In conversation with Jenni Harding, Founder and Managing Director of Greatest Good
Jenni Harding, Founder and Managing Director of Greatest Good, sat down with Jamileh Hargreaves from Moral Fairground to discuss the inspiration behind Greatest Good, and how it empowers consumers and organisations to drive social impact in late 2022. With the sad news that Moral Fairground has shut down, we've revisited this article as Jenni shares her journey, the role of social enterprise in fostering sustainable change, and her dedication to supporting the for-purpose sector.
What inspired you to start Greatest Good?
It’s a long story! The idea came from many years of volunteering in the NFP/social sector and doing pro-bono work and mentoring with for-purpose entrepreneurs. But the catalyst happened in 2017, when completing my final research project for my Master of Applied Positive Psychology (the science of optimal human functioning).
My project aimed to identify what organisations need to do to actively engage with younger employees (Millennials/Gen Y and Gen Z). The research suggested that in addition to working for organisations aligned with their values, they also want to shop with, donate to, invest in, and generally support these organisations (this was over 7 years ago, but we have been seeing this increasingly post COVID, especially with people being forced back into the office).
After completing this research project, I dwelled on the systemic issues I had encountered during my 30+ years of volunteering to work out how these findings and my experience could help for-purpose organisations, apart from sitting as a director on various boards. That’s when Greatest Good was born! Originally, I was planning to create an Australian social enterprise directory listing (after discovering social enterprises in 2016, when I co-chaired a New Zealand social enterprise advisory board offering digital wellbeing education and courses). So, I did lots of research over the next few years, then co-designed the ecosystem with for-purpose organisations, consumers, and service providers to the for-purpose sector. As a result of this research and co-design process, Greatest Good evolved from being a directory listing to a one-stop hub. You can read more about my journey here.
How does Greatest Good provide a way for social impact to be accessible to everyone?
Greatest Good is a one-stop ecosystem for consumers and for-purpose organisations alike. Consumers choose from over 50 filters to shortlist the organisations tackling the social and environmental issues they care about. They then choose how they support them, which can include shopping, donating to charities, finding courses and events, paid and volunteer jobs, and collaboration opportunities. This means each consumer gets to choose their own social impact journey.
For organisations listed on Greatest Good, it means consumers supporting them are aligned with the social impact they are making. We also have a grants directory where we classify every grant using over 60 filters, meaning for-purpose organisations can find relevant grants in seconds, rather than spending hours reading and trawling through each grant. They can use that time to apply for grants to help them increase their social impact. We also offer a range of consulting services.
How do you keep track of the social impact Greatest Good is having in the community?
I am currently working with our strategic advisory board to revisit our theory of change. We realised that our theory of change, didn’t include some of the initiatives, such as consulting and education events, which we have introduced, so it’s time for an update. We also want to ensure our B Corp processes are reflected in how and what impacts we measure.
Whilst we can quantify the impact we are making, we can’t measure the ripple effects that organisations on the Greatest Good ecosystem have in the community. The main way we share their impact is via the storytelling we do. At least 50% of our social media posts highlights the social impact they, or the for-purpose sector more broadly, is making. This provides meaningful insights and images through storytelling, whilst educating the community on the social impact being made.
What is your standout goal from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)?
We take compliance with the UN SDGs quite seriously to ensure there is no impact washing on the ecosystem. To us, it isn’t just a search filter, as it is on some platforms. We need organisations to prove to us they are tackling, monitoring, and reporting on the underlying target areas (you can read more about our approach on this article we wrote for Social Change Central).
We don’t currently comply with the UN SDGs, but are aligned with SDG 17 by:
- creating an environment that helps consumers to partner with for-purpose organisations via the directory listings;
- building community and capacity with direct engagement, volunteering, and collaboration; and
- growing the for-purpose sector via in-kind and economic transactions of donations, goods and consulting services.
Once we finalise our latest theory of change, we may start measuring our impact to several of the UN SDG 17 underlying targets.
You have an impressive catalogue available to people digitally to explore social causes that they can contribute towards, when looking for new impact areas, how do you find which organisations you will support through your social enterprise?
Greatest Good is open to any organisation who meets our definition of a for-purpose organisation, which includes community groups, co-ops and mutuals, charities and other not-for-profits, social enterprises and B Corps. After realising that social enterprises aren’t legal entities in Australia, and can be either not-for-profit or for-profit, it seemed logical to expand the scope from just social enterprises to include all Australia organisations who put purpose ahead of, or equal to profit.
My due diligence background comes in handy for making sure the organisations meet our criteria, as well ensuring they are creating the impact they claim they are when registering for membership with us.
What is your greatest asset as a professional working in Social Enterprise and how has this helped you build the Greatest Good team?
I live by my values and have honesty and kindness as my top strengths, so I walk the talk. I have a very general business background, combining strategy and culture; governance, risk and compliance; investment and other due diligence; and positive organisational change management and leadership development. Working with more than 120 start-ups (around 30% purpose led), I understand the concept of running off the smell of an oily rag and getting the biggest bang for your buck. I’ve also volunteered for most of my life, so have seen things from both sides of the fence.
I recruited a volunteer strategic advisory board in May 2021, a year prior to launch. In mid-2022, we sought an additional 2-3 members for the advisory board and were blown away with almost 70 high quality applicants! It was hard to turn so many great people away, so we established a marketing and business development advisory board to help raise our profile and support the organisations on the ecosystem. We now have two advisory boards, with quality people who all bring unique skills, as well as cognitive, geographic, ender, stakeholder, nationality and age diversity. They believe in the vision and want to help to grow Greatest Good and the for-purpose sector.
Why is it important for people to check out the Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and how they are influencing business and community?
I don’t think the UN SDGs are well known or understood. As mentioned earlier, we take compliance with them seriously. It is important for people to understand exactly what the 17 SDGs are, as well as what the underlying 169 target areas required to achieve them are. There is so much impact washing going on, in both the investment sector and for-purpose sector, so if people can understand why the SDGs were created, what they are trying to achieve and what actions truly contribute to them (and what don’t), then it will raise the standards of business and community to ensure they are truly making the impact they are claiming they are.
Unfortunately, findings published by the UN indicate that Australia is currently ranked poorly and has not achieved any goals, with several in decline. There is a lot for all of us to do to achieve these goals in the short time we have left.
Greatest Good has a social impact that provides a platform for people to find a cause they care about and contribute to that cause directly, do you have a particular social cause that you're particularly passionate about?
I have a few! Obviously, I am keen to support the growth of the for-purpose sector and help consumers live their values by integrating social impact into their day-to-day decision making and actions.
I am passionate about lifting women up and inspiring, educating and empowering them in all that they do, especially when it relates to being investment ready and getting investment capital.
I also love using evidence-based research and practical applications from positive psychology, neuroscience and emotional intelligence to help people with their mental health and wellbeing. During the COVID lockdowns, I ran free presentations and workshops on building resilience for over 600 people to help them through this period.
I am very keen to learn more about how to be a great ally and best support our First Nations peoples and communities and feel we all have a lot to learn. I volunteer and provide mentoring to a WA-based charity that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
Following a traumatic accident in November 2021 (ironically on World Social Enterprise Day), I gained months of lived experience of disability and insights into how poorly Australia deals with it. Whilst I still have temporary physical limitations and get extremely frustrated with myself at times, I will be forever grateful for these experiences and the insights I obtained. I want to learn and contribute to improving the lack of diversity and inclusiveness on both disability and First Nations issues.
What is the greatest part about working with social impact in the community?
I am incredibly fortunate to see so many inspiring people and organisations making a real difference every single day. It inspires me, overwhelms me, and drives me to do my greatest good. I grew up with parents who were very community orientated, so giving back and making a difference are in my DNA. Often there are simple actions people can take that make very little difference to them but can have a massive positive ripple effect on others. Some choose to make these actions, others not so much. For me, once you see what other people and organisations do to make our communities better, it really motivates you to do more.
How can more people get involved in working with social impact through the Greatest Good?
People can register on the Greatest Good ecosystem and support organisations that align with their social and environmental values. They can also sign up to get our newsletter and follow us on social media. There are over 600,000 social enterprises, B Corps, charities and other not-for-profits in Australia, and no one place to find them. We want to be the White Pages, Temu/eBay/Amazon, Seek, Eventbrite and more of for-purpose organisations, so it would be awesome if they tell any small to medium for-purpose organisations they know of about Greatest Good.
Similarly, if there are any for-purpose organisations out there that want to be part of the ecosystem, we offer several different memberships to suit different sized organisations and offerings. We also have a service provider directory for service providers to the for-purpose sector. Anyone can check out the website or get in touch, so together we can all do our greatest good!!
Updated August 2024
