Innovate for Impact

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley speak with Kate O'Hara, the CEO of Foodbank WA, a leading food relief organisation in Western Australia. 

The organisation has implemented creative procurement methods, expanded mobile distribution services, and rebranded its nutrition education program to ensure healthy food is available as a basic human right for all Western Australians.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• The organisation's mission to ensure "healthy food for all - it's a basic human right" in Western Australia.
• Foodbank WA has innovated its procurement and distribution processes to reduce food waste and increase the volume of fresh produce available, including: a) introducing new relationships with growers and packing sheds, including providing dedicated collection bins b) minimising handling of fresh produce to preserve quality c) launching a free fruit and vegetable program for cardholders.
• The organisation has also expanded its mobile van service to reach more communities, especially in remote areas.
• Foodbank WA's long-running Nutrition Education Program has been rebranded as "nom" and is now offered on a fee-for-service basis to reach more people.
• Challenges include the large geographic area of Western Australia, rising costs of transportation, and lack of public awareness about food insecurity in the state.

Links from the episode:

• Foodbank website: Click here
• Nom: Click here
• Superhero Foods HQ: Click here
• Innovate For Impact Workshop: Click here
• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley speak with Michelle Greenwood, the Founder and CEO of Invisible Illnesses, a charity that provides support and services for people living with invisible illnesses. 

Michelle shares her personal story of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and how that experience led her to create Invisible Illnesses, which has grown to support over 5,000 members in Western Australia and aims to expand nationally.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Michelle shares her personal story of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the challenges she faced before getting a diagnosis
• Michelle explains how her personal experience led to the formation of Invisible Illnesses, which now has over 5,000 members in Western Australia
• The organisation provides a range of services and support for people living with invisible illnesses, including food hampers, school packs, tutoring, educational programs, and well-being services
• Michelle discusses the goal of expanding Invisible Illnesses nationally across Australia in the next 5-10 years
• Michelle highlights the community recognition and personal growth she has experienced through her work with the organisation

Links from the episode:

• Invisible Illnesses website: Click here
• Invisible Illnesses Facebook group: Click here
• Petition to change the disability symbol: Click here
• Innovate For Impact Workshop: Click here
• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley speak with Tamara Searant from Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, about how their organisation is working towards creating a more accessible and inclusive world by 2030. The organisation is implementing innovative strategies focused on policy, enforcement, and education to address systemic barriers and empower the low vision and blind community.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Guide dogs' mission to create a more accessible and inclusive world by 2030
• Removing systemic barriers to inclusion for people with low vision or blindness
• Accessibility and inclusivity in an office space
• Accessibility and inclusivity in design, with a focus on advocacy and community mobilisation

Links from the episode:

• Guide Dogs NSW/ACT website: Click here 
• Sign up to become an Access Ally: Click here
• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here
• Innovate For Impact Workshop: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley discuss the common challenges organisations face in trying to innovate, such as lack of resources, risk aversion, and difficulty measuring impact. Dan and Tracey share a "secret" that successful leaders use to create innovative and impactful organisations - focusing on building a collaborative, innovative culture rather than just individual projects.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Why innovation is elusive for many organisations, despite its importance
• Leaders face challenges such as overload, lack of resources, and pressure for short-term outcomes
• Common challenges to innovation include lack of training, risk aversion, and difficulty measuring impact
• To create innovative and impactful organisations, leaders should:
  • Enable information flow and provide resources to empower employees to innovate
  • Focus on creating a collaborative and innovative culture, rather than just individual projects
  • Establish a big goal or reason for the organisation to innovate
  • Provide creative leadership, client-centred collaboration, and empower people to innovate

Links from the episode:

• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley discuss the difference between innovation and continuous improvement in organisations. The hosts emphasise that the terminology is less important than the focus on making positive changes and improvements that benefit the clients or people being served, whether through solving problems or pursuing new opportunities.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Innovation is defined as making things better than they are, with a focus on positive change for clients/residents.
• Continuous improvement vs innovation terminology doesn't matter, the focus should be on building adaptable, resilient organisations.
• Opportunities for innovation can come from identifying areas where technology or processes can be improved.
• Understanding current processes is important to identify opportunities for innovation.
• Innovation can lead to new things or improvements on existing things, with the goal of amazing clients.
• The focus should be on making a positive impact on people's lives through continuous improvement and innovation.

Links from the episode:

• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley discuss how organisations can share decision-making at different levels, including strategic, program/service, and individual levels, in order to better meet the needs of clients and stakeholders they support through more inclusive and collaborative processes. Practical tips are provided on setting up structures and processes to facilitate shared decision-making.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Sharing decision making at all levels of organisation is essential for client centricity and business success. 
• Sharing decision making with clients leads to better services and improved resource allocation.
• Organisations should involve people with lived experience in decision-making to ensure strategy is informed by their needs and perspectives.
•  Boards can reduce pressure by involving stakeholders in decision-making, leading to more sustainable and informed strategies.
• Organisations can use various models, such as advisory boards or rotating groups, to incorporate diverse perspectives.
• Good stakeholder engagement involves utilising existing groups and resources, making it easy for people to participate. 
• Sharing decision-making in organisations to improve services.
• Importance of pre-planning and flexibility in designing services that meet individual needs.
• Co-creating services with clients for better outcomes.

Links from the episode:

• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley speak with Jonathan Clegg and Trevor Harris from Coxswain Alliance, about how they help non-profit organisations automate their email inboxes. This allows staff to spend more time on higher value tasks like customer service and innovation instead of manually sorting through high volumes of emails.

Here is a taste of what Tracey, Dan, Jonathan and Trevor cover in the conversation:

• Automating inboxes to free up time for innovation in not-for-profit organisations.
• How this approach reduces stress and increases productivity.  
• Automating email responses for better customer service and better employee experience.

Links from the episode:

• The Coxswain Alliance website: Click here
• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley discuss how developing an innovation strategy can help organisations to achieve their mission.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Mission without strategy can be overwhelming, but with a plan, it's achievable.
• Innovation strategy, focusing on bridging the gap between current state and desired outcome.
• The importance of logic, program logic, theory of change, and different perspectives in achieving the desired goal.
• Importance of having a clear strategy for achieving a mission, including identifying key indicators and outcomes.
• The need to measure progress and adjust the strategy as needed to ensure alignment with the desired outcomes.
• Collaboration with clients and stakeholders is crucial for effective innovation.
• Linking innovation efforts to a clear mission goal is essential.

Links from the episode:

• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley speak with Hayley Cull, the Deputy CEO at Plan International Australia. Hayley discuss Plan International Australia's Gender Compass initiative, which conducted research to understand public attitudes towards gender equality in Australia. It identified six audience segments and aims to provide targeted messaging guides to help organisations effectively communicate on gender issues and drive social change.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Gender equality tool with Plan International Australia.
• Explains how Plan International Australia's work on gender equality benefits everyone in society, not just girls. 
• The Gender Compass tool helps reshape conversations through research on public attitudes.  
• It identified 6 audience segments in Australia based on gender equality views and experiences.
• The goal is to create large-scale social change by winning hearts and minds.

Links from the episode:

• Plan International Australia website: Click here
• Hayley Cull on LinkedIn: Click here
• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here

In this episode, Tracey Newman and Dan Bentley speak with Kylie Wallace, CEO and Chief Gardener of Seedling Giving about her social enterprise which aims to simplify and improve the charity donation experience for donors and non-profits by vetting charities and matching donors with high-impact giving opportunities. Kylie discusses how her experiences in the nonprofit sector led her to create Seedling Giving to address issues with the charity donation process.

Here is a taste of what Tracey and Dan cover in the conversation:

• Kylie shares insights on revolutionising the giving experience.
• How Kylie and the team created Seedling Giving.
• Charity donations and a new platform to simplify giving, focused on the customer experience.
• Charity matching service, helping generous Australians give to high-performing charities.

Links from the episode:

• Seedling Giving website: Click here
• The Impacto Consulting website: Click here
• Impacto Consulting on LinkedIn: Click here