Fellowships for good: call out for social entrepreneurs
Keira Jenkins |
Jason-Urranndulla Davis always felt he was “living in two worlds” as he was growing up.
The Kalkatungu and Waanyi man, from Mt Isa, was immersed in culture and heritage in his community, but experienced a different world while at school.
When his daughter was born, Mr Davis decided he wanted to change the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were asked to identify themselves.
“I saw her and I realised I needed to change everything, change things for her, to make sure that she had an opportunity to be herself and to be supported in the world that she is going to be growing up in,” the told AAP.
Mr Davis founded the technology platform Wuna, hoping to empower communities by putting identification back into the hands of First Nations people.
“Wuna is an all-in-one toolbox that can help First Nations people to be identified when transacting their identity for a particular service, like a bank,” he said.
“Particularly when banks in regional and remote communities have closed their physical branches, so now they’re relying on digital technology.”
But it’s more than a platform to store digital identification.
Mr Davis says it can bring together the cultural and western worlds for Indigenous people.
“We also provide capability credentials,” he said.
“Your skills are an asset and being able to define them in our platform allows people to have a skills-to-work passport, so Indigenous people can walk into training and opportunities without having to go through the problem of box-ticking.”
Mr Davis is one of 17 entrepreneurs supported by fellowships with the Snow Foundation.
The foundation’s support was unwavering, he said.
“It’s been a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s willing to do the work, who has a passion for what they’re doing,” Mr Davis said.
The foundation is recruiting the third cohort of entrepreneurs for the fellowship program, which offers funding and support to help build and scale social impact organisations.
The foundation is seeking projects aligning with its priorities of gender, First Nations, youth and LGBQTI issues.
Snow Foundation chief executive Georgina Byron said the fellowships honoured the entrepreneurial spirit of late founder Terry Snow and the commitment to community-led solutions.
“Social entrepreneurs have bold ambitions to drive change, but they often face significant challenges – from limited resources and small teams to a lack of peer support and connections,” she said.
“That’s where our Snow Entrepreneurs program comes in. We channel that passion and help them transform and accelerate their ideas into sustainable impact through funding and holistic support.”
Applications for fellowships close on June 16.
AAP
