Sophie Weldon Travels from Melbourne, VIC

Topics

Achievements
Collaboration
Communication
Creativity / Innovation
Engagement
Female Speaker
Generations
Inspirational
Philanthropist
Relationships

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Sophie Weldon is an experienced public speaker, filmmaker and recognised leader and innovator in her field. She is a strategic storytelling and intergenerational specialist, a Gross National Happiness Ambassador, 2016 ANZ Innovator of the Year, 2015 Myer Innovation Fellow and in 2014 she was a Changemaker in Residence at FYA. Sophie has worked with several key social and private sector organisations before starting her own social enterprise, Humankind Enterprises.

The seeds were sown for this business when Sophie was 14 years old. She experienced first hand the profound impact that one story can have when she became friends with a former refugee called Adut. Adut's story and their friendship inspired Sophie to stand up for things that she believed in. In fact, it led them to become Australia's first Youth Representatives for the UN Refugee Agency.

Many things came from that one story, including a life long friendship and the passion to value, record, share and archive stories in order to create more positive and authentic connection. Because when people are connected, they are happier, healthier and more resilient. Sophie's vision is to now harness the power of storytelling and connection in order to strengthen the fabric of our Australia.

Her organisation develops projects and platforms to harness the power of strategic storytelling to provide individuals and organisations with the opportunities, tools and processes which foster connection and enhance acceptance, collaboration, well-being and resilience. They use their storytelling video booths, workshops and programs to develop meaningful pathways of connection and are collaborating with Deakin University to enable scaling of its personalised story programs and activities though the development of a story-capturing App.

They have developed a specialised strategic focus on connecting youth and seniors via storytelling and aim to significantly build resilience and social connection in regional, rural and urban communities.