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Hacking For Homelessness

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At We Are Mobilise, innovation is at the heart of everything we do. We believe in the power of collective creativity and the public’s potential to tackle complex issues like homelessness in Australia. This passion for fresh ideas led us to host our first-ever hackathon over the weekend, “Hack For Homelessness,” bringing together brilliant minds to forge a path towards ending homelessness.

Why We Hacked:

Our mission was to ignite a spark of innovation regarding our one of our biggest problems. For this particular challenge, we wanted to find a way to make homelessness everybody’s problem in Australia. We gathered some exceptionally talented and passionate people to generate new solutions and ways to engage all Australians in our mission.

Hackathon Highlights:

  • Groundbreaking Concepts: The hackathon yielded three incredibly exciting and innovative concepts that will be developed further. These ideas represent fresh approaches to charity work and reflect our commitment to pushing boundaries.
  • Community Building: The event brought together a lively community of tech, data, and design specialists who’s solutions are now contributing to our Project 10,000 initiative, which aims to positively impact the lives of 10,000 people by 2030.
  • Expert Leadership: An experienced team spearheaded the hackathon, including We Are Mobilise’s Head of Innovation, Bri Collier, GoFundMe’s senior director Nicola Britton, and seasoned project manager, Jake Hamilton. Their skills and expertise were instrumental in the event’s success.
  • Diverse Participation: We leveraged our connections with organisations like Canva, Girls in Tech, and the broader Mobilise community to attract a talented and diverse group of participants, ensuring a well-rounded approach to tackling homelessness.

A Weekend of Passion and Innovation:

The two-day hackathon was a whirlwind of energy and excitement. Four dedicated teams tirelessly worked on developing innovative concepts and functional prototypes.

The event was further enriched by lightning talks and capability-building sessions led by industry experts like Deloitte Digital Experience Designer Zoe Heacock and We Are Mobilise’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, Danielle Schutte, and Anthony Alsop.

Participants had valuable networking opportunities with each other and the fantastic judges: Geo George from Mayfly Ventures, Vivi Hu from Canva, and We Are Mobilise Founder and CEO, Noah Yang.

The Winning Pitch:

The event’s culmination saw three exceptional teams pitch their outstanding ideas and prototypes. The winning team, Joanne Kim, Lucy Gao, and Ella Ferreira captivated the audience with their “Gamified Landing Page & Mobilise World” concept.

Conclusion:

“Hack For Homelessness” was a resounding success, bringing our commitment to innovative approaches to life. Not only did the event generate exciting new concepts that will be implemented, but it also reaffirmed our belief in the power of collaboration and innovation to positively impact the lives of those facing homelessness.

We want to shout out the commitment and engagement of the volunteer team, which came with an incredible range of expertise and experience. We leaned heavily on them to help us understand what to expect from the event and what made for a good hackathon. They were also instrumental in finding content in the lead-up to share with the participants to get their heads around the challenge statement.

We look forward to sharing the progress of these ideas and the continued work of our newly formed community as we look to continue to grow these events.

PS: Don’t worry if you missed out on this one. We have big plans for the hackathons in the future. Make sure you’re following us on socials to stay up to date.

Andrew Sloman

Andrew has recently joined the Board after initial conversations with Anthony and Noah where they expressed a desire to source risk, governance and financial expertise to the organisation and would Andrew recommend anyone from his networks.

So taken was Andrew with the organisation, the mission, strategy and people that he decided to contribute himself and leverage his 30 years experience as a registered company auditor, risk and internal audit practitioner.

As a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, you can often find him criss crossing the Tasman Sea and mumbling the occasional word of Te Reo Maori. He also holds governance roles as a Board Member of the Victorian Local Governance Association and is an independent member of Risk Committees at the Richmond Football Club and the A.G. Coombs Group.

He is passionate about managing risk in sectors including charities/not-for-profits, Local Government, Sport and Sport Infrastructure, and you will find him most weekends at the MCG cheering on his beloved Tigers.

Jenna Downer

Having spent the last decade working across corporate and philanthropic partnerships, across both National Sporting Organisations, and international not-for-profits, Jenna is passionate about the human experience, believing we all have opportunity, and the responsibility to improve to world of tomorrow.

With attitude of curiosity, and a knack commercialising programs, Jenna creates value for organisations seeking to make tangible social impact, championing sustainable development principles across commercial and philanthropic partnerships. 

With a career built around relationships and networks, weekends mean are a change of pace, often spent at the dog park with a great Melbourne-brewed coffee in hand.

Trent Milvain

Trent is the Chief Operating Officer of Law Squared.

He has overseen the firm’s growth over the past eight years alongside Demetrio Zema and the business, laying and executing the firm’s strategy–from new legal and non–legal service lines to integrating teams across Australia, United Kingdom, and most recently an office in Auckland, New Zealand.

A sample of Trent’s responsibilities includes leading the firm’s culture, capability, and day-to-day operations.

His strategic approach has also led to the establishment of a Legal Technology function that provides helps corporate legal departments optimise their legal operations & technology.

Trent advises a Melbourne-based FinTech and is a founding board member for We Are Mobilse which is on a mission to positively transform the lives of those facing homelessness across Australia.

Previously, Trent worked as a Commercial Manager for one of Australia’s leading retail groups and has advised a construction firm in Melbourne.

In his free time, Trent enjoys learning and experiencing new things, spending time with friends and family, and watching live sports.

Chris King

Chris King

Chris is one of the founding volunteers of We Are Mobilise, which started in 2016 and has served as a director on the board since its conception.

Early in his time with We Are Mobilise, Chris realised the power of conversation and was troubled by the isolation that those facing homelessness felt. It became clear that the isolation was feeding a disconnect, not only from society but also from their sense of humanity; compelled by this, Chris continued to do what he could to recognise, acknowledge and help those living with homelessness.

Over the years, his role has changed from a more hands-on approach running the volunteer marketing team to a more strategic role assisting the full-time staff to grow We Are Mobilise to its most impactful state.

In his day job, although rarely just during the day, Chris is a founding employee of the creative business Bullfrog, specialising in communications, commercialisation and innovation. He primarily works across Production and Client Management for various national and international companies.

Anthony Alsop

Anthony Alsop

Attracted by the impact of multiple outreach experiences in 2022, Anthony joined the board of We Are Mobilise that year before assuming the role of Chief Marketing Officer in 2023.

His career journey spans the sports industry, with stints at the Australian Football League’s Richmond Football Club and Brisbane Lions as well as Tennis Australia, and Channel 7. Beyond our Aussie borders, he left his mark in the hustle and bustle of New York with the National Basketball Association.

Anthony’s passion is storytelling, having created documentaries, TV shows, and podcasts throughout his career. He’s not just a behind-the-scenes guy; he’s been in the executive hot seat and led communications during his tenure within the AFL. He leads our marketing function and infuses his unique storytelling into our branding, communications, partnerships, and fundraising efforts.

Off the clock, you’ll find Anthony playing basketball, at the movies, or hanging out with family and friends. Catch him in action from his appearance on ABC’s Hard Quiz for a dose of his lighter side.
Danielle Schutte

Danielle Schutte

Danielle joined the Mobilise board in 2021 after a conversation with Noah where they decided they could change the world. After 2 years of volunteering, she decided that the only way we could get there was to focus on the mission full-time, when she joined as Chief Operating Officer.

Danielle has always been interested in the big global systems that impact people’s lives every day and has built a career on trying to understand and change these for the better.

This long-time hospo worker journeyed through a Masters in Public Health, stints in advocacy, to management consulting in the health sector and a strategy at a large federal government agency.

She’s been able to use this to develop our flagship programs from scratch and build the back-end of Mobilise into a more efficient operation, and making sure we’re focussed on using technology to help us help our friends on the street. You can check out her weirder side in her passion project: a podcast mixing health technology and the healing powers of music.

Otherwise you can find her riding a scooter to a gig near you or doing circus aerial tricks (badly).

CEO Noah Yang

Noah Yang

Noah is the Founder of We Are Mobilise and currently serves as Managing Director/CEO.

Challenged by the understanding that no-one in Australia should have to sleep on the street, the Mobilise journey began when Noah and a friend set out with bags of bread to have conversations with those they met. Since that day, Noah has lead We Are Mobilise from a grassroots movement focused on assertive outreach through to an ACNC-registered national charity which has recently completed the $2 million+ Nedd Brockmann campaign – positioning it ready to deliver impact across its 3 core pillars.

Noah’s background was in management consulting and he has an inquisitive nature, passionate about leveraging commercial solutions to make a social impact.

He has coupled a diverse consulting experience with a global education, informing his passion for innovation and an eagerness to deploy an entrepreneurial approach to business building.

Outside of Mobilise, Noah enjoyed building a project called ‘ASX Investor’ – a digital media channel that amassed 25,000+ total followers and featured interviews with CEO’s from across the ASX.

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