Good Future Ep04: Anthea Smits went from Disney exec. to running a not-for-profit that’s bringing business solutions to the Pacific.
For Anthea Smits, it was a World Vision TV-ad that was the catalyst for her to switch her career. You see… she didn’t cry when she saw the ad, and that was the problem.
Anthea Smits is guest number three on the Good Future podcast, listen here.
Anthea was shocked and surprised and a little bit guilty. She couldn’t believe she’d become so disconnected from the rest of the world, and that the suffering of others had become a thing on TV, rather than a crisis that was within her reach to help fix.
“It was a moment for me when I realised there was a whole world that I wasn’t paying very much attention to. And something wasn’t right, with the way I thought.”
The good news is, she did something about it! She made some big changes in her life and she was very generous to share some very personal stories.
Market-based solutions
Anthea’s journey is a special one because it’s so diverse; she went from working for Disney for many years, to setting up a charity in Cambodia, the 2H Project, but that was before she decided there was a better way, that she could combine her business and branding skills with her passion for helping to build sustainable communities.
I’m sure many of my readers would recognise this as being the ‘social enterprise’ model, but when Anthea was getting started, that term didn’t even exist.
She injected this entrepreneurialism at UrbanLife Church as well. She completely overhauled their funding channels through a mix of establishing small businesses as well as better managing their property portfolio. She’d found her calling.
Anthea is now CEO of The Difference Incubator, otherwise known as Tdi, an organisation that works with entrepreneurs to build social enterprises that are sustainable for their communities. They work here in Australia but they also do a lot of work in the Pacific; in Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji.
It’s fascinating to hear about the lessons she learned and the challenges she faced along the way. And it’s pioneering work like this that got us to the vibrant social impact sector that exists today.
The Difference Incubator
Anthea and Tdi have delivered some really great projects, and a recent success that we discussed in depth was the YuMi project in the South Pacific. It’s a collaboration between Tdi, Carnival Cruises and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Yumi got together with Carnival and explained that local entrepreneurs wanted to better understand the types of tours that guests would be interested in. Carnival has an 85 year history with these communities, so the bond is close. But, there are still considerable cultural differences between the locals, and those coming on day-trips.
It’s a two-way relationship. Tdi helps local tour operators build businesses that offer a more authentic cultural experience. While also taking the locals business-people on-board the ships to see first-hand the way their potential customers are travelling.
For the tourists who want indigenous run shore-tours, it offers an experience that goes beyond the superficial photo opportunities and gift shops.
Who’s investing?
Tdi’s work in the Pacific is all about building capacity among local entrepreneurs, in the hope of setting the foundation for businesses that offer sustainable development. It’s funded by DFAT, and Anthea explained that she’s watched the government department’s approach evolve a great deal in the past few years.
“Their commitment to exploring new models has been really interesting. They’re asking questions around how they can leverage a different type of money into aid and development, and they’re showing real commitment to that.”
It’s a shift we’re seeing not only in government-run aid projects, but also in the way big international NGOs are exploring Results-Based-Financing, as well as the shift by philanthropists to invest in social enterprises rather than simply give grants.
Impact investing is clearly starting to have an influence, but Anthea explained that it’s still very early days. She’d love to find investors that offer patient capital and who have specific goals in mind. But at this stage, she’s not had any offers.
Good Future’s Good Books
Passion, Entrepreneurship, and the Rebirth of Local Economies
By: Ernesto Sirolli
Anthea says… “It’s a bible within tdi, looking at development and market based approaches. It follows his journey, and the approach he’s developed, around finding local entrepreneurs and building local capacity. It’s a great read.”
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