Samantha Bloom will deliver the Opening Keynote at the FIA National Conference. Samantha is a two-time World Para Surfing champion and bestselling author of Penguin Bloom. Sam was the inspiration behind the #1 Australian box-office and international global Netflix hit movie Penguin Bloom, starring Naomi Watts playing Samantha. Samantha works with numerous spinal cord injury charities around the world and is a global ambassador for Wings for Life.
Owen Valentine Pringle is the Chief of Staff for ActionAid International. He is a communications and digital strategist with over 20 years’ experience and has been recognised by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s 100 most influential Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) leaders in technology.
Owen will deliver a presentation entitled ‘Mind the Gap’. Civic and social organisations are needed more now than at any point since the Second World War, yet we often struggle to articulate our added value beyond the already converted, leaving elusive new audiences outside of our reach. Owen will speak about how the spaces between ideologies will be civil society’s next great battleground for hearts and minds. The future of public opinion will not be governed by the use of facts to persuade, but the enlistment of feelings in order to find common ground. How might the way we engage with future supporters need to shift to accommodate this?
The pandemic has been an incredibly tough time for all of us, both professionally and personally. Fundraisers are vital to the road to recovery, which may be long and bring its own challenges. Yet the truth is that fundraisers have always had to deal with volatility and uncertainty. In her keynote, digital expert Zoe Amar will share how to draw on your resilience as fundraising professionals, her tips for honing the skills you’ve gained in adaptability and innovation during the pandemic, and how to plan for a future which will involve many different scenarios and potential changes to donor and consumer habits.
Zoe is widely regarded as one of the charity sector’s leading digital experts. Having founded digital agency and social enterprise Zoe Amar Digital in 2013, she works with clients all over the world. She is also chair of the Digital Code of Practice in the UK, which helps guide charities on how to approach digital as well as benchmarking their progress to achieve best-practice digital fundraising.
And finally, the annual Syd Herron Oration will be delivered by the founders of Orange Sky, Nicholas Marchesi OAM and Lucas Patchett OAM.
Orange Sky Australia is the world’s first free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness – an idea founded in a Brisbane garage by two 20-year-old mates. In late 2014, Nic and Lucas installed a couple of washing machines and dryers in the back of their old van and visited parks around Brisbane to wash and dry clothes for free. What started as an idea to improve hygiene standards and restore dignity to people doing it tough has evolved into something much bigger and more powerful.
Since then, Orange Sky has expanded to 37 services across the country, which includes the addition of shower services and remote vehicles, providing access to free laundry and shower services. Most importantly, Orange Sky volunteers have engaged in 241,075 hours of conversations to date, helping to challenge the perception of homelessness and positively connect communities all around Australia.
These are just a few of the speakers set to take to the stage at FIA National Conference 2022. The conference will take place from 23-25 February at the International Convention Centre, Sydney. We hope to see you there.
To book visit fiaconference.org.au
