“Your entire life depends on the quality of the community or communities you associate yourself with and create,” says Adam McCurdie, founder and CEO of Humanitix.
Community connection is important to humanity. It is at the centre of every thriving society and civilisation around the world, and provides a framework for understanding, belonging, culture and identity.
In this Helping Hands panel discussion, Adam McCurdie is joined by Mike Gore, founder and CEO of Charitabl.; and Prof. Kristy Muir, CEO of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, to discuss community connection and purpose.
We all need healthy community connection, says Mike.
“Community – it’s a sense-making tool. (Communities) give you a sense of safety, a sense of belonging, they allow you to be noticed … life is driven by community … The reality, I believe, in community, is if you don’t curate it, you don’t shape it, it will shape itself … We (the panel) all represent people who are trying to shape a community to drive a sense of purpose, a sense of outcome.”
The creation of healthy community doesn’t only happen on a personal or individual level.
Kristy says it’s a huge privilege for the Paul Ramsay Foundation to facilitate engagement between communities and businesses, organisations and charities who they come alongside for purpose of enabling, empowering and strengthening them.
“(We) hear from people living in those communities – what do they need? In what order do they need it? They know what they need to thrive … We listen first, and then we find the charities, the community organisations, the social enterprises – organisations that are like the glue to help stitch (the communities and their needs) together, and we fund them, and we work alongside those community members to do it … When we do it like that we see incredible results.”
Adam agrees saying communities can also be fostered in unexpected ways.
His ticketing platform, Humanitix, exists to facilitate the gathering of like-minded people at events based on their common interests, but also recently took hold of a surprising opportunity to make community more accessible for those living with a disability who had given up on attending live events.
“We found that the reasons they (people living with a disability) stopped attending live events, particularly community events, were incredibly similar, and us as the ticketing platform, were totally in the driver’s seat, the hot seat, to solve all of those issues. We went about building a world-leading accessibility tool that is now transforming how live events are not just more accessible for people who might have accessibility needs but giving confidence to potential patrons to confidently buy a ticket, knowing that their accessibility needs will be catered for.”
Is it possible for community to be as effective without the presence of a healthy purpose?
The panellists agree that communities with a purpose of building, strengthening and enabling healthy growth are the communities that last and fulfill their purposes in the long term. Mike summarises the sentiment:
“We often say, What’s the effectiveness of communities? … What can you achieve if you get into community? We all know the answer … limitless! But if it’s pointed in the wrong direction with the wrong purpose, it can be unbelievably destructive … Hearing stories (from Kristy and Adam) about inclusivity, changing the lives for disability, for indigenous and First Nation cultures – the reality is purpose, when it’s guided in the right direction, can truly change the world.”
See the COMMUNITY CONNECTION AND PURPOSE discussion and the full catalogue of Helping Hands panels at helpinghands.tv. Catch up on full episodes of Helping Hands on 9NOW.
