Community Capital has completed its Fourth Grant Round
Community Capital is proud to announce it has donated a further A$4.8 million to Australian social purpose organisations in its fourth annual grant round. Four organisations join the portfolio this year, working on the prevention of homelessness, youth incarceration and youth suicide, and on First Nations self-determination, alongside continued multi-year funding for existing grantees.
Non-profit 10x10 Philanthropy, an expert in giving well to early-stage non-profits, sourced and assessed each recipient through a rigorous diligence process modelled on venture capital and impact investment practices. An independent selection committee of five of Australia's highly respected philanthropic leaders made the final granting decisions.
"We run our funds with discipline, and through our diligence partner 10x10 we apply the same rigour to our grant making process. While our core business is institutional asset management; our grant making lets us operate like venture capital - backing what we see as the most promising new solutions to Australia's toughest social problems. It means every fund we manage generates two returns: a financial return for our investors, and a social return for Australia at large, demonstrated by organisations changing the course of people’s lives. We are ambitious about both.” - Laurence Marshbaum OAM, Founder of Community Capital
Here are the new organisations the funds are supporting.
Anika Legal: Preventing homelessness before it starts
Anika Legal is a free community legal service co-founded by 2025 Victorian of the Year Noel Lim, that keeps Victorian renters in their homes. Law students, supervised by qualified lawyers and working through purpose-built technology, handle the eviction, repair and bond disputes that are a recognised pathway to homelessness for people who cannot afford access to legal services. At a time of concern about AI's impact on graduate legal jobs, Anika offers law schools a placement pathway that doubles community legal centre capacity while training students in the client-facing and judgement skills graduates will need as AI reshapes legal work. Every case Anika takes on collects data on systemic pressures and builds the case for policy reform. The grant funds Anika's next generation of digital tools and expansion of their university and law-firm partnerships.
EPIC Pathways: Self-determined futures for Indigenous youth
EPIC Pathways is a First Nations-led organisation helping young Indigenous students live self-determined futures. Their flagship program pairs Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with trained mentors from Year 7 through their first year after school. A mentor is an extra person in their corner, helping with homework, showing kids around university, and helping them see a future they might not have pictured. Since founding in 2023, EPIC has worked with more than 1,000 students across over 30 high schools in Southeast Queensland, Northern NSW and Arnhem Land. The grant funds delivery in new communities and grows EPIC's First Nations mentor workforce, toward their target of supporting thousands of students a year into meaningful future pathways.
Hello Initiative: Breaking a link between poverty and youth justice
The link between youth justice involvement and poverty and disadvantage is well established, and Perth-based Hello Initiative is taking a fresh approach to prevention. Young people in Western Australia (WA) serving community orders must report regularly to a youth justice officer; without a phone and the means to pay for credit, a missed check-in from a person living in remote WA can mean a long drive for the youth justice officer, or a breached order and a recurring cycle of court appearances. Through its Mobile Support Project, the organisation provides recycled smartphones pre-loaded with legal, mental health, education and employment supports. 67% of young people use the devices to engage in education and training, and 4 in 10 to access mental health services. The grant strengthens Hello Initiative’s referral pathways, trains the frontline workers who refer young people in, and funds a digital support hub pre-loaded onto every device to expand access to prevention services.
Yawardani Jan-ga: Healing through horses and culture
Yawardani Jan-ga - "horses helping" in Yawuru language - is an Indigenous-led equine-assisted learning program for young people aged 6 to 26 in the Kimberley, a region that has recorded among the highest Aboriginal youth suicide rates in the world. Designed with Kimberley communities, and delivered by an Aboriginal workforce, the program uses structured work with horses to build self-regulation, confidence and cultural connection in young people impacted by complex barriers. Founder and Aboriginal researcher Professor Juli Coffin won the 2024 Australian Mental Health Prize in the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander category for the program. Yawardani Jan-ga works with 45 young people each week, with in-bound demand from parents in neighbouring communities to expand. The grant extends its reach across the Kimberley and grows its Aboriginal practitioner workforce.
With the completion of this round, Community Capital has committed over A$15 million across 15 social purpose organisations, all drawn from the net management fees of its private markets funds. These four organisations and their leaders are shaping Australia to be fairer and more resilient. We couldn't be prouder to stand behind them, and we can't wait to see what they do next.
Ends
About Community Capital: Community Capital is a Private Markets Asset Manager managing fund-of-funds portfolios for some of Australia’s leading institutional investors. The underlying funds in the Community Capital program provide their services on an entirely fee-free basis, allowing Community Capital to donate all management fees excluding operating costs to promising Australian social purpose organisations.
About 10x10 Philanthropy: 10x10 Philanthropy is an Australian venture philanthropy non-profit that identifies, assesses and backs early-stage social purpose organisations. 10x10 is engaged to source and conduct due diligence for Community Capital's annual grant rounds.