Hi! I’m Tom Dawkins, the co-founder of this very website and passionate advocate for the role conscious companies can play in creating a better world. Last year I held a dinner for members of the social innovation and startup communities in Sydney featuring my friend Tristan Pollock from 500 Startups in San Francisco. It was a wonderful and thought-provoking night with an incredible collection of movers and shakers in attendance and I got wonderful feedback afterwards.
So this year my of my little resolutions was to do this more often. I'm excited therefore to present, first The Next Dinner for 2017.
The Next Dinner is a series of dinner events to explore the intersection of startups, innovation and social impact.
The Next Dinner is taking place on Wednesday February 15 at Yullis restaurant in Surry Hills Sydney. This is the only place you can buy tickets and if you want to come you should grab one now. The last one sold out and this will as well as there's only space for 40 people.
The featured guest is Stephanie Lorenzo, founder and CEO of PROJECT FUTURES.
Your ticket includes a delicious three-course banquet at one of Sydney's best vegetarian restaurants. (If you're not vegetarian don't let that put you off, I'm not either but Yulli's food is YUUUUM), great company and conversation, and a $5 donation to Project Futures.
About Stephanie:
With a Bachelor of International Communication from Macquarie University held in hand, Stephanie Lorenzo didn’t begin her career planning to start a charity. It was a chance encounter with a book about sex trafficking when she was 22, and a life-changing trip to Cambodia that left her asking, 'how could this be real?'. In June 2009, Stephanie unlocked her purpose, creating a movement to help facilitate an end to human trafficking and exploitation. That movement was PROJECT FUTURES.
Stephanie’s ‘purpose equals action’ leadership approach has enabled her to mobilise young professionals to engage in creative, innovative and sustainable fundraising initiatives. The PROJECT FUTURES community is now raising $1 million a year for anti-trafficking projects in the Asia Pacific region.
Stephanie’s core message is about harnessing the ‘power of purpose’ in our lives. Once you discover your ‘why’, you are empowered to take action and manifest your gift to the world.
In 2016, Stephanie was a finalist in the Qantas and Women's Weekly 'Women of the Future Award', in 2014 named one of the Financial Review and Westpac’s 100 Women of Influence, in 2013 was nominated as Australian of the Year. Most recently, Stephanie has joined the Emerging Leaders Advisory Board for the Australian Institute of Management (AIM).
Over the past eight year Stephanie has grown PROJECT FUTURES from a volunteer based service to a full time team of four, raising over $4.4 million dollars to support five Impact Partners across three countries and help hundreds of men, women and children who have experienced or are at high risk of human trafficking, slavery and exploitation.
On March 3 Stephanie is finishing up at PROJECT FUTURES, making this an incredible time to hear her reflections, insights and ideas about what she might do next.
It's going to be a special night so please join us.
