Jan Owen AM

Jan Owen AM has been an Executive Director of Social Ventures Australia (SVA) since 2002. Prior to this, Jan was Founder and inaugural Chief Executive of the CREATE Foundation.She has more than 25 years experience in the non profit sector, including establishing and operating numerous organisations and cross-sectoral partnerships. Jan serves on the boards of Social Firms Australia, the CREATE Foundation, the International Women’s Development Agency, Inspire Foundation and the International Board of Advisors of the Medical Knowledge Foundation. She is the author of “Every Childhood Lasts a Lifetime” (1996).SVA works with innovative non-profit organisations to increase their growth and impact to drive transformative social change. SVA’s activities are focused on three areas – supporting a selected portfolio of non-profit organisations, consulting to the broader non-profit sector and developing social sector partnerships. SVA, along with Social Traders, is co-hosting the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) in Melbourne in October 2009. SEWF aims to support the emerging Australian social enterprise movement and will showcase successful enterprises which are achieving social justice outcomes through innovative ideas and strategies – both locally and from around the world.