5 Incredible initiatives, 6 incredible women

Learn a little about how our Pitch for Purpose finalists are paving the way for business done differently – with a conscious and driven by purpose.

With $10,000 to award to one business, we need your help to choose the winner! Vote for your favourite below and keep a look out on our social channels for the announcement of the winner in June.

The Difference

Zara is the founder of The Difference. The Difference is a mobile application that allows any person with a linked bank card to round up every time they make a transaction, and give ‘the difference’ to a carefully vetted charity.

Worldwide we make 38.5 Billion online transactions a year, and on average each Australian makes 11.3 online transactions a day! Imagine if a little of that was channeled to those who need it most With The Difference, that 20 cents leftover from your daily 3.80 coffee purchase could build up to a charitable contribution helping an organisation of your choice. The Difference has the potential to mobilise millions in spare change, harnessing collective power for good.

the-difference.org

Ovira

Alice, the founder of Ovira, has dealt with severe period pain and Endometriosis for years. After visiting multiple doctors who continued to diagnose an array of medication and synthetic hormones, Alice was finally introduced to electrotherapy which changed her life. With the knowledge that effective drug-free period pain relief is possible, Alice developed Ovira to make this technology accessible to women in Australia.

ovira.co 

Make / Do

Andrea has started Make / Do as a way to combat society’s waste problem and bring her community together. Make / Do is a Library of things, Makerspace and Zero Waste Cafe in the Illawarra, NSW. At Make / Do, members are able to borrow items they would otherwise only use once or twice a year, such as a sewing machine, power drill or jumping castle. The planned Makerspace will also offer a space where members can use these items and learn from other locals, inspiring creativity and new hobbies. In future, a Zero Waste Cafe will offer further space for the community to connect.

Initiatives like Make / Do should exist in every city and Andrea is paving the way and providing a leading example of how community connection can improve mental health.

facebook.com/MakeDoLibrary

Surfing the Spectrum

With expertise across paediatric therapy and surf coaching, Aimee and Tahlia are passionate about making surf therapy accessible to families and children across Australia (and beyond!). Surfing the Spectrum (StS) is working to provide an innovative community based surf therapy initiative, to people with autism and other disabilities in an ocean environment. Providing evidence based training programs to surf schools and surf coaches, Aimee and Tahlia are up-skilling the surfing community to be able to effectively work with people with Autism, whilst raising awareness of Autism at the same time.

surfingthespectrum.org

Pretty Foundation

38% of 4 year old girls are dissatisfied with their bodies and 34% of 5 year old girls intend to diet – some shocking figures! Merissa, founder of Pretty Foundation, saw that while there were many organisations working with teenage girls to promote positive body image, the foundations of body image are actually formed in early childhood. Pretty Foundation develops programs, books and educational material aimed at young girls, providing frameworks for parents and educators to talk to girls about body image.

Pretty Foundation wants to reclaim the power of the word pretty by using it to describe the value of women and girls: She’s pretty inspirational, pretty brave, pretty talented.

Vist the Pretty Foundation

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ACROSS OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS SOON!