Community | SEWF Events

What’s inside the SEWF22 program? A deeper dive with SEWF’s Director of Curation

by Mirabelle Morah / September 2022

With less than a month to go, we grabbed a quick coffee with SEWF’s Director of Curation, Helen Harvey, to take us on a deeper dive into this year’s program. Read on to find out more!

How was the program co-designed? 

The SEWF22 Program is designed by and for social enterprises. Every session you see is as a result of our community consultation. This process kicked off last year with the Australian Social Enterprise Unconference and earlier this year we ran additional community consultation sessions and a global survey. Our curation group kept all feedback in mind as we developed the program together with input from SEWF 2022 advisory groups, the SEWF Board and others. 

On behalf of SEWF and White Box Enterprises, a massive thank you to everyone who has been involved. 

I’ve seen the themes but what do they mean? 

  1. Climate Solutions: Climate has been and will, unfortunately, continue to be a recurring theme for SEWF for many years to come. Filter the program online by “climate” to see all related sessions and check out these 5 climate sessions you won’t want to miss. 
  2. Excellence & Failure: What successful entrepreneur has not had an “oops” moment? We believe failure is to be celebrated and learned from. Throughout SEWF22, speakers will be sharing their challenges as well as their successes.   
  3. Indigenous Social Enterprise: Indigenous speakers feature throughout the program from across Australia and further afield. Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Company will open SEWF22 with a performance and Welcome to Country, followed by a fireside chat with Laura Thompson, Co-founder of Clothing The Gaps and a panel led by First Australians Capital on “Addressing the elephant in the room, shifting power and making space for Indigenous enterprises”. 
  4. Policy & Systems: Policy and systems are on the agenda again following our Policy Forum in May. Topics include social procurement, systems thinking and ecosystem building. 
  5. Unusual Suspects: Every year we work hard to ensure that unheard voices and untold stories are featured in the program and not just the “usual suspects”. Over 70% of speakers have not spoken at SEWF previously including 20% of speakers being under 30. 
Also read:  Empowering rural communities and youth through social enterprise policy: SEWF Policy Forum highlights

And what about session types? 

In addition to the more familiar session types, such as panels, fireside chats, workshops and masterclasses, this year we’re also featuring 

  • SED Talks: SEWF’s version of TED©. 
  • NoFilter: Warts an’ all tales from leading social entrepreneurs. 
  • Unconference: A designated space for peer-to-peer learning and collaboration around the topics and issues that matter to you most. 

But what about “hybrid”?! 

You’ve probably heard the word a hundred times since 2020 in schools, workplaces, events and more. But what does it mean for SEWF22?  

No matter where you are in the world, whether in person in Brisbane, at a Community Hub or online, all SEWF22 participants will be connected via Hopin, our event platform, to be part of the world’s largest social enterprise conversation. 

All hybrid sessions will be livestreamed (some featuring virtual speakers, as well as speakers in Brisbane) with online Q&A, polls and chat. 

You’ll also be able to network, find others with similar interests and connect via chat, private message and video call.  

Wow! I’m new to social enterprise, where do I start? 

Here are 5 sessions you won’t want to miss if you’re new to social enterprise.  

I’ve been involved in the sector for years, why should I join? 

With over 60 sessions, lots of new voices and plenty of opportunities for networking and connection, there’s something for everyone. It’s also an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day to connect with the global social enterprise community, meeting old friends and new. And who knows what might result? A new idea, partnership, investment…the possibilities are endless! 

Also read:  November social enterprise opportunities

I won’t be in Brisbane and live in a completely different time zone from Australia, won’t I miss all the good stuff? 

Not at all! Not only will all main stage sessions be recorded and available in the Replay area of Hopin (exclusively to ticket holders), we also have a digital program running on both days. Content includes a main stage session focusing on “Climate and global change” with leading social entrepreneurs from Malaysia, Germany, Cameroon and South Africa. We’ll close day 1 with a fireside with the Founder of Doughnut Economics Kate Raworth.  

And on Day 2, we’re handing over our platform to some of our Community Hubs who’ll be running panels, discussions and workshops as part of the SEWF22 Community Hub Takeover. 

View the full program online in your time zone and filter by themes, session types and add sessions to your calendar.

Book a Physical Pass →
Book a Digital Pass → 

Mirabelle Morah is the community and communications manager at SEWF