Industry Focus

INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP Passion and purpose Partnerships between business and Not for Profits can create rich opportunities and reap rewards on both sides, provided Not for Profits are clear on where they stand and where they're headed WORDS: SASHA WESTWOOD World Vision CEO and Chair of the Community Council for Australia, Reverend Tim Costello AO, urged Not for Profit (NFP) organisations—during a recent Westpac thought-leadership breakfast—to have a clear understanding of their purpose and identity before building partnerships with the corporate world. In his presentation on the future of NFPs and social justice leadership, Rev. Costello said that, as with any healthy coupling, NFP organisations must first understand their own identity before moving forward to create a partnership with the corporate world. "What does nature tell us about sustainable relationships?" Costello asked senior leaders from the social and education sectors from around the country at the seminar. "If we are to partner, we need to first understand ourselves, our systems and our environment." "We need to walk together. Our values may not align perfectly, but we need to name common ground so we can create shared value for this nation." Rev. Costello, who recently chaired the Australian Civil Society 20 (C20) Steering Committee and travelled to Russia for the G20 Leaders' Summit in September 2013, spoke about the importance of NFPs staying true to their mission. "The guidance I'd give is to know where your energy is; you have to stay close to your passion," he said. "The great challenge for Not for Profit leaders is the mismatch between their vision and funding and that leads to loss of purpose, which leads to them chasing the money. "They start to then do things that were really not the defining purpose of the Not for Profit. That loss of purpose is the great challenge." Rev. Costello said some corporate relationships, where a company's products don't align with the NFP's mission, were "just fatal". FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: Jan Owen says the challenge is to encourage young people to be job creators; Reverend Tim Costello at the Westpac thoughtleadership breakfast. "Steer clear or get eaten, there are still some partnerships that you would steer clear of," he said. "Lots of corporate relationships are exciting, but high risk. You have to develop a high degree of trust and you need an exit strategy before you go in." Also speaking at the breakfast seminar was Foundation for Young Australians CEO, Jan Owen AM, who discussed the importance of 'future-proofing' our young people. "Our challenge for young people is to be not just job seekers, but a generation of job creators," Ms Owen said. "The best work is to enable them with skills of enterprise and the Not for Profits are the best place to begin. "Having the mechanisms for young people to contribute their time, their talents and their ideas is critical." Ms Owen said the three key points to future-proofing our young people were: • Providing them with a worldclass education that seeks to create opportunities for them to experience the world of work through an outwardly oriented, future-focused school system. • Looking at how they contribute to their communities and building on the fact that young people in Australia have the third highest rate of volunteering in the world. • Encouraging them to engage in our region and to collapse Australia's borders to ensure that our young people engage with the 379 million young people around the globe. Alastair Welsh, Westpac General Manager, Commercial Banking, acknowledged the vital contribution the NFP and education sectors make to Australian society. "Westpac's vision is a very simple one and one that binds us as a company, and that is to be one of the world's great companies, helping our customers and communities and people to prosper and grow," he said. "The important word here is 'helping'— we have a key role to help in society and in business, both for our customers and for our communities." Social Sector • Issue 1 7

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