Evolving model for enduring change ↓

Jordan* is a talented 3D animator and designer. It’s something he discovered while in prison, thanks to Green Fox Studio’s unique program, training inmates in digital and design skills. Jordan’s life after prison could have been incredibly challenging. Many ex-prisoners struggle to reintegrate into society, find employment and rebuild their relationships. But Jordan’s story is different because of his dedication to learning and the training he received from Green Fox Training Studio (GFTS) while inside.

GFTS offers not-for-profit training to people in the justice system and disadvantaged groups in the community, giving them valuable digital skills. GFS is a creative agency and social enterprise, providing graphic and digital design services across marketing and advertising, web, branding, 3D modelling and animation to corporate businesses around Australia. The Green Fox Studios were co-founded by two creative directors. Today, Amanda Shepherd runs the training studio (GFTS) and Kelly Willmott runs the creative agency (GFS) – and both still work as designers alongside their team.

While GFS’s work in the justice system has been very successful, it’s a challenging sector to build a viable business in.
“You can get a lot of funding, but the cost of impact is high. The people we hire from the justice system still need to be paid a salary while they’re learning upon release,” says Kelly. Without a sustainable business model, adapting to changes in the market can leave the business vulnerable. This is a lesson they learned the hard way across both the agency and the training studios, where systemic changes caused drops in revenue they needed to repair.

“With our NFP training studio, we learned that when working within a large government organisation, if management changes, the whole system does too. People higher up in the corrective system didn’t initially know about us. So they made decisions to remove a number of programs, including ours,” Kelly adds. At the time, the GFS creative agency was focused on supporting businesses with their tenders. So when budgets were cut in a sector the agency was working with, so was their workload. "We had too many eggs in one basket and had to change directions quickly. Something we have learned to do very well now.”

A roadmap for bigger impact ↓

After the first training studio was closed in QLD, GFS quickly revised its impact strategy. They adapted the business model for both businesses by broadening their agency client base for new income sources and re-shaping their training programs to suit a wider cohort, including at-risk youth, women escaping domestic violence, and women from migrant, refugee, and asylum seeker backgrounds. GFS is building their professional studio and expanding their client base which helps support the business operations of the training studio and provides training opportunities for the cohorts they serve. After restoring stability, the next step was mapping a path for GFS into the future. But because of the hands-on nature of small businesses, Kelly and Amanda found it hard to pull themselves out of the business. So they turned to Sefa to gain clarity and direction. Over five months, we took GFS through a number of targeted capability support workshops and coaching sessions. The co-founders emerged with a two-year business plan reflecting the social enterprise’s revenue streams and resourcing plan. And a strategy to take GFS to 2030. “We worked on all our horizons, which gave us flag poles for getting to our North Star. Sefa helped put us back on track and develop our business bible,” Kelly shares.

Life-changing design skills ↓

On top of providing medium-term direction, our support and coaching allowed the business partners to kick so many goals that they could take a break over Christmas – for the first time since starting GFS. “This gave us the mental space to focus on innovation and find ways to help more people,” says Amanda. The business’s impact on people like Jordan is undeniable. As one of GFS’s first trainees in a men’s prison, Jordan blew the two co-founders away from the start. And they hired him as a 3D animator and designer as soon as he left the system. Jordan’s unique skills give GFS a competitive edge, allowing the social enterprise to offer animation and 3D modelling to clients. This high-demand service has enabled GFS to work with a broader range of businesses in construction, infrastructure, and renewable energy, creating videos that showcase the clients’ work. Jordan’s work has since helped build GFS’s reputation, including winning the Career College Small Business Award in 2023. Jordan now wants to be a trainer to help others like him get back on their feet—a goal he’s planning to kick this year.