Featured CEO: Simone Dowding talks Change Coffee

Simone Dowding is a Social Entrepreneur and strategic business consultant harnessing the power of business to drive social change. Head of Social Enterprise at World Vision Australia Simone Dowding is a high-flyer with heart.

From coffee shop owner to creator and leader of a national coffee business with a wholesale distribution network spanning across Australia for over thirteen years, Simone Dowding knows coffee.

Her commercial and ethical credentials have combined to make Simone the perfect person to spearhead Change Coffee; a social enterprise using 100% of their profits to fund life-changing projects globally focusing on the economic empowerment of women.

As a passionate advocate for social change, Simone’s vision for the corporate future would see every organisation realise its fullest financial potential whilst also contributing to the health of the earth.

Simone believes that business holds the key to solve humanity’s most urgent challenges by utilising the power of commercial enterprise to create sustainable initiatives.

“Change Coffee has become a global social change movement.” Simone says the strategy employed by Change Coffee is a model for future business initiatives who want to align themselves with the global shift towards environmental conservation and ethical responsibility.

“We are in this together…it’s about starting a movement that empowers businesses and their customers to choose products that are contributing to a better planet for us all,”she said. “If we can start a vehicle for change we can be a model for other businesses and lead by example by not only being profitable but also accountable, responsible and conscientious.”

Simone believes that “this is not just about the coffee, it’s about starting a movement that empowers businesses and consumers with their choice and agency.”

“Being purposeful is what drives us, but a higher purpose is more than what we do. It’s something that makes a difference to the planet. It benefits everyone involved and keeps the business aligned and in its integrity.”

Simone is a fellow of the Centre of Sustainable Leadership, is a national speaker on purpose driven economy, holds a degree in Psychology and spent a year studying meditation and Buddhist philosophy with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in the Himalayas. She is an ambassador and Regional Leader of Conscious Capitalism Australia and an expert in designing impact business models that change the world.

Pearl Dy

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Pearl Dy is a community manager and journalist. She is passionate about business and development particularly involving not-for-profits, charity and social entrepreneurship.

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