where social entrepreneurs stand out in this space; they have this unique ability to analyse where markets fail to meet social needs and then they harness market tools in innovative way to deliver positive outcomes for those who have been excluded.

I truly admire them, that's what makes them special. Social entrepreneurs know how to apply entrepreneurial skills to address social problems. They focus on transforming people, communities and world views by not just generating profit.

What inspiring projects or initiatives have you come across creating a positive change?

I think 2025 is really going to be the year of the jobs focused social enterprises, or WISE (Work Integrated Social Enterprises) as we call them. There's a lot of exciting momentum building around this space right now.

If you just look at recent federal initiatives like the WorkFoundations program that was seen in last year's federal budget, it's paving the way for the growth of social enterprises focusing on jobs.

I'm excited about the upcoming Social Enterprise Job Summit in Melbourne this June. This will be a big part of the conversation. On a global level, I've been inspired by initiatives like a think tank in France called Mouvement Impact France.

What they're doing is they’ve released an index of the top 120 most impactful French companies, Impact 40/120. The list spotlights companies with the potential to become ‘impact’ unicorns.

We're not talking about ‘unicorns’ in the traditional way unicorns in the business world are defined which is usually when you reach a $1 billion dollar valuation. They've altered the definition of what a unicorn means for the impact ecosystem.

These start-ups according to Mouvement Impact France are businesses less than 10 years old that have generated over $50 million euro (about $80 million Australian dollars) in avoided costs annually. You see what the change is?

That index is a gamechanger for how we measure success in business, shifting the focus to ecological and social impact rather than just financial growth. I'd love to see more of this thinking applied here in Australia. Imagine if we could have a top 100 impact companies here for Australian businesses based on those criteria?

What advice would you give to anyone hoping to embrace a career in impact?

If you are curious about impact, my suggestion would be as the first step to make yourself familiar with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. This is really the backbone for understanding the world of impact.

I strongly advise people to check out the UNSW eLearning platform on YouTube. They have a toolkit for all the different SDGs, and for me, that is an impactful platform to check out when you're curious about impact. See what you're interested in, and which SDGs resonate the most with you.

I would also advise people to be curious about different labels and certifications. Check out B Corp, Social Traders, and the Pledge1% movement. Start following on LinkedIn the companies that have achieved those certifications; there are heaps of other initiatives you can keep your eye on to satisfy your curiosity.

For example, there is this not-for-profit called 10x10, which is a live crowdfunding for purpose organisation empowering the next generation of giving. They organise events in every capital city of Australia. They had their event in Sydney last November, but there's plenty more events to come around Perth and Adelaide in 2025.

Check out what Mick Hase and Seventeenx are doing with their events happening all around Australia educating, engaging, and enabling the business community to with the UN Sustainable Development Goals in mind.

On a global level, there is this huge event happening in Paris in April this year called ChangeNOW, which is a leading explorer of solutions for the planet and people. Again, you could combine a trip to Europe with a fantastic professional development opportunity.

Check out what's happening in Sydney, I know there is plenty happening at the Greenhouse Climate Tech HubI mentioned before. They are about to organise the second edition of the Sydney Climate Action Week, and I'm part of the organising committee.

Again, there will be hundreds of events from the 10th-16th of March 2025. Be involved, volunteer, attend or organise your own event. I will be hosting an event focusing on systems thinking, and I’m much looking forward to it.

I would also point people to check out the Council of Australian Social Enterprise Intermediaries (CASEI). Impact Boom is a part of this, but there are around 10 organisations involved with CASEI and it's great for people to be checking what different states are doing in terms of supporting the for-purpose economy.

In Sydney we're also lucky to have so many local start-up hubs like Fishburners or Stone & Chalk. Check out their events, most of the time they're free or very cheap to attend. They're a good opportunity to go and meet people.

To finish off, what books or resources would you recommend to our audience?

I will advise your listeners to join an online social impact book club run by Atlassian. We read a different book every two months about social impact, and I guess the one that resonated with me was a book called Lean Impact by Ann Mei Chang.

That book was extremely good in terms of helping me understand the connections between entrepreneurship and social innovation. The next book club is in March, and we are reading a book called Redundant Charitiesby a locally based social entrepreneur, Weh Yeoh.

From a personal point of view, my favourite personal development books are written by Brené Brown. Rising Strong is always on my bedside table, and I keep looking at it every time I feel like I need to be braver and more vulnerable in the things I do.

I'm a big fan as well of waking up early and having an early morning routine. Robin Sharma's book The 5AM Club helped me when I was at that stage of my life where I needed inspiration on how to structure my morning routine.