Harvey is a tiny piece in the ecosystem. Our clients. Their Teams. Our suppliers. Our partners. Supply chains zigzagging all over the shop. We’ve always been keenly aware that the work we do isn’t where the job stops – in fact it’s just the beginning. We want to actively engage and inspire the communities we’re a part of. We want to educate our clients (and ourselves) and spread our impact around.
At a fundamental level, wielding business as a force for good means using the power of the market to shift the global economy to one that prioritises inclusivity and regeneration over profit and greed. That’s what we’re all about.
So how did we do this year? Well, we didn’t do heaps of community engagement – certainly not as much as we’d have liked – but the stuff we did do was fantastic. We hosted a business panel event on Zero Emissions Day and attended a bunch of B Corp/impact events (which you can read more about below).
Sarah, our intrepid Melbourne B Local Leader, got heavily involved in B Corp. Becky got to visit one of our First Nations clients on Country, which was mind opening, deep transformative experience.
Supporting local is our thing
Wherever possible, we use local (to us!) service providers and partners, and we work with businesses that are owned and run by under-represented groups in the business space.
There’s also the role we play in the B Corp community, and doing what we can to utilise and work with B Corp (and B Corp-aspirational) companies (like Good & Proper who help to edit this impact report content!)
Our business bank is Australia's leading ethical bank, Bank Australia.
Doing cool stuff with community-focused clients
If you’ve made it this far, you’ll know we have a guiding framework for helping us choose who we work with. These decisions have an impact on our idea of what community actually is. By supporting businesses that we know are taking great strides to enrich their communities, it means we can amplify our impact through them – in communities we may never have reached otherwise! Which we think is pretty cool.
Clients leading in community action
Shout out to all our wonderful clients and partners who are pushing for action in the community space. Common Ground using storytelling to change social systems; Studio Schools revolutionising Indigenous education in the Top End; Cerebral Palsy support network changing the lives of people with a disability; and Bank Australia and RIAA shaking up the finance sector. You’re all dead-set legends.
Learning what it means to create a more accessible, inclusive and equal world
Okay, hand up: this was my first experience of interacting with people with a disability. My previous knowledge and awareness in this area had been close to zero, which (to be frank) had always filled me with shame. That’s why I was so humbled to work with the amazing team at Cerebral Palsy Australia (CPSN) this year. CPSN is a specialist disability provider with a vision to see equal opportunities for people with Cerebral Palsy. The team has people with lived experience making decisions and providing input in key areas. They highlighted to me the importance of amplifying the voices of people with disabilities to help make our society more equitable and inclusive. We’ll be sharing more on this partnership over the coming months, but you can read more about it over here: CPSN - Becky's reflections.
No (bad) days off. Again!
As much as we love a day off, we choose not to celebrate Australia Day and the Melbourne Cup public holidays. As far as we’re concerned, neither is cause for celebration. Instead, we ask if each person wants to work, or take time in lieu and take a public stance against the day.
Baby steps on our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)
We acknowledge there is still a lot to do to improve our knowledge and take action to become true Allies. We looked into the process of applying for a RAP, but with the admin processes involved for a business of our size, we decided it was better to simply take action.
A few things we’ve been doing this year:
- Monthly Impact Update, where a team member shares a specific learning and person to honour.
- Starting key meetings and project kickoffs with an Acknowledgement of Country (AOC).
- Continued our Evolve Communities course, “How to be an ally”.
- Learned through our work with Common Ground and Studio Schools of Australia.
- Trialled advertising roles on First Nations platforms (with no results, unfortunately).
- Sarah joined the B Corp RAP working group.
Sharing from the heart with Acknowledgements of Country
“It’s always felt uncomfortable and inappropriate for me to do AOC, and Sarah often would lead them so I’d sit back and think ‘Phew’. But after doing the Evolve course I realised I was all in my head, and have started sharing. In my AOC I include personal perspectives, sharing what I know and don’t that we don’t have a RAP and that I don’t know what’s going on and recommend the Evolve course. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response, with people directly reaching out after meetings saying they changed their perspective, want to try it and are inspired to lean into RAP.” - Simon Smallchua
Cultural training continues to be part of team onboarding
All staff now complete Evolve’s ‘Seven Steps™ to Reconciliation and Allyship’ as part of their onboarding. It’s designed as a learning journey, with each step of the online course explained by a short, engaging video, followed by a quiz. Evolve Communities is Australia’s trusted authority for Indigenous Cultural Awareness and Ally training.
Hands-on First Nations work
We’re honoured to have had the opportunity to help two non-profit organisations this year, both of which have the purpose of empowering Indigenous knowledge, communities and stories. It’s all part of our personal learning and reconciliation journey.
Studio Schools of Australia
Our education system is pretty broken, and even more so for Indigenous children in remote communities. Studio Schools of Australia are rethinking Indigenous Education by co-creating a world-class education program, led by Indigenous people, for young people to realise their gifts. This ground-breaking model of learning combines personal, industry and academic development, wrapped in Indigenous culture, language and pastoral support to develop the whole person.
We’ve been working with Studio Schools over the last two years on developing their brand strategy, website build and digital content. Last November, Becky got the very special opportunity to visit Yiramalay Studio School up in The Kimberley for a celebration of learning and culture in Bunuba Country (near Fitzroy Crossing).
This is her reflection:
“It was really special hearing from students what it meant for them. I spoke to Kevin (year 11) from Derby who said “Yiramalay is a good place for me to be. Other schools didn’t match me. When I finish school next year, my dream is to find a job and do good things in life”. And Shannon Smith- Haynes (year 12) from Kakadu said “I am a Bunuba woman and I came here to learn about the culture and language behind my bloodline. Being on Bunuba land makes me feel safe, because this is where my people thrived before everything happened and I’ve just loved learning about that.”
“The experience brought me closer to the organisation’s purpose of ‘Empowering Indigenous children to create a future of pride, belonging and success’. Because the future is in this next generation. We need to give them a fair go, to not only realise their potential but step up as leaders that’ll transform the future of our nation. That’s what reconciliation is about ❤️🖤🧡”
- Rebecca Smallchua
Common Ground
Our client, Common Ground, is a First Nations not-for-profit and collective of First Nations people trying to change systems through storytelling. They use storytelling to shift pervasive and harmful narratives, change behaviours and mobilise action. Here are a few ways they tell stories:
☁️ Dreamy: A collection of mindful audio stories from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
💤 First Nations Bedtime Stories: Collaborating with First Nations creators, Common Ground films Dreaming stories as old as time and brings them into homes around Australia.
🔥Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud NAIDOC teacher resource: Common Ground and Learning To Ngangaanha(now The Yulang Effect) have created an educational resource (which we had the pleasure of designing!) with informative content and activities to celebrate NAIDOC this year. We’ve decided to do it as a team at Harvey, and have a yarn about what we’ve learnt at the end of NAIDOC Week.
Recruiting in First Nations channels
We wanted to make sure our roles are available and accessible to First Nations candidates. We trialled advertising on ATSI Jobs, and sharing with people connected with First Nations communities.
It didn’t work, and it all felt a bit surface layer. There are so many biases in our brand as an employer, but more importantly, we realised we needed to show up and connect with community in authentic ways, less formal ways. A BIGGER realisation was how even First Nations orgs working in the space, the ones most connected to community, struggle to find marketing people. It’s clear that much deeper, more systemic work needs to be done.
Rubbing shoulders with our fellow B Corps
It’s always great to connect with our fellow B Corp community, and this year offered plenty of meaningful experiences around collaboration, sustainability and community action.
A highlight was the ‘Collingwood Connect: Unpackaging Packaging with B Corps" event, which delved into supply chain innovation and lifecycle assessments in sustainable packaging. Another memorable moment for Sarah, in her role as a Melbourne B Local Leader, was the Nature and Networking afternoon that took place at the Mount Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre, where B Corp members across Victoria gathered for a day of conservation work, supporting Odonata. Sarah and friend of Harvey, Marnie Hawson, crafted an afternoon of hands-on volunteering, sharing a meal and networking, plus a torch-lit walk to appreciate the local wildlife.
Additionally, B Corp Assembly for 2024 offered opportunities to learn, connect and challenge our ideas about business for good., March’s ‘This Way Forward’ event, celebrated during B Corp Month, underscored community values and unity within the B Corp network. Throughout the year, our team have enjoyed coffees, events and working groups to further connect with our impact lead peers. Engaging with working groups like the Reconciliation Action Plan group and B Local Leaders has been particularly helpful, strengthening connections and purpose within the B Corp community.
