About the program
The Advancing the Economic Wellbeing of Women SII funds a portfolio of five job-focused social enterprises. The investment aims to:
- Advance the economic wellbeing of women
- Better understand the role and impact of job-focused social enterprises in delivering outcomes for the people of NSW
- Trial SII and outcome-based contracting as an approach to supporting job-focused social enterprises
The five social enterprises supported include:
- Global Sisters supporting single mothers receiving the Parenting Payment Single or Carers payment to start their own business
- Humans of Purpose supporting women who are survivors of domestic and family abuse into technology enabled, flexible work
- Success Works Partners supporting women with experience of the justice system to gain and sustain employment
- The Bread and Butter Project supporting women who are refugees into baking careers and other employment
- yourtown supporting young women (aged 16-24 years) who are long-term unemployed to gain and sustain employment.
Where we are now
Service delivery is now in its second and third year, with more than 600 women referred across the programs. To date, over 50 women have achieved 13-weeks and 26-weeks of sustained employment.
Social Enterprise Capability Building Program
To broaden the support of women-focused social enterprises and respond to their need for capability building, the Office of Social Impact Investment commissioned two social impact intermediaries – Social Enterprise Finance Australia and Social Impact Hub – to provide tailored capability building support to help women-focused social enterprises develop, grow and maximise their social impact for women. The $1.29m Social Enterprise Capability Building Program was delivered over 2 years from August 2023 to June 2025. Learn more about the Program's outcomes and our reflections here.