Convene 2026 masterclasses

Convene 2026 is a two-day conference where leaders come to move beyond intention and into action. On Day 2, guests will be able to attend 2 masterclasses from 8 on offer. Each one builds on the conversations from Day 1, with practical, hands-on sessions led by people working in the social performance space.

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Morning masterclasses

9:00am - 11:30am

Start Day 2 with sessions built to sharpen the fundamentals, from pitching your impact to strengthening how your organisation shows up.

Building the business case for investing in social performance

For social enterprises looking to sharpen how they talk about their impact

Many organisations are already creating positive social impact, but often through disconnected initiatives rather than a coordinated strategy. The opportunity isn't necessarily to do more, it's to better understand, measure and align the work that's already happening across your business.

This interactive masterclass introduces participants to the Social Performance Framework and explores how a Social Performance Materiality Assessment can help organisations identify, prioritise and strengthen the social issues that are material to their business and stakeholders.

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About this session

Social performance is the "S" in ESG. It reflects how an organisation creates value for people through its employees, suppliers, customers and communities. While many businesses focus on reducing social risk, leading organisations are recognising the opportunity to generate long-term business value by embedding social performance into their strategy and operations.

Through practical activities, facilitated discussion and real-world examples, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to assess their organisation's current social performance, identify material priorities and build a compelling business case for investment.

What you'll learn

During this hands-on workshop, participants will:

Explore the Social Performance Framework and its four interconnected pillars:
- People – creating positive outcomes for employees and the workforce.
- Suppliers – strengthening social value across direct and indirect supply chains.
- Customers and Clients – understanding how products, services and delivery impact people.
- Communities – creating positive outcomes for the communities in which organisations operate.
Understand what a Social Performance Materiality Assessment is and why it matters.
Identify the social issues that are most material to their organisation.
Learn how to align social performance with business strategy, governance and decision-making.
Develop a stronger business case for investing in social performance.
Participate in interactive exercises, facilitated discussion and live Q&A with Social Traders' social performance specialists.

Attendee takeaways

Participants will leave with a practical understanding of the Social Performance Framework, greater confidence in identifying material social priorities, and actionable tools to help embed social performance across their organisation. They'll be better equipped to move from isolated social initiatives to a strategic approach that creates measurable value for both business and society.

Why you should attend

The organisations leading tomorrow won't simply measure financial performance. They'll understand the value they create for people.

This masterclass will help you identify where social performance already exists within your organisation, uncover where the greatest opportunities lie, and provide practical tools to turn good intentions into measurable business outcomes.

Hosts

Rebecca Green
Head of Transformation and Advocacy, Social Traders

Lauren McAlister
Head of Membership Services, Social Traders

Stories wired for impact: Content with conviction

A live content audit for social enterprise leaders

Most social enterprise leaders aren't short on story. They're short on time, and short on a way to know if what they're posting is actually working. This session hands you a simple framework to review any piece of content that will be workshopped together live in the room. No heavy theory or slides. You'll leave with a framework you can use every time you sit down to write, and a content structure building from what your organisation is already doing well.

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About this session

Led by Bella Borello, with real experience across social enterprise marketing, digital communications, brand and strategy. This isn't an outside agency guessing what this sector needs. It's someone who has sat where you're sitting, ran the campaigns, interrogated AI and knows exactly why most content advice doesn't fit a social enterprise's reality.

Hands-on and interactive. Expect short, sharp input from Bella and Darlene, one practical framework, and a live group audit using content attendees to bring themselves. This is not a lecture or a panel. It's a working session, built for people who want tools they can use the next morning.

What you'll learn

Why the current climate of audience skepticism is a structural advantage for social enterprises, not a threat
The Three-Part Content Test: a simple way to check whether any piece of content is understood without effort, earns trust without asking for it, and gets passed on without prompting
How to build three or four honest content pillars from the work you're already doing, so content stops being a scramble and starts being a system
What a live audit of your own content looks like, so you can leave with clarity and a practical takeaway.

Attendee takeaways

The Three-Part Content Test, ready to use on your next piece of content
Live, honest feedback on the content you bring
A simple structure for building content pillars from what your business already does
A clear next step if you want ongoing support, with no pressure attached

Why you should attend

Built for founders, marketing leads, and senior leaders who are managing their own content with limited time, limited team, and no patience for advice that doesn't fit their reality. Especially useful if you're the one person currently responsible for what gets posted.

Hosts

Bella Borello
Chief Operating Officer, Humans of Purpose

Darlene Taleno
Marketing Manager, Humans of Purpose

From box-ticking to genuine impact: Making social value core to how you do business

For procurement professionals, both public and private, Social Value Managers (corporate) and Bid Managers (corporate)

Social value is too often seen as a ‘side of desk’ initiative or reduced to a scoring exercise. This interactive masterclass shows you how to make it a genuine driver of better business and lasting community impact.

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About this session

Social Value Portal will run an interactive masterclass sharing insight, advice and guidance on how to make social value core. We will use SVP’s established Social Value Maturity Diagnostic to ensure attendees come away with some practical next steps and actions to take back to colleagues.

What you'll learn

In this interactive workshop you will establish a greater understanding of social value and measurement through the TOM System. Alongside a list of things to do to either get started with social value or to continue maturing as an organisation.

What social value is and the different levers for creating or unlocking it
What the TOM System is (and is not) and how it can be used to measure and report social value in a robust and credible way
How mature your organisation is around social value and the practical steps you can take to genuinely embed social value into your business

Hosts

Anna McChesney-Gordon
Social Value Portal, Chief Strategy Officer

Niclas Fenton-Wiegleb
Social Value Portal, Social Value Manager

Session 4: coming soon

Afternoon masterclasses

12:30pm - 3:00pm

Round out the day with sessions focused on putting ideas into practice, ready to take back to your organisation.

How AI can help your team do less of the wrong work

This highly interactive masterclass explores how leaders can build organisational capacity by simplifying processes, reducing unnecessary workload and embracing practical technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to support smarter ways of working.

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About this session

Purpose-driven organisations are being asked to do more than ever before. Deliver more services, respond to growing demand, strengthen reporting, secure funding and demonstrate greater impact, often without additional capacity.

Working harder isn't the answer.

The organisations growing sustainably are redesigning how they work, freeing up their people to focus on the work that matters most.

Rather than focusing on technology for technology's sake, this session begins with the real challenges facing today's organisations: limited resources, workforce fatigue and increasing operational complexity. Through facilitated discussion, peer learning and practical examples, participants will identify where time is being lost, uncover opportunities to work differently, and explore how AI can be introduced safely, strategically and with purpose.

Whether you're just beginning your AI journey or looking to optimise existing systems, this masterclass will help you identify practical actions that create immediate value while supporting long-term organisational resilience.

What you'll learn

The future of work isn't about doing more.

It's about creating the capacity to focus on what matters most.

Join this practical masterclass to discover how small changes in systems, processes and technology can reduce burnout, strengthen organisational resilience and help your team deliver greater impact with the resources you already have.

This collaborative workshop combines expert insights with participant-led discussion and practical activities, including:

Identifying the biggest capacity challenges facing purpose-driven organisations today.
Exploring where teams are spending time on low-value or repetitive work.
Real-world examples of organisations using AI and automation to streamline reporting, communications, service delivery and operations.
Interactive discussions to uncover practical opportunities within your own organisation.
A simple framework to help you Stop, Simplify and Systemise work that no longer serves your team.
Live Q&A with Benefolk AI specialists.

Attendee takeaways

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of where AI can genuinely support organisational performance, practical ideas to improve efficiency without increasing workload, and a framework for identifying quick wins that free up capacity across their teams. They'll also gain greater confidence in approaching AI strategically, ensuring technology supports people, rather than replacing them.

Why you should attend

Hosts

Scott Taylor
Technologist, Benefolk AI Technology Delivery Lead

Julia Keady
CEO of Benefolk, Benefolk AI Client Lead

Darren Taylor
Strategist, Benefolk AI Client Lead

How do we get there? Designing the future together

Convene has explored the power of social value, inclusive economies and purpose-led business. But one important question remains: How do we make social performance business as usual?

This interactive masterclass invites delegates to move beyond ideas and into action. Together, we'll explore what it will take to create lasting systems change and accelerate the transition towards an economy where social performance is embedded into every business decision.

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About this session

Through facilitated discussion, collaborative problem-solving and future-focused thinking, participants will identify the barriers that still exist, the opportunities ahead, and the people, organisations and sectors that need to be influenced to bring about meaningful change.

This isn't a presentation. It's a think tank.

Whether you're from business, government, the social enterprise sector, philanthropy or academia, your experience and perspective are essential to the conversation. Together, we'll challenge assumptions, generate new ideas and co-design practical actions that can help shape the future of Australia's social economy.

Key discussion themes

What does "business as usual" for social performance actually look like?
Who are the key decision-makers and influencers that need to come on this journey?
What are the biggest barriers preventing widespread adoption?
Where are the greatest opportunities to accelerate change?
How can business, government and the social enterprise sector work together more effectively?
What bold ideas could transform the next decade of social value?
What actions should we collectively commit to following Convene?

Attendee takeaways

Participants will leave with new connections, fresh perspectives and a shared vision for the future of social performance. They'll contribute to a collective roadmap of ideas and actions that can influence policy, procurement, leadership and business practice, while helping shape the next chapter of Australia's social economy.

Why you should attend

The future won't be created by a handful of organisations. It will be built by people willing to challenge the status quo, share bold ideas and work together to create change.

Bring your voice. Bring your experience. Bring your ideas.

Because the future of social performance won't happen by accident. We'll build it together.

Hosts

Tara Anderson
CEO, Social Traders

Rebecca Green
Head of Transformation and Advocacy, Social Traders

Peer pollination: Meet, learn and share

A social enterprise founder & Leader Exchange

Social enterprises are built through purpose, persistence and people, but no founder or leader should have to navigate the journey alone.

Peer Pollination is a highly interactive opportunity designed specifically for social enterprise founders, leaders and teams to connect, share experiences and learn from others who understand the unique opportunities and challenges of building a impact-led organisation.

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About this session

This unconference-style session puts social entrepreneurs at the centre of the conversation. The room becomes the resource, with participants bringing their own challenges, insights and experiences to shape the discussion.

The session begins with social enterprises connecting with peers at a similar stage of development, exploring common challenges, opportunities and lessons learned. From there, participants will help create the agenda, pitching the topics that matter most to them, from accessing capital and measuring impact to scaling sustainably, managing growth and avoiding founder burnout.

Facilitated by members of CASEI, this session creates space for honest conversations, practical problem-solving and meaningful connections across Australia's social enterprise ecosystem.

Key discussion themes

Come with questions. Share what you've learned. Leave with ideas, connections and practical actions shaped by the collective wisdom of the social enterprise community. s, government, the social enterprise sector, philanthropy or academia, your experience and perspective are essential to the conversation. Together, we'll challenge assumptions, generate new ideas and co-design practical actions that can help shape the future of Australia's social economy.

Attendee takeaways

Growing in common: Understanding your stage of social enterprise development

Participants will connect with peers at a similar stage of their social enterprise journey, using the Five Stages of Social Enterprise Development as a framework to explore:

The challenges and opportunities unique to their current stage.
Common barriers experienced by social enterprises at different points of growth.
Lessons learned from peers who have navigated similar challenges.
Practical strategies for building capability and sustainability.

Cross-pollination: Solving real challenges together

The room sets the agenda.

Participants will identify the topics and challenges they most want to explore, creating small-group discussions around themes such as:

Funding and capital.
Impact measurement and storytelling.
Growing revenue and commercial sustainability.
Building teams and leadership capability.
Procurement and market opportunities.
Scaling impact without losing purpose.
Founder wellbeing and avoiding burnout.

Through facilitated peer discussion, participants will share experiences, test ideas and develop solutions together.

Why you should attend

Social change doesn't happen in isolation.

The strongest social enterprise ecosystems are built when leaders share knowledge, support each other and create opportunities for collective growth.

Peer Pollination is a chance to step away from working in your social enterprise and spend time learning with the people who understand the journey.

The ideas that shape the future of social enterprise won't come from one person or one organisation. They will come from the connections we create together.