Our CEO, John Burn, was recently interviewed by Eternity News in the article titled;

The real story about ‘jobs and growth’ in Australia. 

Meet the man who traded corporate life to walk alongside those living with disadvantage.

Following are some of the highlights as John shares his Many Rivers story:

“I had seen some of that disadvantage when travelling with my family, and I thought there’s no point in going overseas and doing something there if there’s a need right here.”

“The first thing I did was go and buy that map on the wall. I sat down with the program manager at the time and said, ‘where do we think people who need our support probably are? Let’s start working out how we develop a funding model that would enable us to go in and work there.’

“Wind it forward, and we now have a data model, so we know exactly – down to 2300 statistical areas – the nature and extent of disadvantage happening across our country.”

“It’s not the number of businesses that matters but rather, changing people’s circumstances. “Our purpose is about walking alongside people who are experiencing individual and structural disadvantage.”

“Today, Many Rivers has 45 field staff working in 32 locations around the country. The organisation is largely funded by philanthropists, corporate partners and government agencies.

John Burn (right) chats with Michael Ross, Olkola elder, traditional owner and board chairperson of the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation, based in Cairns, Queensland.

“This has enabled Many Rivers to help create and expand more than 2000 small businesses in the past decade – from florists and barbers, to artists, web designers, beer brewers and many more.” John Burn, CEO Many Rivers

Read the whole interview on Eternity News here.