SVA Champions is a network of passionate individuals, committed to changing the trajectory of people experiencing disadvantage in Australia. Recently, we extended the program to corporates and we are excited to welcome both Bespoke Careers and King & Wood Mallesons as SVA Champions.

A bit about our new members

Bespoke Careers is a creative recruitment agency specialising in connecting jobseekers and employers within the architecture and design industry. They recruit for high-profile practices locally and internationally, with offices in London, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

Krista Shearer, Managing Director of the Bespoke Careers Sydney office, was introduced to SVA through a fellow SVA Champion.

“Bespoke Careers are proud to be influencing change through their involvement in the SVA Champion Network. Offering support is one of our key company values – both within our business and when it comes to local and global organisations. With youth unemployment rates twice as high as the rest of the population, when I learnt about SVA and the work they were doing to help combat this and build career pathways for young people, I was compelled to see how we as a collective could do more together and it also well aligned with our work as a recruitment agency.”

King & Wood Mallesons is a top tier international law firm and has generously provided extensive pro bono support to SVA’s impact investing team over the past year. Dan Creasey leads the Responsible Business practice and is a member of the firm’s Executive Group.

“Providing guidance to SVA’s impact investing team, I’ve seen the innovative way SVA works to solve some of Australia’s most long-standing societal challenges. SVA has always been on the cutting edge of problem solving and I’m really excited for the broader KWM team to engage with this and learn how different forms of engagement can work towards systemic change.”

Why are we building a network of change makers?

The pandemic has touched us all, but it has impacted vulnerable Australian’s disproportionately – exacerbating stressors for disadvantaged families and triggering additional trauma for children. Decades of under-investment in Australia’s social services sector means that the charities established to support these families were already struggling long before Covid-19.

Now, people across the country are in crisis and our charity sector, already stretched to capacity, is struggling to cope with unprecedented demand.

SVA Champions support people from communities across Australia, young and old, who are facing disadvantage. As well as funding work that drives change in education, housing, employment, disability, mental health, family violence and with First Australian communities. SVA Champions receive opportunities to network with like-minded individuals, access to learning materials and invitations to events such as research launches and discussions with sector leaders.

To learn more about the SVA Champions network and see how you or your organisation can get involved,  please click here or email partnerships@socialventures.com.au