2023 Australian Impact Investment Awards
Some of the most outstanding initiatives and leaders in Australia’s impact investment sector were honoured at the 2023 Australian Impact Investment Awards last Thursday, an annual event by Impact Investing Hub, an initiative of impact intermediary Social Impact Hub to grow the impact investing sector in Australia.
L-R Impact Investment Award winners and judges. Front row: Emily Albert, Keith Rovers, Ben Gales, Elyse Sainty, Hannah Mourney, Michael Lynch, Jessica Mendoza-Roth, Andrew Tyndale. Middle row: Daniel Shields, Keshav Puri, Adam Milgrom. Back row: Pete Horsley.
The Impact Investing Hub is an inclusive impact investment initiative that connects impact investors and advisors to education, community and investment opportunities; mobilising more capital for impact, democratising access to impact investments and collaboratively growing the sector nationally.
The Awards were endorsed by Platinum sponsor, the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Gold Sponsor, Alberts, as well as supporting organisations Impact Investing Australia, Social Ventures Australia, the Centre for Social Finance Law and the Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific.
Keynote speaker for the evening was the Hon. Dr. Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury and Employment. The Department of Social Services (DSS) are committed to recognising innovation and outstanding achievement in the sector, and have been an integral supporter of the awards to date. Minister Leigh commented:
“Impact investing is critical. The Awards are an important event celebrating innovation and excellence in the impact investment market. The Australian Government is proud to continue its support of the Awards, as it's an opportunity to recognise and showcase social enterprises, investors and market builders who are committed to positive social change in Australia through new and innovative solutions targeted at improving the lives of vulnerable Australians."
This year’s awards were judged by a panel of experts comprised of Andrew Tyndale, Social Impact Hub Professional Impact Network Member, Chair at Payton Capital and Chief Investments and Assets Officer at Wesley Mission; Elyse Sainty, sector consultant and former Director, Impact Investing at Social Ventures Australia; Emily Albert, Executive Director & Head of Impact and Music Education: Right from the Start, at Alberts; Jenna Liang, former sector advisor, Global Philanthropists Circle at Synergos and Philanthropy Australia; and Richard Brandweiner, Chair at Impact Investing Australia, Investment Committee Member at the Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation and formerly Pendal Group and Aware Super.
Founder and CEO of the Social Impact Hub Jessica Mendoza-Roth said:
“We received some brilliant nominations for the Awards this year, showcasing the outstanding work happening in Australia. In recent years, impact investing has doubled nationally so it's an exciting time for the sector!”
The winners of the 2023 awards are:
Impact Asset Manager of the Year: Joint winners Giant Leap Fund and Synergis Fund
Impact Asset Owner of the Year: Tripple
Impact Market Builder of the Year: Remarkable
Impact Enterprise of the Year: Australian Spatial Analytics
Individual Outstanding Achievement Award
There were four individuals who stood out to the judges for going above and beyond, at times even making personal or professional sacrifices to provide significant contributions to the impact investment ecosystem. The winners of the Individual Outstanding Achievement Award, were:
Michael Traill AM, Member of the Order of Australia, Chair of the Investment Committee at Australian Retirement Trust and Chair of the federal government's Social Impact Investing Taskforce;
Belinda Drew, Deputy Director General, Communities at Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts Communities and Chair of the Board of SEFA;
Keith Rovers, Social Impact & Sustainable Finance and National Pro Bono Partner at MinterEllison and
Ben Gales, Chief Delivery Officer at the Paul Ramsay Foundation and Chair of the SEFA Investment Committee.
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Press who would like to interview any of the award winners should contact Hannah Quill.
About the Impact Investment Awards Winners
Joint Impact Asset Manager of the Year
Giant Leap Fund invests in Australian impact startups with a tangible environmental or societal benefit embedded in their business model so that every dollar of revenue generated is inherently linked to the generation of measurable positive outcome. This year Giant Leap raised over $45 million for their second impact fund.
Synergis Fund focuses on transforming the lives of people with disability and their families through investing in safe and appropriate housing; allowing them independence, privacy, and choice and control over their living environment.
Impact Asset Owner of the Year
Tripple is leading by example by pushing the boundaries on impact with a new focus on catalytic capital. Through investments and grants to organisations that are leading the world to a better future, they are ensuring real world change and paving the way for investing for good as the new normal.
Impact Market Builder of the Year
Remarkable, the venture building arm of the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, uses tech innovation for good by accelerating startups working to positively impact people living with disabilities.
Impact Enterprise of the Year
Australian Spatial Analytics (ASA) is a work-integrated social enterprise supporting neurodivergent and autistic adults into the workforce. To date, ASA has provided careers in the Geospatial and Engineering professions for over 150 young neurodivergent adults who may otherwise be unemployed.
Individual Outstanding Achievement Award Winners
Michael Trail AM
Michael has an illustrious career in the social impact sector, having left behind a lucrative role at Macquarie to become the inaugural CEO of Social Ventures Australia. While he achieved much at SVA, Michael is probably best know for his role in the Goodstart Early Learning transaction, which created the largest social enterprise in Australia. Michael remained at SVA and on the Goodstart board for the decade following the transaction, before leaving to set up For Purpose Investment Partners with the aim of building a large scale social impact investing market in Australia, emblematic of that overseas in the US and UK.
Through his other roles, as Chair of the Investment Committee of the nation's second largest superannuation fund Australian Retirement Trust and notably as Chair of the federal government's Social Impact Investing Taskforce, Michael seeks to build the impact investing ecosystem by advocating from the top as well as through building the crucial proof points that are required for the market to mature beyond a 'cottage industry' as Michael refers to it.
Belinda Drew
Belinda has over 20 years’ experience in the community services industry having worked across the fields of disability, homelessness, child protection and housing. During the most recent decade of her career, Belinda focused on building the social investment market in Australia as the CEO of Foresters Community Finance. She then joined the Community Services Industry Alliance as inaugural CEO of a company focused on representing the value of the community services industry to government and the business sectors.
She most recently joined the Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts Communities as Deputy Director General, Communities - a role that supports communities to thrive through investing in community services that build resilience and improve the wellbeing of all Queenslanders. Belinda has a passion for the community services industry and contributing to the task of building a strong, sustainable and contemporary sector across Australia. Belinda is also Chair of the Board of SEFA.
Keith Rovers
Keith's vision is to re-imagine capitalism towards net positive, and for the impact investment eco-system to shift value capture towards purpose and monetisation of positive externalities. He has shifted his practice from traditional finance to Social Impact, advising and creating structures that recognise both negative and positive impacts, and factors them into business models and accounting and legal frameworks.
Under Keith's leadership, MinterEllison has been very focused on social impact, delivering the highest pro bono hours among law firms last fiscal year. He spearheads collaboration among corporate, government, and for-purpose sectors, advocating for shared value approaches to address ESG issues. He has numerous roles, including serving as Chair of White Box Enterprises and MothersBabies, board memberships of Westpac Foundation, Humanitix, Xceptional Academy, Contellation Project, as well as other technical committees, advisory committees, and mentoring. Through all these contributions to community, Keith extends beyond his core responsibilities to drive advocacy, better policy and greater impact.
Ben Gales
Ben has led the delivery of several major reforms and initiatives globally, holding senior positions in government, finance, and social sectors. In his role at His Majesty's Treasury in the UK, Ben was involved in the genesis of the impact investing sector supporting the launch of the Social Investment Taskforce in 2000 under Sir Ronald Cohen.
During his time in NSW Government, Ben was instrumental in developing the first Social Impact Bonds in Australia, “Newpin” and “Resilient Families”, and was responsible for the Office of Social Impact Investment where he oversaw over $200 million of impact investments and payment by outcome contracts. He led the establishment of the NSW Productivity Commission and set up the NSW Evidence Bank in NSW Treasury. Ben was SEFA's second CEO and really catalysed its lending business, and was instrumental in setting up SEFA Partnerships. He is now Chair of the SEFA Investment Committee, and in his role as Chief Delivery Officer at the Paul Ramsay Foundation he brings a commercial lens to philanthropy. His vision is integration of capital and capability - creating the right capital stacks from different sources. He is a big fan of blended capital and really driving that agenda out of PRF together with the impact investing and grants team.