CorporateConnect.AB's "The Coffee Cup Initiative"

Happy NAIDOC Week! Read our guest blog from Andrea Harms from CorporateConnect.AB. We have been working together for nearly two years and have released a number of cups in partnership, including our popular Indigenous BioCups. Income from The Coffee Cup Initiative has and continues to fund a range of capacity building strategies helping to close the social, economic and health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader Australian community. Andrea talks through some achievements from this year.

The coffee cup initiative sprang from our awareness that there are limited knowledge and understanding by many people of both the traditional culture and contemporary issues for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in achieving their goals and aspirations.

Our plan was to identify a low cost, high volume product that could communicate some key messages to a large number of people nationally, and through this, help to achieve our vision of educating the corporate sector about Indigenous Australians. The coffee cups seemed an ideal vehicle to achieve this.

The messages on the cups help to spread the word about supplier diversity and encourage other corporates to open their doors to Indigenous business and communities.

In 2015, thirty million Indigenous designed coffee cups (including BioPak's Indigenous BioCups) were distributed to clients as diverse as Google, Qantas, Accor Hotels, Red Cross, Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Tauondi College, Virgin and the Compass Group.

Funds raised from sales of our coffee cups directly benefit Indigenous communities. The David Liddiard Group team provide a wide range of skills and advocacy for Indigenous communities to access advice, expertise, resources and services which they could not otherwise source or afford to assist their economic development initiatives.

During the past twelve months, the royalties generated through the sales of the Indigenous designed cups have helped us to provide practical assistance to a number of Aboriginal communities, resulting in tangible outcomes.

Income from The Coffee Cup Initiative has and continues to fund a range of capacity building strategies. In the past year, CCAB has worked with communities in the following ways:

• Travel assistance and introductions for key Aboriginal representatives to meet with government and corporate partners in order to gain funding and support for the economic development activities in their communities.
• Financial support and skills development for the training and costs associated with engaging local Aboriginal Financial Literacy Officers to service community members.
• Financial assistance and consultancy time to gain business backing for Indigenous businesses.
• Professional expertise in tender writing, business plan development and grant proposals.
• Sourcing work experience opportunities for Indigenous youth particularly from rural and remote areas of Australia.
• The provision of quality resources to remote and regional youth centres including musical equipment.
• Across Australia, we provide assistance with community fund-raising events.
• Mentoring and coaching support to Indigenous community leaders.
• Work-ready skills development.
• Support to regional Aboriginal Lands Councils for project planning, tender writing and professional skills development.
• Project management support and expertise.

We are committed to advancing reconciliation and helping to close the social, economic and health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader Australian community.

Guest blog from Andrea Harms (B.A. Dip Ed), Executive Director of the David Liddard Group and Chief Executive Officer of CorporateConnect.AB.

More information:

• Visit CorporateConnect.AB website
• Visit The David Liddiard Group website
• Buy Indigenous BioCups – available in 8oz and 12oz double wall sizes