University of Queensland PhD student, Sabrina Chakori, will travel to Ethiopia this month to attend the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) 2019 on a newly formed SWEF 2019 Bursary Fund. She is one of 18 envoys representing the diversity of the social enterprise sector in Australia at the Forum.
Ms Chakori is the founder of Brisbane Tool Library, a social enterprise and Australia's first public tool library, which was developed through UQ's ilab Accelerator program.
The English Family Foundation, Philanthropy Australia and Social Traders partnered to create the Bursary Fund with the hope of providing a rich learning and sector development opportunity for Australian social enterprise leaders.
The SEWF is the leading annual gathering for international exchange and collaboration in social enterprise development. It is the major global platform for peer-to-peer learning, sharing of good practice, ideas and creating partnerships in the social enterprise sector. This is the first time the SEWF will be held in an emerging market economy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
On the second day of the Forum, Ms Chakori will deliver a plenary session on the ‘Future of business and the planet’. Her address will reach over 1000 guests. She will also give an inspirational address to the youth forum, held before the SEWF 2019.
Ms Chakori says that she’s deeply honoured for the invite to speak on the main stage of the SEWF 2019.
“It's a great opportunity to share with the audience and with the other speakers the vision for a socially and ecologically sustainable society that needs to be founded on a new post-growth economy,” Ms Chakori said.
“This invite and the bursary are an important recognition of my work and of my advocacy within the social enterprise sector, and I'm really grateful for it.
“This experience will allow me to connect more with other great Australian social entrepreneurs and to learn more from the international scene.”
As a social enterprise representative, Ms Chakori hopes Brisbane gets the chance to host and welcome the international community of social entrepreneurs to this important Forum; and, to consolidate a sector that still needs attention and funding.
Participation at the SEWF19 will light up the way forward for the envoy participants who are already going above and beyond in creating and supporting the Australian social enterprise ecosystem.
