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From helping marginalised women find work to fostering the next generation of female environmental leaders, there are some truly amazing women-centred organisations and social enterprises creating change. So what better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than to highlight the work they do that empowers women every day?
The Creative Co-op
Back in 2020, Priyanka Ashraf co-founded creative agency/social enterprise The Creative Co-operative to help Black and Women of Colour (BWoC) get into paid work. It was a big success, but after a while she noticed a common theme: her clients increasingly wanted to start their own businesses. So, with the support of a Bank Australia community customer grant, Priyanka teamed up with Grace Mugabe, CEO of Perth-based financial literacy program Financially Empowered, to launch Future Fit: a 12-week program designed to give BWoC the skills, tools and confidence needed to run their own business.
Indigenous Cultural Connections
A valued Bank Australia partner, Indigenous Cultural Connections offers cultural consulting, advisory and training programs to organisations all over Australia. It’s the brainchild of Yorta Yorta woman Seona James, the first female Aboriginal member of the Victorian Government Purchasing Board and Small Business Ministerial committee. With her background in the public and private sector, Seona wanted to create an organisation to help other organisations, and build mutually beneficial relationships with Traditional Custodian groups and communities. Bank Australia staff consistently describe Seona’s training as excellent and meaningful. We’re big fans.
Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia
The evidence is clear: the more women we have in senior decision-making roles, the better the outcomes for the environment. That’s the basic premise of Women’s Environment Leadership Australia (WELA) – a Bank Australia community customer grant recipient, and fast-growing community of women and gender-diverse environmental and climate changemakers. Co-founded by four women who helped save Tasmania’s Franklin River, WELA runs annual leadership programs to nurture the next generation of female environmental trailblazers.
Stepping Stone Social Enterprise
Stepping Stone isn’t your standard café (although the coffee really is very good). It’s a work integration social enterprise (WISE) that offers refugee and migrant women employment and tailored training in the hospitality industry. This year, Stepping Stone was the recipient of a Bank Australia community customer grant, which helped support their comprehensive 12-month development program, equipping migrant women with marketable skills, confidence and financial independence.
Clothing The Gaps
Ed Sheeran and Thelma Plum wear their merch, they’ve taken out ‘Business of the Year’ at the Dreamtime Awards and they’ve just opened the doors to their new bricks-and-mortar store in Naarm (Melbourne). Meet Clothing The Gaps: a female-founded lifestyle brand that celebrates First Nations people and culture. “Mob is at the heart of everything we do,” says co-founder Laura Thompson, a Gunditjmara woman. “We're always asking ourselves: How can we elevate Mob?” Along with co-founder and ally Sarah Sheridan, Laura started the brand to encourage people to wear their values and spark conversations that lead to real and lasting outcomes.
Fitted For Work
For women facing barriers to employment, getting a foothold on the career ladder isn’t easy. Enter Fitted For Work: a Bank Australia customer and community customer grant recipient. For 20 years, they’ve been helping women, non-binary and gender-diverse jobseekers find meaningful employment. That’s over 45,000 people and counting. What started as an outfitting service – helping women and marginalised groups dress for job interviews – has grown into a full job-readiness hub that covers everything from CV-writing to mentor programs.
Mzuri Dance ArtisTree
Bank Australia community customer grant recipient Mzuri Dance ArtisTree is a not-for-profit performing arts community organisation that delivers free dance, education and empowerment programs to young African-Australian women facing social and economic barriers to inclusion. It’s been going strong for over 25 years. Their women’s entrepreneurial program, SHEThrives, was co-designed with women from the wider African-Australian community, and helped kickstart or power up several of the participants’ businesses.
Women of Colour Australia
Founded by Brenda Vertudes Gaddi, a first-gen migrant from Manila in the Philippines, Women of Colour Australia (WOC) is a Bank Australia customer and community customer grant recipient that champions Australia’s Women of Colour through education programs, community support initiatives and advocacy work. In 2023, they were recipients of a Bank Australia community customer grant that helped kickstart an online pilot program so that WOC mentors could share their knowledge and skills with women all over Australia.
Underwear for Humanity
Can underwear change the world? If you ask Underwear for Humanity founder, Kelly Barrett, the answer is a definitive ‘yes’. The company makes ‘ethical underwear’ for women of all shapes and sizes – and are even pushing the boundaries of ‘underwear recycling’. Social impact is at the heart of everything Underwear for Humanity does. For every item of underwear purchased, another item is donated to organisations including The National Homeless Collective, Kara Family Violence Service and Days for Girls, ensuring that people in precarious situations can access clean and comfortable underwear.
Full Circle – This is Me
Got plans on March 15? You do now. Bank Australia community customer grant recipients Full Circle Social Enterprise are hosting This Is Me at Collingwood Town Hall in Melbourne, an event that brings together 20 women of diverse ages, body types and backgrounds to share their stories and subvert narrow standards of beauty and femininity. Money raised will go to funding leadership education for underprivileged girls.
Want to learn more about our annual community customer grants program? You can find all the info here.
