If you work in local or state government, you might know this feeling. You can see what social enterprise and social investment could do for your community. You've written the plan. You've run the grants. But inside your organisation, it can feel like you're the only one carrying it.
That was Lucy Brotherton's starting point.
As Community Capacity Building Lead – Social Investment at the City of Parramatta Council, Lucy is the person local social enterprises contact about Council's Social Enterprise Grants. She's also the force behind Pitch for Good Parramatta and, this year, the City's World Social Enterprise Day celebrations on Thursday 19 November 2026.
Meet Lucy: Social Investment at a Local Government Scale
Lucy's brief is simple to say and hard to do: grow sustainable, meaningful social impact for the communities of Parramatta through social investment.
In practice, that means increasing the number and scale of social investment opportunities in the area. Lucy does this in three main ways:
Growing social enterprise. Supporting more social enterprises to start, grow or relocate to Parramatta, including through Council's Social Enterprise Grants.
Shifting procurement. Engaging business and government to buy from social enterprises and First Nations businesses.
Building local capability. Helping local organisations get stronger at things like crowdfunding and impact measurement, including through Pitch for Good Parramatta.
She also coordinates Council's broader Community Grants program, so she sees both sides: the funding Council gives out, and the longer-term investment that helps organisations stand on their own.
Why She Joined: “A Sole Intrapreneur in Council”
By the time Lucy applied for the Social Impact Fellowship, she wasn't new to this work. She had already delivered two Social Investment Action Plans for Council and had been testing the social investment model at a local government scale for years.
The question had shifted from whether this could work to where next. How could she embed social investment into more of Council's activities? Where should she focus to create the next level of impact?
The timing mattered too. When the Social Enterprise World Forum came to Brisbane in 2022, it put social enterprise in the national spotlight. Lucy wanted to understand how that momentum could translate locally, in Parramatta.
But the challenge she names most clearly is one many people in government will recognise:
“I was feeling like a sole intrapreneur in Council and was looking for support and inspiration on how to get more people involved to bring the work forward.”
She also knew that very few local councils were doing this kind of work. She wanted to find the others who were.
What the Fellowship Gave Her: Breadth and the Rare Gift of Time to Think
The Social Impact Fellowship is a 12-week online program with 24 deep-dives and masterclasses, 20+ expert mentors and facilitators, and the option of a hands-on project: groups of Fellows are matched with one of several social enterprises. For Lucy, two things stood out.
Learning outside her lane. The program covers social enterprise, impact measurement, impact investing, leadership and more. That breadth let Lucy build knowledge in areas she hadn't worked in much, impact investing in particular, and bring it back to Council. “The Fellowship covered such a breadth of topics, it allowed me to develop my knowledge about key areas I hadn't had much experience with, such as impact investing, which I have then been able to pass on within the organisation.”
Space to step back. For someone running a grants program and a social investment portfolio at the same time, reflection time is usually the first thing to go. The Fellowship builds it in, asking Fellows to look at their own work through each topic.
“The Fellowship gave me some (rarely available) time to look at what you do and ways it works or could be improved or refocused. This was incredibly valuable and something you often don’t get to prioritise.”
That's the point for public sector Fellows: you don't leave your role. You bring it with you, and you take what you learn straight back into it.
The Lasting Value: A Network that Works for Parramatta
Ask Lucy what has had the biggest impact since the Fellowship and she doesn't point to a framework. She points to people.
She got to know many of her cohort and still reconnects with them when their work aligns, or when she can introduce them to someone who needs them. For a role built on connecting local organisations to opportunity, that network is a working tool.
“Having a broad network can be one of the most impactful tools I have in supporting other people to do their work in Parramatta.”
The second outcome is harder to measure but just as real. After years of carrying the work largely on her own inside Council, Lucy came away re-inspired. "It is great to hear about the great work going on in the social impact sector in Australia and feel like part of a community."
For anyone who has felt like the only person in their organisation pushing for impact, that sense of community is often what keeps the work going.
Working in a council or government agency? The Fellowship is built for you too
Lucy's story shows what the Fellowship offers people driving impact from inside the public sector: new knowledge to share across your organisation, time to rethink your focus, and peers who understand the work.
Here's how it fits around a government role:
A stream designed for you. The Corporate Innovation stream is for people in corporate or government roles who want to embed impact within, or alongside, their current job.
You keep your day job. Sessions run Wednesdays 5:30–7:00 pm and Fridays 12:00–1:00 pm (AEDT time), and all sessions are recorded.
Your organisation can invest in you. We can provide a letter of support and invoice your organisation directly, so the Fellowship can come from your learning and development budget.
Topics that map to council priorities. Social enterprise, social procurement, impact measurement, impact investing and leadership are all on the program.
A national network. You'll join 500+ Fellowship alumni across the impact ecosystem, including founders, funders, investors and other public sector intrapreneurs.
Coming up: World Social Enterprise Day in Parramatta, Thursday 19 November 2026
You can see Lucy's work in action next month. The City of Parramatta is celebrating World Social Enterprise Day, held on the third Thursday of November each year, with three events across one day.
Council is now looking for social enterprises and First Nations businesses to take part.
Event: Sustainable Procurement Business Expo
Venue: Parramatta Town Hall
Time (AEDT): 8:30am – 2:00pm (bump-in from 7:30am)
Stalls: 20
Stall fee: Free
Why take part: Meet Western Sydney businesses, government agencies and other buyers, and win more procurement dollars
Event: Social Enterprise Market
Venue: Parramatta Square
Time (AEDT): 8:30am – 2:00pm (bump-in from 7:00am)
Stalls: 12
Stall fee: $25 (may be waived in exceptional circumstances)
Why take part: Sell to locals, visitors and workers; a 3 m × 3 m fete stall and mission signage are provided free
Event: Pitch for Good Parramatta 2026
Pitch for Good is Parramatta's established annual evening event, where social entrepreneurs pitch local projects to a community audience. The small marketplace runs throughout the night for ticketholders to browse.
Venue: Parramatta Town Hall
Time (AEDT): 6:00–9:00pm
Stalls: 5
Stall fee: Free
Why take part: Showcase your products to a ticketed audience of engaged social enterprise supporters
Not a social enterprise? You can still show up
If you work in procurement, at a council or in a government agency, the Business Expo is a practical way to meet social enterprise and First Nations suppliers in one room. Everyone can browse the market in Parramatta Square, and Pitch for Good is a great night out for anyone who wants to back local changemakers.
Find out more about social enterprise at the City of Parramatta.