We’ve been working on something behind the scenes that matters to us. The pro-bono time we donate to support important conversations where they are needed most is being formalised under the banner ML Giving.
We believe in doing work that aligns with our values. Work that we are proud of. And we’ve also built our company on the principle of generously giving and sharing. To that end, we’ve always donated time to issues that we consider important to society, democracy and engagement more broadly.
We don’t often talk about it, because marketing in general isn’t really our favourite thing (which is why we tend to skip advertising and just give stuff away instead!). However, we felt it was time to let others know about ML Giving. Because to ensure we reach the people we need to reach and have the impact we want to have through this work, we need to let you know about it.
our vision for mL Giving
To support emerging and underserved people/communities to create deeper conversations leading to stronger democracies.
the purpose of mL Giving
ML Giving provides an avenue through which:
pro-bono/not-for-profit work can occur on issues/topics that we deem ‘important’ for society, democracy, and broader engagement
our ‘people’ can donate their time to these same issues
we donate money to enable better local and community action around democracy and key issues facing society
we leverage our ‘effort’ to create more action
we can change or improve deliberative practice (through research and advocacy).
“Giving has really always been part of who we are. We are just making it official now! We can’t wait to take this even further over the coming months and years.”
outcomes we hope to achieve
Wider Reach
We can help those who really need it and cannot yet afford it.
Deeper Meaning
We deepen the work we do in the world – we work on work we consider important.
Direct Pursuit
We can pursue something we want to advocate on/for.
Raise the Bar
Move direct learnings into the public space to increase the knowledge and skill level in engagement and deliberation.
what kind of work will we do?
The principles that underpin the work we select are:
The work must focus on furthering local community inclusion and action beyond just getting input and more into enabling local decision-making.
The work must involve democratising the process as much as possible for society i.e. opening up to more voices, more often and giving more control away.
The work must involve communities or issues that won’t ordinarily get funding or support to do the work.
The whole MosaicLab team will have input into what work we do, and the MosaicLab Board will approve which projects we invest in.
To further make this possible, we have offered everyone on our team the option of spending up to one full day per year donating their time where it is needed most.
Ml giving in action: empowering refugee women
Our first pro-bono project officially under the new ML Giving banner was facilitating a business planning process for refugee women in Geelong, hosted by Cultura.
Five workshops were delivered that empowered participants (10 women from mostly Farsi and Dari speaking communities) to develop their own business plan.
This work also helped to build confidence in the women, who over the process began to share their stories, speak in English and increase their participation in each session.
Read about how this project helped these incredible women get ready to turn planning into action in this case study.
Want to talk to us about an idea?
We do have to limit our not-for-profit work to just a few special initiatives each year, however, we will give every approach to us due consideration.
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