“SOCIAL enterprises are needed in every industry, impact area and location.”

That is the message from Kylie Flament, CEO of the Social Enterprise Council of New South Wales and the ACT (SECNA), the peak social enterprise body in those jurisdictions.

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Ms Flament will be one of a number of speakers at the inaugural ‘Social Impact in the Regions’ conference to be held at the Pacific Bay Resort in Coffs Harbour, from 6-8 September.

“I’m excited to see how bringing social enterprises and the broader impact ecosystem together at this conference can accelerate the rollout of social enterprise as a model across all regions of Australia,” Ms Flament said.

SECNA asks businesses, “Are you creating social impact in your regional community?”, “Are you having trouble finding funding opportunities to sustain your impact?” and “Would you like to learn more tools to enhance what you are doing to support your community?”.

It describes a social enterprise as a ‘business, for good’, that trades like any other business, but exists to make the world a better place.

Social enterprises do three things: they have a social, cultural or environmental purpose, they generate a substantial portion of their income from trade and they invest profit and resources into their purpose so that public/community benefit outweighs private benefit.

‘Social Impact in the Regions’ came about when local social entrepreneur Kerry Grace saw a need for local impact practitioners to be better supported when they do great things in their community.

“There is so much to be done in our region to support housing shortages, to young people in their future pathways and beyond,” Ms Grace said.

“Impact practitioners need all the support they can get and this conference has been designed to do just that.”

Ms Grace said the conference is the largest delegation of social enterprise and social impact organisations ever seen in Coffs Harbour.

Conference attendees will be invited to explore a range of tools to plan, deliver and measure social impact to increase their impact in regional communities.

They will examine funding models to enable more sustainable, impactful activities and network with like-minded people working in regional Australia to establish ongoing partnerships and friendships.

They will also experience a range of wellness activities involving self-care and “an invigorated sense of purpose”.

“Social enterprises are incredibly generous with their knowledge and experience, and by learning from each other at events like this, we can fast-track ‘business-for-good’ in every corner of the country,” Ms Flament said.

By Andrew VIVIAN