A new short course taking your idea to impact

Have an idea that could change the world? Want to create sustainable solutions for the issues in your community or sector?

CQUniversity and impact-led business Impact Boom are collaborating to offer iActivate – a self-paced, ultra-flexible and affordable online short course, to guide aspiring and early-stage social entrepreneurs from idea to impact.

Build your skills, reputation and reach in the social enterprise sector, and enrol in iActivate now.

Women driving business for good across regional Queensland can participate in iActivate: Regional Female Founder Accelerator, proudly supported by Advance Queensland. Register your interest before 1 August 2023.

iActivate - Design and Grow Business for Good is a first for Australia, an online social enterprise course developed by a University and an industry leader offering a digital badge.

Hosted on CQU’s Be Different platform, the 12-module course content is curated to give students clear and actionable steps in defining goals and impacts, understanding business for good ecosystems, applying sustainable and innovative business models, prototyping a social enterprise startup, pitching and storytelling, collaborating, scaling and measuring impacts.

The content builds on Impact Boom’s successful Elevate+ Accelerator Program for emerging social entrepreneurs, and CQUniversity’s range of social innovation courses and initiatives, from entry-level to postgraduate, that have kickstarted thousands of changemaker journeys for students since 2015.

Module 1: Welcome to program. Setting ourselves up for success. 

Gain a clear understanding of the program, fundamental traits of successful entrepreneurs and useful strategies to practice throughout Elevate+ as we work to scale your enterprise and impact. 

Module 2: Purpose, vision, impact. Project management and effective teams. 

Clearly defining our ‘why’, desired impacts, roles, teamwork theory and other frameworks that will drive our startup projects from the core. 

Module 3: Understanding root causes and solving the right problem. 

Gain a clear grasp of important design thinking, co-design and systems thinking strategies to understand, redefine and respond to the right problems from the beginning, so you don't waste time later. 

Module 4: Game-changing business modelling and value proposition design. 

Understanding and designing innovative business models is crucial to a social entrepreneur’s success. We learn how to best deliver value to your customers and stakeholders. 

Module 5: Creativity jam! Conceptualisation and ideation to create new, sustainable possibilities. 

Learn innovative methods to create world-changing solutions through strategic design. Analyse, expand on and improve the way you are delivering value. 

Module 6: Purposeful prototyping and pilots. 

Learn quick, iterative and effective prototyping and piloting methods to validate concepts with your target audience. Throw away assumptions and respond to customer and stakeholder needs effectively. 

Module 7: Impact marketing and branding strategy. 

Learn key tools to understand the market in which you operate. Define a personal and enterprise brand strategy. Understand social media and other marketing methods to create a trusted brand. 

Module 8: Financing projects and getting them off the ground. 

Understand the best financing methods to fund your project and learn from leading investors. Get effective crowdfunding tips and learn how to become impact investment ready. 

Module 9: Powerful pitching and storytelling secrets. 

Learn the art of storytelling to capture, engage and influence an audience. Receive and practice pitching secrets to successfully sell your project. 

Module 10: Key legal considerations for social entrepreneurs. 

Gain a clear understanding about how to best protect your Intellectual Property. Understand legals and get contracts right. We'll talk business structures, tax and what’s best for your social enterprise. 

Module 11: Understanding the eco system, and leading social enterprises. 

Get insights from organisations, support bodies & leading global social entrepreneurs. Hear success and failure stories to keep you on track. Mix and network with local social entrepreneur leaders. 

Module 12: Creating tracks and moving forward with impact. 

Methods and tools to keep entrepreneurs on track to delivering viable enterprises that deliver impact. Impact measurement and metrics. Reflection and clear planning to move forward. 

Define the rationale of running a business for good, desired impacts, roles, teamwork theory and other frameworks that will drive a startup or existing project from the core

Outline the elements of design thinking, co-design, and systems thinking strategies to understand, redefine and respond to the right problems

Reflect on innovative business models and why these are crucial to a social entrepreneur’s success, including how to best deliver value to customers and stakeholders

Identify key tools to understand the market in which businesses for good operate, define a personal and enterprise brand strategy, and understand social media and other marketing methods to create a trusted brand

Identify how to protect intellectual property, and understand legal and taxation implications.

Assessment: Online Quizzes 

Fee: $650  

Duration: 72 hours  

CPD Hours: 72 hours  

Intakes: Enrolments are taken throughout the year on a continuous basis.  

Study Mode: Online  

Course Enquiries: CPD-Enquiries@cqu.edu.au 

Students will be better able to effectively manage their business for good, be able to pitch potential new projects to employers, funders and partners, and pursue a career with other social enterprises and businesses for good.

In order to facilitate your enrolment in this exciting new course, you’ll need to: 

  • Register with CQUniversity’s Centre for Professional Development (CPD), this is a simple process and you’ll be asked to provide a valid email to confirm your registration (alternatively, you can also sign in with your existing Google or Microsoft Account) 
  • Once your registration is successful and you’ve logged in, you’ll be presented with the CPD homepage, scroll down and click on Enterprise Education 
  • Scroll through the course information and click on Enrol Now, you should now be presented with a Paypal sign and the option to Click here for Secure Payment Gateway 
  • You’ll be redirected to CQU’s PayPal page, enter your payment details and click pay now 
  • Once your payment is successful you will be redirected back to the iActivate page and you’ll be able to access the full course content – good luck and enjoy your learning! 

Enrol today! 

iActivate Social Enterprise Short Course

Transcript

In Australia and around the world people are changing the way they do business and business for good is changing the world. 
As we face increasingly complex problems there's never been a more important time for us to take our ideas and turn them into impact. 
At CQUniversity we believe everybody can be a change maker and as Australia's only AshokaU Changemaker Campus we've already helped thousands of people start their journey. 
When we first started the program it was just a team of three of our founders and now we are a team of five. 
We provide local ethical and high quality designer manufacturing services to Australian clothing labels by drawing on the sewing expertise of women from refugee and migrant backgrounds. 
Every change maker can access an ultra flexible online course to help them take their idea and turn it into impact. 
This short course has been developed by CQUniversity and Impact Boom which is the organization I founded to help impact-led entrepreneurs connect be inspired and grow the global movement. 
When you complete the course you get a micro-credential that you can share on LinkedIn and on social media and you get the opportunity to connect with the emerging social enterprise networks that are popping up all across the country. 
Hi I’m Robert Pekin from the Food Connect Shed. One of the great things I got out of the Impact Boom sessions that I did last, um, early this year, was the finance piece. It really opened my eyes up as an ex-farmer to the world of money and how to access that money. 
Yeah, I’ve done a few courses over the years and it is the best course for social enterprises, or for any business that wants to make an impact these days, I thoroughly recommend it. 
So going through the Impact Boom program has really helped us we were just um, we just had an idea and we were working in our homes and now we're in this fantastic space yeah it's been great. 
So whether you've got a social issue that you want to tackle you're in the for good sector or you've got a business that you want to grow, getting the right advice from the start can be an absolute game changer so register online and we'll see you there.

Enrol in iActivate today!

Our online social enterprise course - learn how to design and grow business for good