To apply to join a 180 Degrees Consulting team in Semester 2 of 2011, please complete the following form. Applications close at 5pm on Friday the 29th of July (end of Week 1 of Semester 2).

If you have any questions, visit the Frequently Asked Question section on the Sydney University Chapter webpage, or send an email to usyd.180degrees@gmail.com

As previously mentioned, applicants are required to also submit their CVs to usyd.180degrees@gmail.com as this will give us a good indication of whether you are suited to being a 180 Degrees Consultant.

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Semester 2 Consulting Project Descriptions

Some of the consulting projects that will be undertaken in Semester 2 are as follows:

Opportunity International

• Opportunity International exists to provide opportunities for people living in poverty to transform their lives. With over 40 years’ experience in microfinance and support services, they use a business approach to solve poverty. 180 Degrees Consulting will be undertaking market analysis and developing strategic recommendations, particularly regarding Opportunity International’s market position in the fundraising space as a micro-finance provider.

Spark:

• Spark empowers the next generation of leaders in countries suffering extreme poverty. The organisation urgently needs to investigate options to secure the longer term financial viability and create a financially-sustainable social enterprise in Australia.

The Big Issue:

• The Big Issue Australia is one of Australia’s leading social enterprises providing creative solutions to the issue of homelessness. They achieve this by using different mechanisms to connect people with the community, such as The Big Issue Street Magazine Enterprise (a fortnightly independent current affairs magazine sold on the street by our authorised vendors), the Community Street Soccer Program (a national initiative using the positive power of sport to change lives), and The Big Issue Classroom (that challenges primary and secondary students to break down stereotypes surrounding homelessness and encourage tolerance and empathy towards all people).

Gunawirra Foundation:

• Gunawirra is not-for-profit member based organisation that provides emotional support for Aboriginal children, families, communities, teachers and professional staff working in early childhood areas from 0-5 years. 180 Degrees Consulting will be completing a social costing of Gunawirra’s multiple programs to determine which programs they should focus more resources towards. 180 Degrees Consulting may also be undertaking an implementation-based project that will assist in enacting a number of the recommendations that are provided.

Global Concern

• Global Concern exists to provide assistance and training to people in developing countries in obtaining the skills necessary for sustainable development of themselves and their environment. By this and emergency relief in times of crisis and disaster, they hope to alleviate poverty. 180 Degrees Consulting will be completing an implementation project, which will assist Global Concern in planning and setting up self sustaining volunteer chapters from a variety of communities.

TEAR:

• TEAR is a large not-for-profit in the international development and aid field. They are perhaps best known for their pioneering ‘World’s Most Useful Gift Catalog’ program, in which people can buy an item of importance for a person or group in the developing world (such as a goat or a vegetable garden) on behalf of a friend or family in the place of another gift. In addition to this, they run a number of other poverty relief programs, as well as awareness programs. 180 Degrees will be working with TEAR to develop a new marketing strategy, which will draw particularly on the use of social media.

Results Australia:

• Results Australia is a small not-for-profit working in the international development and aid field. They seek to achieve improved outcomes for the world’s poor through raising awareness and increasing education. The organization is seeking to refine its long-term strategic goals, create a more sustainable funding basis, and increase community recognition and volunteer recruitment, among other things.

Batyr:

• Batyr’s aim is to engage students with young speakers who are willing to discuss the issue(s) that they have faced at a young age and to educate school students about the networks and support systems available to them. The 180 Degrees team will work closely with the organisation’s founder to build the organisation’s internal capability, creating a model for inter-state expansion. The objective of the project is to advise the client on how to recruit, train and introduce performance monitoring and quality assurance processes.

Enke:

• Enke is an education-based and social networking initiative in South Africa. Enke’s mission is to reduce inequality by connecting across social divides and equipping and inspiring young people to take control of their futures and the future of their country. The organisation is growing fast, but is unsure on how to sustain this growth whilst retaining the organisational culture that has made it successful. The 180 Degrees team will develop strategies for how to keep the organisation fresh and enthused, with staff as empowered and motivated as the student leaders they work with.

Barnardos:

• Barnardos aims to find real, permanent solutions for Australian children in desperate need. Barnardos wants 180 Degrees Consulting to advise them on the practice of “Contact” in Temporary Family Care (TFC) programs. There is little documented research as to the number and duration of Contact visits and the amount of time spent by Barnardos workers on these visits. There is also little information about the cost of Contact. The project involves the 180 Degrees Consulting team researching what “Contact” means in actual practice so it can be properly factored into funding arrangements with the Department of Community Services. Barnardos also wants advice on what would work and what would be problematic in relation to Contact arrangements.

Hope For Sydney

• Hope for Sydney is a new not-for-profit that seeks to connect volunteers to welfare organizations through churches. It is based on the concept that a lot of church-goers would like to help out more in their community and in social justice causes, but do not have a clear understanding of how to do that meaningfully. In this way, it seeks to gain access to ‘untapped’ volunteer resources for other not-for-profits. 180 Degrees will be working with Hope for Sydney on creating sustainable operations processes, diversifying funding sources, and increasing community recognition. Applicants should be conscious that this venture has an explicitly religious background, and should make clear note to the 180 Degrees team if working on this project would make them uncomfortable (such information will not affect your chances of being successfully placed into a different project).

Emagine Foundation:

• The Emagine Foundation is a social venture funded by the proceeds of the successful Mexican food chain Zambrero. There are two organizations within the Emagine foundation: the first (Emagine Education Everywhere) seeks to improve educational opportunities for children in underprivileged communities by establishing IT centers; the second (One Disease at A Time) seeks to eradicate preventable diseases, again with a particular focus on disadvantaged communities. 180 will be working the Emagine foundation in a wide range of operational areas.