Marnin Studio, a social enterprise in Fitzroy Crossing, has become the first Venture Philanthropy partnership for Social Ventures Australia (SVA) in WA. Marnin Studio is an Indigenous arts and therapeutic studio operating out of the Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre. The studio is supporting local Indigenous women to turn the things they love into projects that provide them with a source of income, as well as enable job readiness skills and therapeutic aid.
Through the Venture Philanthropy partnership, SVA will be supporting Marnin Studio with a combination of funding and capacity building support over a three year period to enable the studio to become a sustainable enterprise and ensure they can continue to offer healing and growth for the Fitzroy Crossing community.
The Venture Philanthropy partnership with Marnin Studio was announced at an event in Perth, where community and business leaders heard from Marninwarntikura CEO June Oscar AO and from Simon Axworthy from the Azure Foundation, a key supporter of the Fund.
June Oscar commented:
‘The relationship with SVA will help us to plan for many good things to happen in the community and reciprocally, we can provide knowledge and support to SVA that will help them and their partners to work with other communities like ours to bring about long-term positive benefits.’
In 2007, Marninwarntikura was instrumental in banning alcohol in the Fitzroy Valley, following growing social challenges in the community. They also initiated Australia’s first ever prevalence study of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder and have been leading work on prevention and awareness of FASD as a disability. Marninwarntikura originally started in 1983 as a women’s refuge and support for domestic abuse and women’s rights is still a core component of their work.
Marnin Studio Manager Brooke Small said the studio was honoured and proud to be chosen as SVA’s first venture partner.
‘The partnership will enable Marninwarntikura to continue making a positive difference through empowering local women in the Fitzroy Valley to share their knowledge, strengthen their families and grow their ideas into a sustainable enterprise.’
Shiri Leventhal, Manager of the WA Venture Philanthropy Fund commented:
‘Marnin Studio is another fantastic initiative from Marninwarntikura, who’ve continuously shown that community-led solutions are often the most impactful way to achieve social change.’
‘We’re excited to work alongside Marninwarntikura and the Fitzroy Crossing community to understand and build on their success, and to support the studio to inspire a new generation of empowered women who will continue to lead the change they themselves want to see.’
Simon Axworthy said the Azure Foundation was proud to be a founding funder of SVA’s WA Venture Philanthropy Fund.
‘We believe the rigour and diligence applied by SVA to the selection of Ventures, and the ongoing capacity building it provides is critical to achieving real impact with our funding. It is also a great opportunity to get our staff involved in skilled volunteering.’
SVA hopes to develop similar partnerships with other high impact organisations across WA and is currently seeking additional funding from strategic philanthropists. For more information on SVA and the Venture Philanthropy partnership visit: https://www.socialventures.com.au/work/wa-venture-philanthropy-fund/
