Pioneering systemic change through human-centred policy design.
With an initial focus on expecting and parenting young people, SEED is starting with a blueprint for system navigation for young parents in the short term and systemic reform in the longer term.
We connect organisations that support young parents – government departments, not-for-profits, academia, and other agencies – together with lived experience, in a flagship collaborative effort to workshop early policy approaches.
Developing new approaches
Building on the knowledge Brave Foundation gained over 16 years working with young parents, we will analyse the systemic problems they encounter and develop approaches to address these issues. In turn, this approach could be expanded to other vulnerable groups.
Discover our Approach
Our Values
We are committed to working differently, bringing value to people and process.
• Curious
• Creative
• Generous
• Ambitious
• Connective
• Dynamic
• Excellence
Our Guiding Principles
Lived Experience
Be informed by lived experience, to ensure we are hitting the mark.
Centred On People
Be person centred with individuals as the focus.
Collaborative
Be collaborative and informed by all levels of government, not-for-profit and philanthropic sectors.
Celebrate Each Step
Be pragmatic and celebrate small wins; the method is as important as the end goal.
Evidence Based
Be informed by evidence and data.
Strengths-based Language
Be guided by strengths-based language, which emphasises the individual, not their circumstances.
Primary Preventative
Look to life-event moments for intervention, to influence social and economic outcomes.
Enduring Solutions
Think long-term and enduring, to provide support for as long as it takes.
Values Led
Be curious, creative, generous, ambitious, and agile.
Empowering
Share the approach and what we learn along the way.
Our History
SEED is a division of Brave Foundation, an Australian not-for-profit that equips expecting and parenting young people with resources, referrals and education opportunities to facilitate happy, healthy and skilled families over time.
After supporting over 1000 young parents and over 1600 of their children, Brave’s individualised approach is successful in supporting participants achieve goals relating to education, training or employment, health and welfare, security and safety. Brave connects participants with many linking organisations to help them achieve their personal goals.
Funding for primary prevention support organisations like Brave is often short-term, potentially impacting continuity of service delivery. In early 2022, after 16 years working with young parents, Brave Foundation secured significant funding over a three-year period to create a new ‘Social Economic Empowerment Division’ (SEED). Founder and former CEO of Brave, Bernadette Black AM (a teen mother herself) was appointed to lead the SEED initiative as Social Economic Ambassador.
SEED aims to become an expert in systemic early intervention pathways that build intergenerational systemic reform.
“Prevention is almost always cheaper, almost always more effective, and always more humane than repairing.”
Bernadette Black AM, Social Economic Ambassador and Founding Director of Brave Foundation
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