Insights

For four weeks across October and November we hosted our first Thinker in Residence – Elizabeth Ellis, Executive Director of Time + Tide Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Time + Tide tourism company, who provide socially responsible and compassionate safari tourism in Zambia and Madagascar.

The opportunity

Having a Thinker in Residence was a mutual opportunity for learning, knowledge exchange and professional development, as well as deepening our relationship and collaboration.

Elizabeth was keen to spend time at Think Impact working on Social Return on Investment (SROI) projects in different contexts, delivering social value and SROI training, making connections and continuing discussions about the intersection between social and environmental outcomes.

How we connected

Elizabeth discovered Think Impact when researching assured SROI reports and she came across the Wellsprings for Women report we had produced. She contacted us and the relationship began, with discussions about mentoring Elizabeth and her colleagues to apply the SROI social value methodology to Time + Tide Foundation programs. Our mentoring support started in 2023 and spanned 18 months.

We stayed in touch with Elizabeth and when she had the opportunity to come to Australia we were excited to host her as our inaugural Thinker in Residence.

About Time + Tide Foundation

Time + Tide Foundation’s vision is:

To create social value in Southern Africa by investing in individuals who have historically faced economic exclusion, especially women and girls, and actively sharing insights, skills and impact focus with our stakeholder networks.

They work in four protected areas, over 300 villages and 30 schools, with 588 primary beneficiaries, 8,900 secondary beneficiaries and a wider audience of over 19,000 residents indirectly benefitting from their programs. Time + Tide Foundation programs include:

• Home-based education (children who are differently abled)
• Female empowerment (girls at risk of dropping out of school and women who dropped out of school at a young age)
• Student sponsorship
• School support
• Biodiversity conservation
• Medical support
• Organisational mentorship
• Impact measurement and management

Thinking and working together

The four weeks with Elizbeth passed quickly, with many interesting conversations, contributions and time spent making new connections – at Think Impact and beyond.

Highlights of Elizabeth’s visit included:

• an in-person event with 25 clients and friends, where Elizabeth shared her work and the group explored questions around how value is experienced and expressed in different cultural contexts, and how we can design and invest in social outcomes to drive environmental outcomes (and vice versa)
• contributing to SROI projects in community housing and indigenous businesses
• delivering a two-day Social Value and SROI practitioner training for Monash University alongside two of our accredited practitioners.

Having Elizabeth with us strengthened our work, and we hope hers! She inspired us with her insights and perspectives, as well as her curiosity and energy. Our connection and collaboration is further cemented, and our conversations and mutual learning will continue into the future. Get in touch if you would like to join the conversation!