Tips to Unlock Your Path to Purpose: Social Impact Careers
Guest post by Manasi Kogekar (Social Impact Fellow, 2023)
The Social Impact Fellowship is a three-month transformative program for aspiring changemakers seeking to explore their purpose and understand how they can drive greater social and environmental impact through their work and beyond. During week five of the Social Impact Fellowship, the Social Impact Hub (SIH) hosted a panel discussion on Social Impact Careers with three very accomplished professionals - Annette Ruhotas, Kimbriki Environmental Enterprises PTY LTD; Taimur Siddiqi, Evaluation Lead at Victorian Legal Services Board and Commission; and Sally Hill, General Manager at Tripple, a private investment company - who shared insights and tips from their experiences working within the social impact sector. In this blog post, Manasi Kogekar, a Fellow in the Fourth Cohort of the Social Impact Fellowship, provides her reflections and key takeaways from this panel discussion.
Pathways into the Social Impact Sector Aren’t Linear
One of my key reflections from hearing about the career journeys of the panelists was that they all had remarkably different and unique pathways into the social impact sector.
Calling herself an “unconventional civil engineer”, Annette started her career through the “Australian Youth Ambassador for Development” program (now known as the Australian Volunteers program). She spent 12 months in a volunteering role, using her engineering skills to contribute to the health sector in the South Pacific. I also participated in this program which was life-changing, and would recommend it to anyone willing and able to work within the Asia-Pacific for 3-12 months.
Annette then spent many years working as a civil engineer within the property and construction management sectors before transitioning into corporate social responsibility roles. Eventually, Annette transitioned into consultancy, founding a small business that provided advice to medium sized organisations on their Reconciliation Action Plans. Seeking to consciously move away from the corporate sector, she now holds a range of governance and technical roles on Boards and Committees within the health, urban planning and environmental sectors, as well as being part of the SIH's Professional Impact Network.
On the other hand, Taimur said that he “fell into” the social impact sector. After completing a Master of Sustainability, he joined a sustainability consulting firm and “climbed the consulting ladder” before starting his own consulting firm. Now Taimur holds both consulting and in-house roles. He works as the Evaluation and Impact Lead at the Victorian Legal Services Board and as a consultant for Social Impact Hub through the Professional Impact Network. Taimur is also on the Board of two not-for-profit organisations - You Matter and the Australia Evaluation Society.
Sally had yet another path into the social impact sector. With a strong passion for sustainability and climate, she initially started her career at GetUp, working on shareholder activism campaigns. She subsequently moved to the UK to gain experience in corporate social responsibility and worked in digital communication and social media for large ethical brands. After returning to Australia to work for WWF in a business partnerships role, she formed her own B Corp company called Wildwon, an end-to-end experience design agency for seven years, before working with Climate 200 for the 2022 federal election campaign. Sally now works at Tripple, a progressive impact investment firm, and runs the annual Purpose Conference, which she originally co-founded.
The unique experiences of Annette, Taimur and Sally demonstrate that you don’t necessarily need to begin your career in the not-for-profit or social impact sector to end up there – the only thing you need is a strong passion for creating a positive impact in the world. For those in the corporate sector looking to transition into a role with more impact, Sally shared this advice:
“There’s an amazing opportunity to use your skills in service of something more meaningful. There are a lot of companies now where the revenue structure and business model is really aligned with impact, so the more that the company sells of its product or service, genuinely, the better the world is.”
From my experience working in social impact for over a decade, the sector can often attract the same types of people with similar expertise and experiences. Therefore skills and knowledge, especially in revenue generation, innovation, strategy, marketing, risk management, or implementing initiatives at scale, would be viewed favourably in a social enterprise or not-for-profit.
Finding Values Alignment is Important
This point particularly resonated with me after the recent session I attended through the Social Impact Fellowship run by May Samali on “Designing Your Life”. During this session, May guided us through exercises to identify our fundamental values and develop a plan of action to make sure we live our lives in accordance with them.
All the panelists emphasised the importance of understanding your values, what you enjoy doing, and what you are looking to achieve to ensure that any potential role you take up in the social impact sector will align with your value. This is incredibly important as organisations in the social impact sector are purpose-driven - if you aren’t aligned with the purpose of the organisation, then you will either end up becoming disillusioned or demotivated with your work.
Another key insight that the panelists shared is that it is important to consider whether your values and needs align not only with the organisation itself, but also with the stage of the organisation you are looking to work for. For example, if an organisation is in a start up phase, it might require out of hours work and lower pay, which might not align with your idea of work-life balance - but it is also an opportunity to get involved from the ground up and help grow and scale an organisation which can be an incredible learning experience.
Alternatively, if organisations are in a “plateau stage” or are established and not looking to actively innovate and evolve, then this might not align with people who value growth, change and innovation. Taimur’s unique advice to the Fellows was to apply a Theory of Change approach to your own career pathway:
“Think about what it is you want to do, what it is you want to change about your current role and circumstances, where do you want to get to, what’s the pathway … this will help you understand where your skills and interests overlap, and what assumptions you have that you might want to test out.”
Progress is Incremental
An important question brought up by a Fellow during the Question and Answer session with the panelists was how to genuinely create systems change in the social impact sector and avoid perpetuating existing cycles of capitalism and inequality within society.
The panelists’ response was to remind Fellows that systemic change is incremental and takes time, and whileit can be disheartening when progress is slow, often it is possible to work within the system to make it better. To this point,Annette remarked that “every tiny thing you do can make a positive difference” while Taimur channeled his inner Margaret Mead positing that “concerted efforts happen because of a few determined people”.
The panelists also stressed that there are different types of roles and organisations you can work for to create positive impact. For example, if you want to contribute to systems level change, you might be best working in house for a socially progressive organisation that has the means, will and influence to address systems-level barriers to advance structural change or for an organisation that is playing an intermediary or peak function, working across several organisations in a field or industry). On the other hand, if you do not want to work for one particular organisation but several who are working on similar issues, you could work as a consultant.
Beware of Burnout
As rewarding as careers in the social impact sector can be, one of the critical points that the panelists concerned the risk of burnout.“If you are interested in (social) impact, you are likely taking on more of a sense of responsibility for the world’s issues,” shared Sally. She offered this helpful advice, based on her own experiences of burnout after several years running her own company:
“Check yourself to see if you are taking on more responsibility than needed. Conserve your energy and play a long game…At the end of the day if you’re not doing well physically, mentally and psychologically, and go too hard at work… you’re not any use to the movement or in your job. It is the most important thing for you to have energy, interest, love and excitement for what you are doing.”
The panelists offered some practical tips to avoid burnout such as doing meditation, setting boundaries, and remembering to be kind and look after yourself.
Transitioning into a Role in the Social Impact Sector
At the end of the panel discussion, the panelists shared some valuable suggestions and tips on how to best position yourself for your next role in the social impact sector.
For governance and board roles, Annette suggested female Fellows consider becoming a member of Women on Boards and subscribing to their free newsletter. My suggestion for those aged 25-40 looking to gain governance experience is to apply for the Observership Program - a year long program where you receive training from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a range of other organisations on all aspects of governance and are placed as an Observer on a not-for-profit Board. I participated in this program last year, which helped me to gain the relevant experience and skills I needed to obtain a Board Director role at the end of the program.
Sally suggested articulating a strong personal brand and your personal impact story via your own website or LinkedIn, whilst other suggestions included going to events and conferences to build your network and relationships within the social impact sector. One example of a great event to build your network is the Purpose Conference, which Sally founded and leads.
In Conclusion
The insights and experiences of the panelists demonstrated that there are many ways in which you can create social impact, whether within the government, not-for-profit or private sectors. There is no instructional manual or map, a career in social impact can have a variety of paths.
Reflecting on my career in the social impact sector, it has been anything but linear. Initially working for a large international NGO in Australia, my career has led me to Nepal to work with grassroots organisations and social enterprises empowering women and girls, and now back to Australia in a fundraising role in the higher education sector.
In summary, if you are considering transitioning into a career in social impact or changing roles within the impact sector, it's important tounderstand what motivates you and what impact you want to create and find opportunities that align with your values. At the same time, remember to look after yourself and not compromise your wellbeing or boundaries for your work's sake.
If you are looking to explore your purpose and grow and scale your impact, you can sign up for the next cohort of the Social Impact Fellowship starting in July here.
Manasi Kogekar is a member of the Fourth Cohort of the Social Impact Fellowship. She has devoted her career to working in the social impact sector, in grassroots organisations, social enterprises, and international NGOs in Australia and abroad, across program implementation and fundraising roles. She is currently the Senior Development Manager-Trusts and Foundations at Macquarie University and is a Board Director at Oaktree.