The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Australia is a new nonprofit venture dedicated to identifying, developing and supporting social entrepreneurs and raising awareness and understanding of social entrepreneurship.

We see social entrepreneurs as people who recognise social problems and use entrepreneurial principles to organise, create, and manage a venture to affect social change.

Based on the highly successful SSE in the UK which has been operating for 10 years, SSE Australia runs year-long programs to support entrepreneurial individuals to establish effective, sustainable community projects and initiatives that meet social and community needs.

The SSE Australia is proudly supported by Social Ventures Australia, the School for Social Entrepreneurs UK, and Steve Lawrence (a social entrepreneur and Chief Executive of the Australian Social Innovation Exchange).

 The SSE Australia Program

The SSE Australia program is a tailored year-long learning and development program (over 34 days) which involves:

• 16 study sessions including a 3-day residential covering topics such as business planning, fundraising, legal information, and managing money.
• 6 Action learning sets: in-depth sessions of peer review and problem solving
• 6 one-to-one tutorials: for detailed project planning and review
• 4 mentoring sessions: each participant is given a mentor with whom strategies, plans and approaches can be further informed by external knowledge and experience
• 6 project visits: first-hand insights into the work of successful social entrepreneurs in their environment

Unlike traditional educational and training programs, the SSE program is about learning and reflection. Our focus is on ‘action learning’ or ‘learning by doing’ as it recognises that entrepreneurial people learn information as it becomes most relevant. It enables participants to shape their learning and develop the specific skills needed to grow their own social venture.

[Click here to learn more about SSE’s approach to learning>>>]


Applying to SSE Australia

The SSE Australia recruits individuals who can demonstrate entrepreneurial talent and have a passion for social change. They may be running an existing project that needs support or be at the early stages of wanting to set up an organisation or business to benefit their community.

As a key aspect of the program is harnessing diversity, fellows may range in age from 20-75 and be serving a wide range of communities and issues. No formal qualifications are required.

Between 15-20 applicants are recruited for each year-long program.  

Please contact the SSE Program Team on either sydney@sse.org.au or melbourne@sse.org.au if you are interested in applying. 

Click here to download our student information brochure >>>
Click here to download our student application form (pdf) or word version>>>
Click here to read profiles of current SSE Sydney students >>
Click here to read stories of SSE UK students>>
Click here to learn how we define social entrepreneurs>>


Program Dates

SSE Australia's inaugural Sydney cohort of 2009 is graduating in February 2010.  The second Sydney program being delivered in 'block' mode commenced in September 2009 and will run to August 2010.  Sydney 2010 programs will commence in March and run to December.

A Melbourne SSE will also open in 2010 with the first program running from April to December 2010.

Click here to download our Sydney 2010 Program Dates (pdf)
Click here to download our Melbourne 2010 Program Dates (pdf)

Cost

Thanks to the generosity of SSE Australia's supporters, a number of fully funded bursary places are available. In addition, partial bursaries can be provided.

Although the full cost of the year-long program per student is $22,500, SSE Australia will work with each applicant to ensure this cost does not present any barrier to participation.

A student fee of $1,200 applies to all participants which can be paid in installments.


Get Involved

SSE Australia invites not only potential applicants to contact us but any individuals or organisations interested in:

• Working as strategic partners with SSE Australia in the delivery the School’s program or advocating for issues such as social inclusion, social entrepreneurialism and social enterprise
• Funding bursaries for SSE Australia students (from $22,500 per student for one-year)
• Telling your story of social entrepreneurship to our program participants
• Attending SSE Australia events
• Providing pro-bono support as a mentor, tutor, and/or expert witness with specialist skills such as such as fundraising, law, marketing, business planning, and managing money.