“Thank you so much for today. It all went really well, and the students got a lot out of it.” Educator, ASMS
When asked to bring together some guest speakers for the Australian Science and Maths School, particularly around social entrepreneurship, to focus how social/altruistic value is what matters, providing examples of social enterprises and for purpose businesses, the following people stepped up:
- Liz Sanders, Passionate about regenerating our food system Co-Founder of the Food Embassy Inc, Public health dietitian, Speaker including TEDx on Community Response to Climate Change, Community Connector & Collaborator – community connection to food
- Suzanne Thompson – Founder of Soul Archaeology, meditation practises designed with kids, for kids
- Jonathan Hart – Founder of Down To Earth Events and Great Aussie Pubs, sustainable events, fairs, festivals, schools
- Tashania, Amalia and Marley from In2Ed Africa – eradicating period poverty for school girls, supporting schooling in Kenya and Rwanda; making soaps and candles plus fashion design; 99% Marley merchandise and the podcast #99%Kindness, #99%Gratitude, #99%Courage @99percentmarley. Marley’s recent guests include Kusini Yengi from Adelaide United, Jeremy Fielder. Professional Scooter Rider, Marcos Flores, Lisa McAskill from Lisa McAskill Presenting, and Soph Landau from Radio Adelaide.
There were more examples such as Elevate your Look – sustainable fashion via op shop tours; plus Play it On – repurposing sports equipment, shoes and clothing.
Student heard from a number of entrepreneurs who are working on solving issues related to the UN Sustainable Development goals and we looked at where there is demand for current and future jobs.
Discussion in the one hour session covered what skills/capabilities need to be developed for jobs of the future including your own enterprise, led by Wendy Perry, Managing Director, Workforce BluePrint and Entrepreneurship Facilitator, Switch Start Scale. Topics such as working with digital people, digital artists and NFTs, jobs in the Metaverse, 3D printed houses addressing homelessness plus building structures in space, and the differences between entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and social innovators.
Students asked thoughtful questions and got involved in the activities – we are all looking forward to finding a way to work together again in the future. This session kicked off a unit of work involving student creating a company that has relevance to three jobs of the future that they have chosen with a good understanding of social entrepreneurism leading into the unit.
If you are interested in a session like this at your school and/or you are exploring ways to build an entrepreneurial mindset within your students, please feel free to reach out via wendy@workforceblueprint.com.au, thank you.