Beyond Charity and Aid
Presented by Andrew and Alice Mahar
This July 27 event is online only and will run from 6pm to 7pm AEST. After registering, on July 27 you will receive a follow-up confirmation email containing further details on how to join the webinar. If you have not received an email by early afternoon, please check your junk folder. This is event is free for AIIA members from all states. Non-members pay $10 and student non-members $5.
To register and pay, click here
About the event
Planting trees, roasting coffee and preserving food – or – environmental, economic and food justice. This is the work of Andrew Mahar and his daughter Alice, through their organisations, xpand Foundation and Corner Store Network.
Whilst what Andrew and Alice do might look like they are simply planting trees, roasting coffee and making preserves, they are actually building village economies, changing environments, delivering education, empowering women and inviting people willing to invest with equality in everything they do and a network of communities taking control for themselves. They are planting trees and planting ideas.
All of the programs developed by Andrew and Alice are about moving beyond charity and aid and ensuring that people have the opportunities to make an earned dollar, leading to self-determination for themselves and their communities, along with decolonising western constructs of economies, production, trade and consumption.
Andrew and Alice have demonstrated through their work in both Australia and Timor-Leste the power of community to solve problems from a ground up approach. They fundamentally believe in social justice and equality, a liveable income, access to good food and drinkable water, education, to healthcare, to equal participation – for everyone. And they believe that it’s through simple actions, of many people, the world will see the biggest impacts.
About the speakers
Andrew Mahar is an accomplished social entrepreneur who has spent the past 30 years seeding, nurturing and mentoring over 15 successful social enterprises in both Australia and Timor-Leste. Andrew has been recognised internationally through numerous awards including: winning the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award; recognition in the Bulletin Smart 100 Award for his work as a social justice campaigner; and becoming a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2013.
For over two decades, Andrew was the founding Executive Director of Infoxchange Australia. In 2013, he founded the xpand Foundation and in 2016 founded WithOneSeed the first of its kind community forestry program in Timor-Leste. He’s spent the past 17 years building opportunities for young Timorese people and is engaged in four social enterprises delivering social and economic empowerment in Timor-Leste. Andrew is a father and a grandfather, with his three children and three grandchildren being the main driver behind the work that he does to leave the planet in a just and liveable condition for them.
They say that the apple never falls far from the tree, and in the case of Andrews youngest, Alice, that is certainly the case. Alice is one part chef, three parts social entrepreneur. Her passion for cooking coupled with a desire to ensure no person goes hungry led her to create The Corner Store Network. Being selected as one of Australia’s leading young social entrepreneurs in 2017 through Foundation for Young Australians was just the beginning, she has since been named an Obama Leader: Asia Pacific and has used the medium of food to strive for social justice and equality while providing opportunities for women. Oh and President Obama himself mentioned Alice in a tweet once, no big deal.
Picture: Andrew Mahar, front, third from left, with farmers planting mahogany trees at Baguia in eastern Timor-Leste.
Kind Regards,
David Costello
Secretary
AIIA QLD
0403 777 541
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