Reflections on Convene 2024 - An Ecosystem Perspective

I have loved seeing all the reflections over the these last few days on the Social Traders Convene 2024 Conference - the speakers, the connections and conversations were inspiring beyond measure. Having been in the social enterprise sector for nearly a decade as both a social enterprise founder and ecosystem builder through intermediary roles, and in what has been a tough year of growing pains for the sector, my reflections on Convene take a broader ecosystem view.

1. The conference was a timely reminder that the social enterprise sector that I have known and loved for nearly a decade is well and truly thriving, with incredible leaders driving impact through enterprise with passion and tenacity and the right values at their core.
2. While the South Australian social enterprise sector is still smaller than some of our Eastern counterparts, we sure are mighty! The impact powerhouses that are Carmen Garcia AM ( Community Corporate ) and Sarah Gun ( GOGO Events Pty Ltd GOGO Foundation and Collab4Good ) represented our state so beautifully on stage throughout the day and evening.
3. The noticeable absence of our ‘national peak body’ (a status that was generously bestowed upon them by the sector in good faith but which is now in serious question) told us what we already knew - that power and ego is more important to them than supporting our beautiful social sector. To not attend the biggest social enterprise sector event of the year which is being held in your home town just highlights the pettiness and poor spirit of collaboration that we have come to know from them. Do and be better for the sake of the social enterprises who work so hard and who you are meant to be representing.
4. While social enterprises are at the core of the sector, the intermediaries are the backbone of the sector providing much needed support, development and advocacy to create the conditions for social enterprises to thrive. It is an honour to be part of the Council of Australian Social Enterprise Intermediaries (CASEI) as Collab4Good alongside other passionate ecosystem builders Tom Allen ( Impact Boom ) Craig Fairweather ( The Mill House Ventures Ltd. ), Tara Anderson and Alex Hooke ( Social Traders ), Tom Dawkins ( StartSomeGood and LendForGood ) Jay Boolkin ( Social Impact Hub and Social Change Central ) Jessica Mendoza-Roth ( Social Impact Hub ), Mark Daniels ( White Box Enterprises ) Sven Stenvers ( Impact Seed ) Hanna Ebeling, CFA ( Sefa ), The Difference Incubator Social Ventures Australia and Centre for Social Impact . Your support this year in particular has meant the world. Keep doing your amazing ecosystem work!
5. We are stronger than ever when we work together. No single founder, organisation or leader can drive systemic social and environmental change alone. There is no room for power plays and ego here. Collaboration is the only way and Convene reassured me that 99% of the sector understands, values and practices this. Thank you to everyone who stands true to these values and principles - you know who you are! It is up to the leaders in the sector to hold tight to those values and behaviours, no matter the pressures and challenges that we will undoubtedly continue to face as the sector grows.
6. Funders, governments, buyers, investors and supporters are so critical to the national ecosystem and you were out in force at Convene - thank you for all you do to enable social enterprises to do their important impactful work through funding, policy and procurement!
7. Big credit must go to the mighty team at Social Traders who work so hard and with such passion to deliver a thriving social enterprise and who put on a smashing conference in partnership with Westpac Foundation and Westpac Group to enable free conference attendance for over 300 people.

In addition to sharing Social Trader's new strategy and phase of growth as an industry body for social enterprise and responsible business, there were announcements galore by Social Traders, including:

• Free certification for all Australian social enterprises,
• The launch of the Social Enterprise Identifier as the largest dataset of nearly 6,000 Australian social enterprises, and
• The Report on Identified Social Enterprises (RISE) being launched on World Social Enterprise Day,
• The launch of a new Responsible Business Program for SMEs, AND
• A new Social Spend Report – a tool for businesses to not only measure social procurement impact outcomes, but also benchmark against industry peers.

It was also a big highlight to hear more about the wonderful partnership between Social Traders , Supply Nation and WEConnect International to grow awareness, policy and opportunities for diverse social benefit suppliers across the country. Again collaboration rather than competition is the key and no one loses when we all work together!

Congratulations to everyone who was involved as organisers, speakers, attendees, suppliers and supporters - and thank you for all you do to make this world a better place!

To end on a quote from Social Traders CEO Tara Anderson's opening address at Convene:

"Let’s take that next step, and the next, to make business for good business as usual. And remember that – those that say it can’t be done shouldn’t interrupt the people doing it."