Take 2!
I am pleased to say that despite the inevitable lull over the festive season, the past quarter has proven to be a busy one for us here at SEFA. We have seen good momentum in our deal pipeline and made a number of new commitments to social enterprises.
An organisation we are very proud to be partnering with is FBi Radio, in inner city Sydney. FBi is a community radio station in the youth music and emerging culture space that helps young people get a foot in the door of the industry. It gives air time and training to new bands, managers and journalists and gave a break to bands such as Wolf Mother, The Vines and The Presets. SEFA is very pleased to be supporting FBi in its quest for new premises.
SEFA was the proud supporter of the ZEST awards in February. This is a wonderful event that recognises the amazing efforts of individuals and organisations in the greater western Sydney area. SEFA sponsored the award for Exceptional Social Enterprise within a Not for Profit Organisation, won by Green Wings. You can read more about ZEST below.
There has also been a focus on capacity building for social enterprise, with several workshop presentations on how community organisations can become investment ready, as well as helping to expand the social market by taking part in panel discussions for the broader investment community.
I was in Melbourne during the annual conference of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV). SEFA’s Director, Glen Saunders, sat on excellent panels at both the public meeting and business lunch. This also gave me an opportunity to catch-up with Peter Blom, Chairman of GABV, and CEO of Triodos Bank, one of our founding investors.
Please take a look at our new
SEFA brochure and share with your friends and colleagues. All in all, it has been a productive start to 2014. I hope you enjoy reading more about our activities in the newsletter below.
Ben, CEO SEFA Ltd