case studies

our stories of change

DEVELOPING 'STRATEGIES FOR IMPACT'  - ongoing

Orange Compass has been developing an even deeper understanding of the philanthropic sector in Australia through its work in developing new strategies for diverse organisations seeking to fund impact and systems change. We are really proud of what our clients are achieving. Recent highlights have included supporting the Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation; Jack Brockhoff Foundation; The John Villiers Trust, and the William Buckland Foundation to grapple with emerging and future trends in Australia and internationally in order to refine their strategic focus through to 2030.

We have also really enjoyed developing strategies for action with impactful NGOs such as BackTrack Youth Works, Environmental Justice Australia and Maranguka, just to name a few. In each case, we have gone through a careful process of: conducting a stocktake of current context and conditions; thinking big on transformative change, emerging trends and ideas about possible futures; and listening deeply to uncover the strategic actions required to build towards, create and manage change. Often we accompany process this with ‘critical assumptions testing’ to innovate and refine the strategy going forward through wisdom from the field. This link to JBF’s new granting strategy provides a great example of what clarity on a page can achieve.

Disaster Ready - NSW Reconstruction Authority - 2022-2025

Orange Compass has supported the implementation of several critical funding rounds by the NSW Reconstruction Authority (NSW RA). This has included the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund: Local and Regional Stream (2022) and three rounds of the NSW Application to the Commonwealth’s Disaster Ready Fund (2023-2025). Our role has been threefold: 1) to support the development and framing of State priorities in consultation with key stakeholders. 2) to develop accessible guidance and communication materials to enrol project proponents from across sectors (including government, non-government, First Nations led organisations and local government). 3) to build proponent capability in project design and development.

Drawing upon systems and design thinking, we supported project proponents and applicants to develop robust theories of change and project logics, strong challenge and solution statements, and outcomes focused evaluation frameworks. We delivered several series of online learning webinars (state wide and regionally focused) and provided tailored coaching as well. Rounds 1 and 2 of the Disaster Ready Fund resulted in over $150 million in funding to NSW through combined investment into disaster prevention, through the Federal, State and delivery partner co-contributions.

Leverage Point Assessment and Evidence for Action - Early Years Catalyst - 2023

In 2023, Orange Compass, together with project partners Centre for Community Child Health, Clear Horizon and Social Enterprise Finance Australia, was commissioned by the Early Years Catalyst in to explore and assess a suite of 18 leverage points for their potential transform the early years system and improve early childhood development outcomes. We developed a bespoke leverage point assessment framework for this project. It was a participatory approach and we brought together convergent evidence from across four ‘Fs’: 1) Frontline practice expertise, 2) Family perspectives, 3) First Nations wisdom and ways of knowing and 4) Formal/published research.  The top five leverage points – those with the highest potential to transform the system and improve early childhood development outcomes included:

• Ensure all children and their families have their basic material needs met (shared accountability for children's outcomes)
• Enforce accountability for outcomes for children and families (shared accountability for children's outcomes)
• Ensure service systems are staffed by high quality workforces (re-imagining the service system)
• Grant greater decision-making power to the local community level (communities and families in the driver's seat)
• Change our framing/conceptualisation of and approach to 'care' in Australia (shifting society’s perspectives)

Detailed analysis and an explainer of the leverage point assessment method are outlined in a series of 6 freely available reports.

Mapping the systems that influence early childhood development outcomes - 2022

The Early Years Catalyst is an ambitious, long-term systems change initiative that emerged from the 2020 National Early Years Summit. They are a collective of leaders and organisations focused on children and families working to foster a national, system-wide, collaborative approach to improving early childhood development outcomes.

In late 2021, the Early Years Catalyst partnered with Orange Compass to undertake a major systems mapping process, designed to identify the root causes and deep systemic forces influencing early childhood development outcomes and possible leverage points for change.

The Orange Compass team undertook this systems mapping process from August 2021 to May 2022. The goal was to surface participant experiences of the complex interplay of underlying patterns, structures and mental models that are maintaining unacceptably high levels of disadvantage in the early years.

We were privileged to hear from over 300 people from across Australia (rural, remote and urban areas) about their experience with our current early childhood development systems, and their wishes for what desired systems of the future might look like if they supported significantly more children in Australia to thrive. These insights were complemented by a rapid review and analysis of published position papers and deep dives into prevailing societal and economic ideologies.

• The final reports from this project are available here: ‘Mapping the systems that influence early childhood development outcomes’.
• Interactive systems maps of both the current state and future state are also freely available.

We encourage you to explore this work and consider the implications for your own organisations, networks and collaborative initiatives.

The Northern Woods Summit, Well-being Economies Alliance for Canada and Sovereign Indigenous Nations hub - 2022

The world we live in has been shaped by human ideas and beliefs. Deeply held convictions and unconscious assumptions underpin the dominant way of life. The same is true of our economy. It is one that has been built on thousands of years of cultural and financial evolution anchored in the western world’s ways of thinking. Over the past century, the model that currently drives the economy has become ever more focused on productivity and efficiency as goals instead of means. Entrenched myths and metaphors reinforce a desire for endless development and material growth. Unquestioned narratives underpin our economy and our current destructive trajectories.

In the Northern Woods Summit 2022 Edition (April-June 2022), we worked with the David Suzuki Foundation to put storytelling and beliefs at the heart of our discussions of the economy – some of the very things that have been devalued in the past. We designed this ‘imagination lab’ with the belief that it is stories that shape how we think, and it is through stories that we will change how we act and bring others on this journey alongside us. Our goal was to challenge the thinking that upholds the belief in the current economic system, in order to forge new pathways towards wellbeing economies.  

Working with co-facilitator Melanie Goodchild, the Orange Compass team (Fiona McKenzie, Megan Seneque, Eve Millar and Natalie Staggard) was awed by the quality of conversation and ideas that participants brought to the table. Through a series of virtual workshops, participants were able to dive deeply in to the worlds inside their minds - to surface and challenge dominant myths, rediscover and spotlight alternative ways of knowing, and imagine new narratives. They called for a transformation in our dominant economic ‘operating system’ and embraced the task of imagining and creating the new paradigm, not just deconstructing the old.

More information on the outcomes from this process are available at the WEAllCan website.

Co-creating the Wellbeing EconomY Alliance - Canada hub - David Suzuki Foundation - 2020

WEAll is a global collaboration of organisations, alliances, movements and individuals working together to change the economic system to create a wellbeing economy - one who’s core purpose is to generate well-being for people and planet. The WEAll global alliance seeks to enable the establishment of regional and national hubs to accelerate economic transformations based on more local context and realities.

With the goal of creating a hub in Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance convened a diverse group of thought and action leaders to take part in a unique co-creative experience. Framed as a design lab, a series of virtual dialogues in October and November 2020 was held to enable participants to explore 1) the paradigm shift required to transform Canada’s economic system and 2) the action-enhancing architecture that would support the emergence of a new economic purpose.

Orange Compass (Megan Seneque and Fiona McKenzie) were the Co-Facilitators and designers of the lab, with each session tailored to enable participants to build their capability in the thinking and doing of systems transformation. These sessions were the first steps in the co-creation of a powerful new hub and part of the ongoing emergence of a new economic system for Canada and Canadians.

Jurisdictional Dialogue in West Kalimantan, Indonesia - UNDP Green Commodities Programme - 2020

Through September and October 2020, Orange Compass (Fiona McKenzie) led the design of a Jurisdictional Dialogue in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Dialogue was supported by the UNDP Green Commodities Programme, The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Bappeda (Indonesian Department for Regional Planning and Devleopment).

A structured virtual process over 6 weeks, the Jurisdictional Dialogue sought to generate greater collaboration between diverse initiatives and actors in the province of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. During the Dialogue, participants strengthened their skills in systems thinking and explored opportunities for lasting, systemic and sector-wide change for greater sustainability and reduced deforestation across a range of agricultural commodities.

Fiona led this work with the guidance and support of a very capable local UNDP Indonesia team (Rini Indrayanti, Yuliana Suliyanti, Andreas Budi Rahutomo, Syamsul Rusdi, Danang Aditya Nizar, and Mariana Sidabutar), as well as collective impact and facilitation specialist, Gita Syahrani. Gita is the Head of Secretariat for Lingkar Temu Kabupaten Lestari (LTKL), a multistakeholder, multi-district collaboration working towards sustainable land-use across Indonesia. A final session saw learnings shared between participants in Indonesia and participants of a similar dialogue running concurrently in Colombia.

Festival of Change - 2017-2019

The Dusseldorp Forum is an independent foundation focused on improving education, health and social outcomes for children, their families and communities across Australia. They provide funding and support to initiatives demonstrating positive, long-term change for young people. A key part of Dusseldorp Forum’s strategy is to connect diverse individuals and organisations across sectors to foster collaborative relationships and collective actions to generate more coordinated strategic effort and structural reform. One of the ways this is explored is through an annual event that brings together change-makers from across Australia to share what they are learning and grow together - The Festival of Change. The Festival centres around four lighthouse initiatives from Bourke NSW, Doveton VIC, Logan QLD and Kabulwarnamyo NT. Convened and supported by Dusseldorp Forum, these groups come together to distil what works and why, share evidence and resources, and build a greater collective voice to advocate for the system changes required to shift long-term outcomes for vulnerable children and communities. Fiona McKenzie has worked with the Dusseldorp Forum since 2017 to codesign the Festival with participants and to lead facilitation. 

The 2019 Festival of Change took us north to gather amidst the unique beauty of the Warddewardde (Stone Country) and to learn about the strong culture and connection to country of the local clans (the Mok clan and others). The theme for 2019 was ‘Journeys through time and place’ – capturing personal and organisational journeys over the past 12 months, as well as timelessness of the Nawarddeken connection to culture and land. Being on country in a thriving community who have reignited their traditions and are growing the next generation of cultural leaders was amazing – and a time of deep reflection plus a few tears. 2019 reflected a shift from the 2018 focus on collective advocacy and widening the circle, back to a smaller, more intimate gathering where lighthouse initiatives could learn from each other and forge stronger connections. The Festival sought to generate a deeper understanding of the Nawarddeken’s strong culture culture and land. Participants were encouraged to embrace the different mindsets, belief systems and ways of seeing the world as an opportunity for personal growth. The facilitation was flexible and semi-structured in order to create an atmosphere where participants were able to relax, learn, and have moments of transformation and insight as they experienced a fundamentally different way of living and being of the Nawarddeken People. 

What it means to walk alongside: a unique government, philanthropy and community partnership - Since 2019

Our Place is a unique cross-sector collaboration between education, early learning, health and adult education systems, underpinned by a partnership with the Victorian Government and the Colman Foundation. Since its early origins at Doveton in 2012, Our Place has expanded to nine sites across Victoria.  An alliance of five philanthropic organisations are now working together to provide flexible and long-term support for the Our Place vision: Colman Foundation; Dusseldorp Forum; Paul Ramsay Foundation; Ray & Margaret Wilson Foundation; and William Buckland Foundation.

Our Place works with one of the most important community resources, schools, to expand the whole-life opportunities open to children and families in highly disadvantaged communities. They bring together the resources children and families need to thrive in ways that meet the needs and help fulfil the aspirations of the community. Our Place has the primary goal of making a difference to the educational outcomes for children and families in communities experiencing disadvantage. The Our Place approach has been designed to achieve this by focusing on more than the classroom. The focus is on changing the overall environment for children and families. It has been built on the recognition that families must to be able to meet children and young people’s health, developmental and wellbeing needs, and that those closest to the child (especially parents) must value education and role model learning in ways that support aspirations and realise opportunities. Our Place also recognises that, in communities experiencing disadvantage, there are many things that families need in order to step through the door and make the most of the opportunities available. 

Better understanding the journey and the evolution of the partnership underpinning Our Place will help to inform ongoing implementation and impact. To this end, Orange Compass has assisted conceptualising and documenting the innovative approach by developing a range of papers including:

• What is means to walk alongside: Exploring the Our Place partnership (2019)
• Why Our Place: Evidence behind the approach (2020)
• Continuity of Learning: pathways from early learning to school (2021)
• Towards Continuity of Learning: Rethinking Assessment (2022)
• Towards Continuity of Learning: Social and Emotional Learning (2024)

Stay tuned for more as we continue to help convene, research and document the amazing work of this ground breaking initiative. 

ICARE: Breakthroughs that make a real difference - 2017-2020

From 2017 to 202, Orange Compass worked with the NSW Government's icare foundation on a range of important social impact investments. This included the WorkUp initiative, specifically designed to partner with social enterprises to help injured workers across NSW. We worked with the icare foundation to identify key challenges around maintaining or returning to work after a workplace injury and then design a tailored investment process that includes codesign and coaching for applicants. The process was purposefully collaborative, innovative and a pathway to trusted relationships with new partners. A key element was codesign where, together, partners were supported to co-create new solutions to help those who need it the most to get back up and participate in work, and more essentially, in life. WorkUp was based on a recognition that prolonged unemployment during the productive years of life impacts on the quality of life of affected individuals and their families. It acknowledged that, in some cases, a return to life is required before a return to work. icare received a fantastic response to the public WorkUp investment call in June 2018, with more than 90 not-for-profit, business, academic and government organisations applying. 13 teams were selected for the six week codesign phase, which ran from August-September. Three full-day co-design workshops were facilitated by Orange Compass and icare in collaboration with The Australian Centre for Social Innovation and Clear Horizon. Eight teams were selected with a total $5 million invested in solutions for impact. 

After WorkUp, Orange Compass worked with the Foundation on further social innovation investments. This includes the Quality of Life fund, focused on restoring hope and fostering connections, engagement and purpose for participants in icare’s Lifetime Care who have been seriously injured. This fund resulted in $3 million being invested in four partner organisations. Orange Compass also helped design the $3 million Injury Prevention in Construction investment call, with the foundation supporting innovations that result in positive, healthy workplace cultures and systems that address the root causes of accidents and injury in construction.