Creative Spaces NetworkA passionate advocate for social enterprise, I've worked in that space for more than ten years both in Aotearoa New Zealand and in Australia, including at Crescendo where I'm its CEO.
Crescendo is situated in Auckland and is a social enterprise that uses music to engage marginalised and disconnected rangatahi (young people), empower them with industry skills and experience, and see them carve their own meaningful pathways in the world.
Crescendo has been delivering impact since 2012, working with some of the hardest to reach populations in Aotearoa. Here rangatahi are empowered to reconnect to themselves and to community, and seek meaningful employment that leads to thriving future communities.
We’re honoured that most of the rangatahi we work with and mentor are of Māori and Pasifika cultural descent. Most are not in employment, education or training (NEET) and many are in care or custody.
Contributing meaningfully to our communities
Without our services, some of the rangatahi we work with may still be in the justice and custody system, on supported benefits, suffering from poor mental health, battling addiction, and lacking the confidence and resilience to contribute meaningfully to our communities.
In May, Crescendo opened its new studio as an anchor tenant at Te Puna Creative Hub in Henderson, Auckland. Its focus is on empowering youth with a powerful combination of wellbeing, technical and employability skills, preparing young people for the future of work in the gig economy and connecting them to employment pathways in the creative industry – an industry with more than 57,000 jobs in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland alone.
We are innovating in the charitable sector by operating as a social enterprise. The combination of our charitable trust status and our commercial music studio allows us to stay committed to sustaining our impact model while growing our income diversity stream, and providing a direct pathway for youth employment.
Using their skills to create community and networks
For young people not fitting into traditional education systems, we focus on how they can use their skills and talents to create community and networks; work on real-world industry projects; and enhance their CVs to secure future employment now.
.jpg "Artist Lewis T.")
We also focus on the soft skills and cultivating the right attitude to develop the resilience needed to keep growing and learning. This will see them succeed in the ever-changing technology required to work in the creative field.
So why social enterprise? Crescendo took the plunge into social enterprise in 2020 because we believed this holistic business model was most suited to our impact goals of working with rangatahi.
The model provides a source of sustainable income to support the charitable youth mentoring mahi we do. It also provides youth with employment pathways, access to industry, and exposure to a broader community they are encouraged to connect with.
As many community-focused organisations find, not all funders are able to keep up with the demands that rangatahi and the community are facing. The social enterprise model is designed to both work with funders, supporters and government along with also freeing up untagged funding so that we can be responsive to our youth and community needs as they arise.
As a social enterprise, Crescendo is armed with more tools for resilience and longevity than many other charities. We have the ability to scale up and down, weathering the storms of economics, politics and trends.
Crescendo Studio a firm financial foundation
The commercial arm, Crescendo Studio, acts as the firm financial foundation to our whare (house), holding us solidly and with stability. Crescendo Studio is forecasted to cover most of the rent for our new premises, ensuring we are a going concern and proving our ability to take on a new lease.
.jpg "Crescendo musicians creating digital content")
We’ve faced many challenges as a social enterprise start-up: for example, testing business products and services, adapting to market trends, and marketing to two different audiences.
In my opinion, the most important thing in running a successful social enterprise is ensuring a balance between income and impact. We view “income” as a positive thing, as “profit-for-purpose”. We use income to support others and we see our entrepreneurial pursuits as contagious, infecting rangatahi with their own entrepreneurial and positive pursuits.
If you or your organisation are interested in this model, feel free to reach out to me (T: 021 076 1182 E: cat@crescendo.org.nz) for a kōrero in person, phone or online. I’ve already supported many budding social enterprises and founders, and I’m keen to help you.
Crescendo is a member of the Creative Spaces Network. You can check out other creative spaces in the Auckland region.
