Investing in women: How One Female Founder is Making a Difference
Doone Roisin, founder and host of Female Startup Club, a modern media company that focuses on empowering female entrepreneurs, has announced the first-ever philanthropic donation to the New Wave program at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
UNSW's trailblazing New Wave program aims to encourage ambitious female entrepreneurs to innovate new solutions to big problems. The program provides entrepreneurs who identify as women with access to mentorship, funding, and resources to help them turn their ideas into successful businesses. New Wave aims to address the gender gap in entrepreneurship by providing tailored support and resources to women founders – in fact, more than 45% of the startups UNSW Founders has supported (coached) this year have a female founder, more than double the industry average.
The donation establishes the "Doone Roisin Business Innovation Award," which will award two women founders with innovative business ideas at UNSW's biannual New Wave pitch competition with two $2,500 prizes.
UNSW Founders Senior Manager of Entrepreneurship Kristen Phillips first reached out to Doone in 2020 to become a New Wave mentor. Since then, Doone has continued to support New Wave, encouraging the development of dozens of early women founders' innovative ideas, such as AmpleFolk founder Holly Richards. Holly, who was Doone's first mentee, not only won the New Wave pitch competition in 2020 but also successfully launched her idea for a radically inclusive AF lifestyle brand Ample Folk last year. She said: "Both the support of New Wave and mentoring from Doone is invaluable to entrepreneurs like me. I'm grateful to see Doone's commitment to empowering women founders translate into tangible action that directly benefits our community. This is how unicorns are born."
Doone’s donation comes off the back of a recent Pro Bono Magazine article which saw UNSW Director of Entrepreneurship David Burt propose that the worlds of philanthropy and start-ups are intrinsically linked. He believes that philanthropy is a cost-effective way to have a big impact on scaling up innovation, particularly in a fragile economic environment and in the face of the rising cost of living. UNSW Founders has already attracted around $15 million in philanthropy over the past eight years and has supported over 50,000 people to develop their entrepreneurial skills, with over 500 new start-ups emerging from the process.”
Doone Roisin has established herself as a young media powerhouse through her work with Female Startup Club, where she promotes and supports female entrepreneurs worldwide. She is a successful podcast host and author, and she hopes her donation inspires others to act. Last year, she attended a ceremony at Buckingham Palace to receive an Australian Young Achiever of the Year award. "I'm thrilled to be able to make this donation to the New Wave program," says Doone. "As a passionate advocate for female entrepreneurship, I know how important it is to support programs like New Wave that help women overcome the unique challenges they face when starting a business. While this $5000 donation may not solve the larger problem, it's a positive step forward, and I hope it inspires others to take action as well."
To see Doone’s interview on Startup Daily click here (starts at 18:00 mins)