Hello from our Acting CEO • December 2024

By Renee Martin, Head of Impact and Engagement, Acting Chief Executive Officer

It is a privilege to share our final newsletter for 2024 – and what a year it has been. 

As Hanna enjoys her well-earned long service leave in South America after a decade with Sefa, I’ve had the honour of stepping into her shoes. Reflecting on 2024, it’s clear we’ve achieved so much, and there’s plenty to look forward to in 2025. 

This year, we welcomed Aimee Harris, Lily Murcutt, Lucy Martin, Jennifer Jones, and Leigh Brezler to the Sefa and Sefa Partnerships teams. These talented, values-driven individuals bring fresh energy and a passion for social change. We also celebrated Tanya Wong’s return from parental leave and wished Alice Brennan well as she begins her parental leave journey. Leigh now leads innovation for Sefa Partnerships, ensuring seamless leadership during Alice’s time away. 

Amid these changes, we’ve reflected on our team’s incredible depth of expertise. With talent drawn from diverse sectors, our team brings wisdom and care to every project. To reflect this, we’ve introduced new Senior Manager titles, highlighting the calibre of experience clients can expect when working with us. 

The Sefa loan fund has grown steadily, with over $3 million in  working capital commitments and capital allocations this year. We’ve welcomed clients like Cultivate, focusing on employment and training, and CleanSlate Clinic, offering tech-enabled solutions. We are thrilled to be able to invest in these new loan clients – and we are confident that access to fit for purpose funding will underpin their growth and success. This has certainly been the case for some of our loan clients (Providential Homes and The Sydney Retreat), who, after receiving Sefa's support over the years, are now in a position to fully repay their Sefa loans and are ready to engage with government and mainstream lenders, paving the way for further growth.  

Our Engagement team has worked with more than 35 social purpose organisations, including through the EmpowerHer program. This initiative, funded by the NSW Government, supports enterprises creating better outcomes for women experiencing disadvantage. It has been a privilege to spend time in regional NSW working with early-stage enterprises and I hope you enjoy reading about the amazing cohort of women founders that Anna and Lise have been recently working with in Wagga Wagga. We are grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside profoundly important organisations that are honing their business models so they can confidently continue to create positive pathways for women and thank the NSW Government for their funding support for the EmpowerHer program. As the leader of the Engagement team, I am enormously proud of the team and thank them for all of the effort, for the travel and time away from home and families, for the commitment that they show, for their investment in our clients’ success, for their professionalism and values led approach to building and embedding capability in social purpose organisations.  It is time for a rest and to recharge, because next year we have lots of significant opportunities to pursue. 

Sefa Partnerships continues to drive innovation and collaboration. This year, we teamed up with Huddle to empower communities with locally led climate solutions and began working with The Support Society, a Sydney-based enterprise transforming lives for people with disabilities. Right now, The Support Society is fundraising for a 12-seater van with a wheelchair lift to improve community access. 

Sefa and Sefa Partnerships are stepping into 2025 with clarity around our shared vision. We are excited about the new product offerings and partnerships that will emerge next year. We will continue on our Reconciliation journey and prioritise working with First Nations businesses. We will continue to pursue gender equity. We will continue to collaborate, learn, innovate and deliver fit for purpose support – for social purpose organisations, for our funders, for our investors and for our ecosystem partners. We anticipate bold solutions to systemic challenges and we are looking forward to another year of impact. Before that though, we are looking forward to enjoying time with family and friends over the summer break! 

With warm wishes for a wonderful festive season and hopes for peace. 

Renee