🌅Sunrise by Blackbird VC returned to Sydney this week, bringing together an incredible group of founders, operators and investors to share ideas, connect and think big about the future of Australian startups.   At Pledge 1%, we were proud to once again partner with the Blackbird team - long-time members and champions of embedding impact into companies from day one.   A big thank you to everyone who joined us at the Pledge 1% community meet-up. It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces and meet new folks who are passionate about building purpose-driven companies. We’re always inspired by this community and the conversations that come out of moments like these 💗   If you didn’t get a chance to connect on the day (or want to continue the conversation), feel free to reach out or introduce yourself in this group. And as always, you can contact us at members@pledge1percent.org ... View more

  Hi Everyone Yesterday we hosted our first Pledge 1% Builders meet-up in Australia, hosted by Salesforce ✨. We brought together an intimate group of 19 Social Impact practitioners from across the Sydney ecosystem for connection and learning in the beautiful Salesforce offices with 360 degree views of Sydney harbour. Our Australian MD Antonia Ruffell moderated a conversation with Leigh Mcleod from Canva and Alexandra McDonald from Salesforce.   The conversation ranged from building impact into a business (and challenges of doing that in current times), navigating AI and the power of collaboration. What became very clear on the day is there is a real appetite for peer connection on social impact topics and we felt this meet-up laid the foundation for future connection opportunities. We couldn't have done this without the generosity of the Salesforce team who hosted us in their beautiful offices and partnered closely with us to deliver a meaningful get-together. ... View more

Sunrise by Blackbird VC returns to Sydney this April 30th for one day, bringing together Australia’s startup community to dream big, share ideas and back each other. At Pledge 1%, we’re proud to once again be partnering with Sunrise/ Blackbird who are themselves Pledge 1% members and champions for building impact into companies from day one. As part of our partnership, Sunrise has generously offered Pledge 1% members 20% off tickets - yay!!!  So if you were thinking of attending and don't yet have a ticket, use this link to receive the discount (and feel free to share with your colleagues). On the day we'll be hosting a Pledge 1% community meet-up – which will be a chance for founders, operators and investors who care about impact to connect.    Time: 3:20pm - 4pm [40mins]  Location: Community Meetups space, in Blacksmiths at Carriageworks Format: Informal, hosted social gathering If you have any questions, reach us at members@pledge1percent.org We look forward to seeing you at Sunrise - do come and say hi 🙂 ... View more

Generosity and impact were everywhere at SOUTHSTART this year, and the Pledge 1% team felt deeply welcomed into a community that truly wants to build “companies for good” from day one. 💛   Antonia Ruffell led a practical workshop on “Building social impact into your startup from day one” and hosted a panel on “Why being a good company is good for business”, alongside leaders from Atlassian, Canva and We Are Mobilise, with founders keen to turn intent into action.   For the Pledge 1% community, SOUTHSTART reinforced that more and more founders are keen to have a positive impact on the world from day one, and are looking for simple frameworks and peers to learn from as they grow. 🌱 ... View more

Pledge 1% member HEX has developed an industry projects and micro-internships platform for students and reskillers. This platform is designed to scale access to work experiences and industry projects for students (with a strong focus on underrepresented groups) while reducing the operational burden on Pledge 1% companies who are trying to source talent and manage internships / grad programs. We see a powerful opportunity to collaborate with Pledge 1% companies, not only by engaging member companies in developing projects / business challenges, but by embedding the Pledge 1% ethos directly into the learning experience itself.  That way, we have a new generation of future leaders ready to carry on the Pledge 1% mission into their future workplaces.    Atlassian Foundation (Australia) and Automation Anywhere (US) are the first two major Pledge 1% companies to partner on this.  If you'd like to chat more on this and schedule a demo/call: chris@startwithhex.com Of if you have a business challenge / project you'd like to feature on the platform (no cost for the early partners), please submit this EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM. Here's a short video about the platform! Cheers,   Chris Hoffmann Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer HEX ... View more