Danya Sterling - The Big Issue
About Danya Sterling
Currently focused on her role as the Manager of Education Enterprises at The Big Issue in Australia, Danya has a wealth of knowledge and experiences, particularly in her field as an “education specialist”. Her experiences in teaching combined with her passion to create positive societal impact have allowed her to be involved in two amazing initiatives, both of which aim to raise awareness on the issues of homelessness, as well as empower students to develop their own business solutions to combat the hardships these people face.
Q1: Tell us about your current position at The Big Issue.
“ We challenge students to develop a concept and business plan for a new social enterprise”
As Manager of Education Enterprises, I look after 2 different initiatives. The first being The Big Issue Classroom, which employs people who have been homeless to share their experiences with school students. The second being The Big Idea, which is a university partnerships program where we challenge students to develop a concept and business plan for a new social enterprise. Along the way, these students get access to our highest level of leadership and networks for advice on their programs, hopefully allowing them to make it through to our judging rounds where they get even further access culminating in an awards event at PwC. In previous years, they have been parachuted straight into the final stages of the PwC graduate program for the following year. I also do development for education initiatives at The Big Issue. I’m currently working on how we can create even more shifts of work for our participants in our existing programs.
Q2: You mentioned working with PwC throughout The Big Idea, what do you think is the importance of having the private, public, and not for profit sector working together towards a shared goal?
“Both sectors have to be lined up to create common good”
It is critical. I believe there are things in society that can really only be done by the public sector while there are things best accomplished through the private sector. The fact is, both sectors have to be lined up to create common good in the world. I think we can all imagine what would happen if the opposite is true. So we really hope that the private, public and not for profit sectors are lined up to work towards a better Australia and a better world.
Q3: As a manager of Education Enterprises, why do you think building awareness and knowledge in the community is a key step in achieving desired impact?
“But it’s not just those personal actions, I also think that by building awareness, we hope that the behaviour of the wider community is also changed”
At The Big Issue, we are trying to facilitate social inclusion and create work for people who have been marginalised and disadvantaged through their experiences. The work that I do focuses on building awareness and knowledge in the community at the same time as creating shifts of work. I think our community outreach messages are as important as the shifts of work that we’re creating as outcomes of our programs as they equally reduce the stereotypes for the homelessness and disadvantaged which will help the daily experiences of our participants and people in their demographic cohort by creating understanding that nobody wants to be homeless. Sometimes it’s bad luck and can unfortunately happen to people. I hope creating this understanding will allow the hundreds and thousands of students we have spoken to to feel empowered if anything difficult happens in their own lives and to seek help if they do end up homeless. But it’s not just those personal actions, I also think that by building awareness, we hope that the behaviour of the wider community is also changed. Whether that change is through their purchasing power by looking to supporting social enterprises and responsible businesses or if it’s through people’s voting behaviours, it is critically important.
Q4: What do you think is the key to helping homeless, disadvantaged and marginalised individuals integrate into society?
“As our CEO has often said, we'd like to work ourselves out of a job”
I think it is important to have a very strong support network as well as appropriately tailored services to ensure people aren’t able to fall through the cracks. We need to ensure that people are supported long before problems get too entrenched and too intertwined. As our CEO has often said, we'd like to work ourselves out of a job. We hope that there is no need for social enterprises like The Big Issue, that social issues can be caught and dealt with very early on. Public sector services or services funded in part by the public sector largely deal with these issues, and we think that they’re critical.
Q5: Has impact has always been something you strived to create in your career?
Yes, I think it probably has. When I was a child growing up, I really wanted to be a teacher and reflecting back, that's very much an impact kind of job. As I started my career, I was certainly attracted to community initiatives. I did do bits and pieces in the private sector but I was definitely most interested in the stuff that I did in the community sector. I feel like I've been very lucky with the work that I do at The Big Issue as it has allowed me to have the best of both worlds in that I get to do some teaching and also have a very strong, immediate community impact.
Q6: Can you tell us about an experience that you've had working at The Big Issue that was particularly rewarding?
“One of the first e-classroom workshops was connecting Broken Hill Secondary College students to our classroom studio in the middle of Sydney to allow them to have the same resources as their city counterparts. That was a high point for me”
Ten years worth of work, so that's a tough one! One that does stick out to me and particularly in the current climate where everything is being moved online, is The Big Issue e-Classroom, which I mentioned before as having previously homeless individuals share their experiences to high school groups. We have face-to-face workshops in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, but we also run an e-classroom where students can access our material and speakers through video conferences. We worked on that largely in respect to requests from regional Australia to get easier access to resources. One of the first e-classroom workshops was connecting Broken Hill Secondary College students to our classroom studio in the middle of Sydney to allow them to have the same resources as their city counterparts. That was a high point for me. That stands out.
Q7: What do you think students can do to raise awareness for homelessness or even help the homeless? I know it’s really hard for some students because they feel like they can't make an impact while they are still studying. So I just want to get your take on that.
“Knowing that young people are particularly vulnerable to factors that can cause homelessness and supporting each other is the first thing I think that you can do.”
Absolutely. Well, I think the first thing is the message we give to all students about those early intervention measures. Know that these things can and do happen to people within our own circles so creating a strong support network is important. Students deal with a lot of challenges and in some ways can be on the frontline in terms of precarious living themselves. People who are paying rent and living independently on student incomes or jobseeker's allowance, they're in a precarious situation. So I think understanding that you and your cohort are vulnerable is important. Graduating from university involves a lot of big changes, resulting in mental health challenges that can impact people's lives. Universities can also be places where people experiment with substances and alcohol in particular or where people are getting into relationships that are hopefully respectful and positive. Knowing that young people are particularly vulnerable to factors that can cause homelessness and supporting each other is the first thing I think that you can do.
Another thing is to support a social enterprise. If you buy coffee, buy from a social enterprise cafe or from a local cafe. I know big companies give young people jobs so it can feel a little bit out of step. However supporting small businesses promotes the creation of great and sustainable jobs.
Also, I think it’s important to think more broadly about society instead of very little issues. Some people in your cohort will be voting for the first time through various elections so making sure that students are aware of wider issues in the lead up to elections is important.
“Be vocal, engaged citizens… You can write letters to politicians and encourage other students to do the same.”
Lastly, be vocal, engaged citizens. It's okay to write a letter if you feel like something is not going well, even if you don't have voting rights. You can write letters to politicians and encourage other students to do the same. That can be really important.
Q8: What are some skills you would say are imperative for someone looking to work in such a people-based and impact driven sector?
“Figure out what your passions are, work hard, develop your skills and then you'll find a niche.”
The first thing that I would say is we just need talented people across all disciplines. If I look at The Big Issue, we have an amazing frontline team who work with Big Issue vendors directly. They don't necessarily have specific training but often come from a retail background because it involves sales of magazines. We also have magazine editors pulling our magazine together. We have a finance team who have accounting degrees. We have a CEO who has extensive leadership experience but came from a different sector. We have myself who's kind of an education specialist in my team. So what I would say is that if you are wanting to work in the social impact space, there is no specific degree to complete. Figure out what your passions are, work hard, develop your skills and then you'll find a niche. One of the things we know is that the world of work is changing. There are projections about automated jobs that terrify anyone who will be joining the workforce for the next little while.
“The key thing that differentiates those who will thrive in this sector are those who have empathy, are understanding and embrace diversity…”
But the key thing that differentiates those who will thrive in this sector are those who have empathy, are understanding and embrace diversity, have critical thinking skills and like relating to people. It doesn't matter what your hard skills or background or degree area is, there will always be a way to create positive social impact. I actually believe that you don't need to work in a not for profit or a social enterprise to create a positive impact. Whatever someone's career is, we would say think about the impact that you can make from there.
Danya Sterling - Manager of Education Enterprises at The Big Issue
Big thank you to Danya Sterling for taking the time to answer our questions.