Winners of the 2023 Social Impact Fellowships

^{_{Image 2023 scholarship recipients include from L to R – Min Seto}}, ^{_{Coco Eke and Rani Kumar}}.

Scholarship recipient announcement

For the first time this year, the Australian Scholarships Foundation and Social Impact Hub collaborates to offer scholarships to the not-for-profit community. Five recipients from a large group of impressive applicants have been awarded scholarships.

The 2023 Social Impact Fellowship Scholarship recipients include:

Sherrie Beaver, Manager, Grants & Projects with Expression Australia
Holly Donaldson, Executive Director of The Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia
Coco Eke, Co-Founder of Strong Brother Strong Sister, Ngarrimili, Bush Music Fund
Rani Kumar, Deputy CEO of National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect,(NAPCAN)
Min Seto, Executive Officer with Alliance Social Enterprises T/A Australian Social Value Bank.

The Fellowship is a learning experience recipients can curate based on their learning and development goals. The cohort members attend two sessions a week, receive mentoring and participate in an interactive impact project to gain practical experience working to address a real-world problem from a social enterprise.

Rani Kumar is the Deputy CEO of the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN). Rani has extensive experience in the children’s welfare field both in Australia and overseas, including working for the UK National Care Advisory Service and UNICEF Bangladesh. As a mother of two young boys and a first-generation migrant who grew up in Western Sydney, Rani brings a strong personal commitment to social justice to her work.

“I’m grateful for the Social Impact Fellowship Scholarship and hope to gain knowledge and skills to improve impact measurement within my organisation, and the broader child welfare sector. I’d like to better understand methods and tools for embedding impact thinking into systems to address social issues”, Rai said.

“I’d like to better understand methods and tools for embedding impact thinking into systems to address social issues”
Rani Kumar, Deputy CEO of the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect

Min Seto has led the development of the Australian Social Value Bank and its management under the not-for-profit social enterprise, Alliance Social Enterprises.

Min’s area of expertise is in social value and the wellbeing valuation methodology. She believes that we need to transition to a #wellbeingeconomy where the impacts on people’s wellbeing and the planet become central to our decision-making and sit at the heart of what we value.

“I’m looking forward to immersing myself amongst a group of social changemakers, the exchange of skills and ideas and the opportunity to draw on the collective mind and resources of the group to support me to take the Australian Social Value Bank to the next level,” Min said.

Min Seto speaking at the Social Impact Summit.

Coco Eke aspires to be the best leader she can be, to strike positively at the intersection between business, the arts and societal transformation. Through her work at Ngarrimili she notes, “I am acutely focussed on the self-determination of First Nations Peoples; innovating an entrepreneurial activism that sows seeds for economic legacy amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities”. Within the arts, her work reflects an agenda and execution of long-term structural change.

Coco shares, “I’m honoured to work alongside brilliant minds and renowned artists to establish, sustain and scale multiple social enterprises in the arts sector”.

I am excited to work alongside the incredible cohort of impact leaders and changemakers, to learn, evolve and develop our skill sets together
Coco Eke, Co-Founder of Strong Brother Strong Sister, Ngarrimili, Bush Music Fund

On receiving her social impact scholarship, Coco said, “I am excited to work alongside the incredible cohort of impact leaders and changemakers, to learn, evolve and develop our skill sets together. I am especially interested in embedding networks and practises into the organisations, individuals and groups I work alongside, with a keen focus on learning about mobilising capital and goodwill into the social impact”.

Social Impact Hub Founder and CEO Jessica Mendoza-Roth congratulated the recipients saying, “We were thrilled with the calibre of applicants, and we are very excited for the five successful candidates to commence this week!”

‘It was great to partner with the Australian Scholarship Foundation to offer scholarships for our Social Impact Fellowship Program, said Jessica.

“We strive to ensure not-for-profit leaders are receiving the same opportunities that corporate leaders benefit from”, says CEO of the Australian Scholarships Foundation, Louisa Graham.

“We thank the Social Impact Hub for collaborating on these scholarships to allow leaders to benefit from quality learning experiences and mentorships that these fellowships provide,” says Ms Graham.

Australian Scholarships Foundation is a charity focused on delivering training and professional development opportunities to the nation’s charities and not-for-profits.

We were thrilled with the calibre of applicants, and we are very excited for the five successful candidates to commence this week!”
JESSICA MENDOZA-ROTH, FOUNDER AND CEO, Social Impact Hub

Social Impact Hub is a purpose-driven intermediary that collaborates with a broad range of changemakers. Read more about how they enable Charities & Not-for-Profits to amplify impact here.