Social Enterprise and Business

• Workshop Participant, KaosPilots (Stockholm and Rotterdam) (November 2007 and June 2008)
  The KaosPilots schools, based in various cities in Europe, provide a 3-year experiential course in social enterprise, business skills, and the creative industries.
  I was selected to join the workshop stage (to select potential students) for Team 1 Stockholm and Team 2 Rotterdam. The two-day workshops involved various tasks and exercises on teamwork, organisation, leadership, creativity, and so on. We also worked on a local project aimed at revitalising the host city through creative means.
  Rotterdam: To promote Voorstraat as an attractive historical and cultural venue, our group proposed a community organisation made up of various stakeholders of Voorstraat (residents, shopkeepers, council, educators, etc) as well as other cultural items such as a “Street museum” with antiques embedded in the sidewalk.
  Stockholm: Our group proposed a wiki to promote avenues for public art in Nacka.

• Media Volunteer, Youth Social Enterprise Forum (December 2007)
  The Youth Social Enterprise Forum, part of the 3rd Global Knowledge Partnerships Forum, brought young social entrepreneurs from around the world together to gain business skills, pitch their ideas, and network with like-minded youth.
  As the Media volunteer, I followed the YSEF attendees around and wrote articles for the daily conference newsletter. I also participated in events with the YSEF attendees, including the conference-long IdeaFactory session organised by BrainStore, where we generated ideas for encouraging social entrepreneurship globally.

• Contestant, Queensland Business Icon (August 2007)
  The Queensland Business Icon is a week-long elimination challenge, based on The Apprentice, where contestants work on various challenges that test their business and leadership skills.
  I made the first two rounds of QBI. My team for the first round won the challenge to create the most awareness and funds for the Oaktree Foundation, through a “dinner” event that featured presentations from Oaktree volunteers and team members. Collectively, about AU$11,000 was raised for Oaktree in one night. The second round involved creating a marketing plan for a proposed alcoholic beverage. I protested the challenge (especially after it led to two top contestants dropping out due to conflicts with religious beliefs) and opted instead to research the ethics of the alcohol industry. This has led to an increased emphasis on ethics in future rounds of QBI.