Business Meets Charity: The Rise of Social Enterprise with Kylie Flament
In this episode, Nicky sits down with Kylie Flament, the CEO of SECNA (Social Enterprises Coordinating Council of NSW & ACT), the peak body supporting social enterprises across NSW and the ACT. Kylie has a memorable way of explaining what a social enterprise is: "If a business and a charity had a baby, that's a social enterprise… they exist specifically to make the world a better place."
We learn that social enterprises contribute as much to the economy each year as the mining sector, and employ more people, all while putting people and the planet first, yet they don't get anywhere near the subsidies mining does!
Kylie and Nicky discuss why the business model matters and how a social enterprise can open up new revenue streams for community organisations, with far fewer strings attached than delivering a traditional community service. They draw the connection between social enterprises and the circular economy. "We really need a new way of doing things," says Kylie, as social enterprises focused on re-use and repair are springing up around the world and Nicky and Kylie dig into the ethical questions we all face as consumers wanting to do the right thing in the modern marketplace, and how "business for good" can build trust.
Kylie explains the main types of social enterprise including work integration social enterprises, which train and employ people who might otherwise be locked out of the workforce, and profit-distributing social enterprises, which give at least 50% of profits to a charitable purpose like the companies Who Gives a Crap and Humanitix.
An important feature of social enterprise is a more gender equal playing field with half of all social enterprise leaders being women compared to one in 5 in other business areas.
Kylie also explains why careful design matters as she delves into the risks of social enterprises which can sometimes reinforce the very problems they set out to solve and how SECNA helps founders avoid unintended consequences.
The discussion explores four things social enterprises need to grow: access to markets through social procurement, access to capital, access to networks, and learning and development support. This is an eye-opening episode that demystifies the increasingly critical role social enterprises are playing in our communities and in the economy and shows exactly what it will take for them to play an even stronger one.
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