Creating Real and Lasting Impact at Wade Institute
Katelyn Sharratt, Director, Innovation and Enterprise
As Wade Institute enters its next chapter, we’re looking forward to expanding our community of entrepreneurs, educators and investors, and empowering them with the capabilities and connections they need to grow Australia’s entrepreneurial future.
Tuesday 7 May 2024 • 3 minute read
It’s been over five years since Wade Institute was founded thanks to the generous gift of Ormond alumnus Peter Wade (1971). A lot has changed since then and our community has grown significantly, but it’s safe to say that our inherent mission to build a more entrepreneurial society remains.
While we started off with the central focus of creating bold entrepreneurs through the University of Melbourne’s Master of Entrepreneurship, our community has grown and expanded in reach across the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the last five years. From founders and investors, to the teachers of the next generation of entrepreneurs, we are now proud to count ourselves as a community that creates impact at all stages of the entrepreneurial journey.
But while our community has expanded, our mission endures, and our transformational learning programs continue to be focused on empowering people with the entrepreneurial capabilities and connections they need to grow Australia’s future. What we do is about giving people the mindset and skills they need to adapt and flourish in a changing world, so they can turn uncertainty into opportunity and harness all the potential our society holds to create transformative change.
These are certainly some big goals, but we are excited by the extraordinary possibilities our learning experiences offer, particularly as we continue to see our alumni out there creating amazing impact in the world. From investors who are shaping the world through their investment decisions, to graduates from the University of Melbourne’s Master of Entrepreneurship who are running flourishing businesses and creating positive change in existing organisations, and educators who are changing the lives of their students and other teachers, it is pretty special to be witnessing such incredible impact from our Wade community.
While we started off with the central focus of creating bold entrepreneurs through the University of Melbourne’s Master of Entrepreneurship, our community has grown and expanded in reach across the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the last five years. From founders and investors, to the teachers of the next generation of entrepreneurs, we are now proud to count ourselves as a community that creates impact at all stages of the entrepreneurial journey.
But while our community has expanded, our mission endures, and our transformational learning programs continue to be focused on empowering people with the entrepreneurial capabilities and connections they need to grow Australia’s future. What we do is about giving people the mindset and skills they need to adapt and flourish in a changing world, so they can turn uncertainty into opportunity and harness all the potential our society holds to create transformative change.
These are certainly some big goals, but we are excited by the extraordinary possibilities our learning experiences offer, particularly as we continue to see our alumni out there creating amazing impact in the world. From investors who are shaping the world through their investment decisions, to graduates from the University of Melbourne’s Master of Entrepreneurship who are running flourishing businesses and creating positive change in existing organisations, and educators who are changing the lives of their students and other teachers, it is pretty special to be witnessing such incredible impact from our Wade community.
Stories from our Alumni
Discovering superpowers to invest with impact
For Lana Weal, impact is the name of the game. With a marketing background and a love for purpose-driven startups, she arrived at Wade Institute’s VC Catalyst program as an aspiring angel investor, excited by the possibility of making her first investment.
Lana reflects that VC Catalyst helped her articulate her strengths (and weaknesses), and discover her individual ‘superpowers’. For Lana, her superpowers lie in storytelling and connecting, and she’s now out there using them to support purpose-driven entrepreneurs. It’s about helping founders to realise their values and unique offerings, brainstorming the best marketing strategies to achieve their goals, and supporting them to amplify their impact and change the world. There’s impact to be made beyond financial investment, and VC Catalyst helped Lana realise how she can make her own long-lasting, positive impact within the investment community.
Lana reflects that VC Catalyst helped her articulate her strengths (and weaknesses), and discover her individual ‘superpowers’. For Lana, her superpowers lie in storytelling and connecting, and she’s now out there using them to support purpose-driven entrepreneurs. It’s about helping founders to realise their values and unique offerings, brainstorming the best marketing strategies to achieve their goals, and supporting them to amplify their impact and change the world. There’s impact to be made beyond financial investment, and VC Catalyst helped Lana realise how she can make her own long-lasting, positive impact within the investment community.
Revolutionising iron deficiency testing, without the blood
Master of Entrepreneurship alumna Karolina Petkovic is transforming the way we detect and monitor iron deficiency, developing an at-home test which relies on saliva, rather than blood.
Drawing on her research undertaken at CSIRO, Karolina is now working on transforming the scientific idea into a commercially attractive prototype.
‘The idea is for people, particularly women, to be able to test themselves for iron deficiency, probably on a monthly basis,’ she says. ‘It’s a really good tool to help people be more in charge when it comes to their iron intake, so they can make adjustments, whether through diet or supplements, to better manage their iron levels.’
Karolina’s business, aptly named Iron WoMan, was the winner of last year’s Wade Showcase Pitch Competition, and she’s hopeful the commercialisation plan will come to fruition in the next few years. Still awaiting the outcome of a clinical trial, Karolina’s ultimate goal is to see the product become something which can be purchased in local pharmacies.
‘The idea is to make it accessible to everyone, with the really grand vision to make it accessible in the developing world,’ she says. ‘The rate of iron deficiency in the developing world is pretty shocking, sitting at around 80% in Africa. Making it available to people in those parts of the world is something I am very passionate about, as well as helping women.’
Drawing on her research undertaken at CSIRO, Karolina is now working on transforming the scientific idea into a commercially attractive prototype.
‘The idea is for people, particularly women, to be able to test themselves for iron deficiency, probably on a monthly basis,’ she says. ‘It’s a really good tool to help people be more in charge when it comes to their iron intake, so they can make adjustments, whether through diet or supplements, to better manage their iron levels.’
Karolina’s business, aptly named Iron WoMan, was the winner of last year’s Wade Showcase Pitch Competition, and she’s hopeful the commercialisation plan will come to fruition in the next few years. Still awaiting the outcome of a clinical trial, Karolina’s ultimate goal is to see the product become something which can be purchased in local pharmacies.
‘The idea is to make it accessible to everyone, with the really grand vision to make it accessible in the developing world,’ she says. ‘The rate of iron deficiency in the developing world is pretty shocking, sitting at around 80% in Africa. Making it available to people in those parts of the world is something I am very passionate about, as well as helping women.’
I always thought age was a barrier, but no I feel as though I can do anything.
Karoline Petkovic
Transformative education programs at Mentone Grammar
Mentone Grammar’s Pip Madden and Justine Hamilton were part of Wade’s first UpSchool Workshop, learning the ‘how to’ of entrepreneurship of education, and strategies for incorporating entrepreneurship into their curriculum. Since then, they’ve gone on to create enormous impact in their school, developing immersive entrepreneurial learning experiences in their classrooms and modelling entrepreneurial thinking and at their schools and in their own lives. They have developed, refined and taught entrepreneurial programs across years 6 - 8 at Mentone Grammar, each time creating memorable learning experiences for their students, and in turn shifting their mindsets.
‘It’s a way to get kids focused on key competencies, rather than just a grade or a product,’ Pip says. ‘It’s a really powerful learning experience - the students almost lose the fact they’re in the classroom when they’re working like that.
And for the students themselves, exposure to the world and mindset of entrepreneurship has opened their eyes to endless possibilities.
For students at Mentone Grammar, the experiences just keep on coming, with 180 year 8 students soon to participate in a bespoke prototyping bootcamp at Ormond, where they’ll not only build their ideas into reality through prototyping, but will also develop valuable life skills including teamwork, resilience and independence. And for Pip and Justine, the journey has really come full circle, with both stepping up as Wade’s newest UpSchool facilitators. With such incredible experience under their belts, they’ll have the opportunity to share all of their
‘It’s a way to get kids focused on key competencies, rather than just a grade or a product,’ Pip says. ‘It’s a really powerful learning experience - the students almost lose the fact they’re in the classroom when they’re working like that.
And for the students themselves, exposure to the world and mindset of entrepreneurship has opened their eyes to endless possibilities.
For students at Mentone Grammar, the experiences just keep on coming, with 180 year 8 students soon to participate in a bespoke prototyping bootcamp at Ormond, where they’ll not only build their ideas into reality through prototyping, but will also develop valuable life skills including teamwork, resilience and independence. And for Pip and Justine, the journey has really come full circle, with both stepping up as Wade’s newest UpSchool facilitators. With such incredible experience under their belts, they’ll have the opportunity to share all of their
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