ThirdStory’s first 100 days

AustraliaAotearoa New ZealandBermuda & the CaribbeanNews
Written By For Purpose

This year we took a big leap and rebranded our organisation. What’s changed in these past few months? We reflect on what we have learned and achieved in our first 100 days as ThirdStory.

 

It was a big decision to separate from our UK sister organisation Innovation Unit, so that each of us could better respond to the unique contexts we work in. We had - and still have - a strong relationship with our colleagues in the UK and a cherished shared history. From designing a new public schooling system in Bermuda to co-designing family and domestic violence refuges for women and children in Western Australia, and harnessing technologies to improve learning outcomes for young people in sub-saharan Africa, we are deeply proud of the impact we have made together across the world. 

After ten years of partnership, 2025 felt like the time for us to make a change so that both of our organisations could be more deeply connected to the places, communities and contexts in which we work. With much thought and conversation, Innovation Unit Australia New Zealand officially became ThirdStory on 1st April 2025. 

Quality time, great conversations and big ideas

As an innovation partner for government, philanthropy and other not-profits, we can often sink deep into the messy work of change and forget to come up for air. Our new identity gave us an energetic push to get out and about and share the story of our new brand with clients, partners and friends, and invite new voices into conversation too.

On the West Coast of Australia, we held a celebratory launch party in the beautiful office space we share with our collaborators Anthologie and were joined by many people who have shaped this change with us. The very next day, on a high from the night before, we co-hosted a Perth Design Week event with Gresley Abas Architects, bringing together social innovators, architects, experience designers, service providers & lived experience advocates to explore what happens when we design together. From trauma-informed spaces to speculative design, we heard practical stories of breaking silos and working across disciplines for real social impact.


A couple of weeks later we welcomed our East Coast clients, partners and friends to share our new story for change on a chilly Melbourne evening. The event brought together familiar faces we’ve worked with over the course of our decade in Australia, alongside partners and friends from more recent projects and collaborations. With conversation and laughter buzzing throughout the venue, social enterprise STREAT, our Board Director Jan Owen AM reminded us in her welcome speech that a love of conversation is a hallmark of Melbournians and central to how we work. 

We were also thrilled to participate in WACOSS’s 2025 conference, leading a session on enabling system conditions for innovation in social sector contexts, and our CEO Keren Caple spoke about encountering resistance in change processes at the brilliant ReimaginED Fremantle.

These events were a welcome reminder about the value of in-person connection. As skilled as we have become in online connection, there is nothing quite like quality time spent in the company of those who have supported us in many different ways over the past 10 years; sharing stories, insights and ideas, and building new relationships we might never have otherwise had the opportunity to begin.

Since the big change we have also seen some changes to our team too. In Aotearoa New Zealand we welcomed our newest team member Kathleen O’Hare, who joins our education-focused team - starting with supporting school transformation teams redesigning public education in Bermuda. After working in the Porirua East community in Aotearoa, where she has been a teacher and principal for 35 years, Kath helps local stakeholders reimagine learning models, integrating indigenous wisdom, Te Ao Māori principles, and international best practices to create sustainable change.

We also (very reluctantly!) farewelled our wonderful Director of Evaluation and Impact, Jay Martin, who also happens to be a talented and acclaimed author. Following the release of her second novel Boom Town Snap, Jay is off to pursue her writing career. We are so proud of Jay and wish her all the best!

 

Our 100 day project highlights

As well as the golden opportunities to spend time and work with brilliant people, we’ve also contributed to and achieved a few important milestones.

Our Social Design Academy (SoDA)

We launched year three of our Social Design Academy (SoDA). It is an 8-month, project-based program, which supports organisations, leaders, and practitioners, to deliver real world innovation projects and grow their design capability for social impact and systems change. Facilitated by our team of experienced Social Innovation Practitioners, the Design Academy runs as an online program with fortnightly workshops, regular coaching sessions, and peer-to-peer meetups, alongside a cohort of like-minded professionals and organisations. Expressions of interest are now open for the 2026 cohort - learn more here.

The Social Imagination Speaker Series

In 2024, an idea emerged with our friends at the Centre for Public Impact to initiate a series of conversations about Social Imagination - a series of methodologies and practices that bring people together to reimagine what the present and future(s) could become, beyond our current constraints and assumptions. Social Imagination seeks to disrupt and reconfigure the power dynamics that hold inequitable systems in place, and help to build agency, passion and collective momentum for change. In partnership, we kicked off the first part of our Social Imagination Speaker Series in June, with a second and third following in July. You can watch the first session of the series below and find further details plus more recordings here.

 

Codesigning New Models of Community-University Collaboration

Over the last few months we have been collaborating with RMIT on exploring possibilities for their City North Social Innovation Precinct (CNSIP) initiative, which aims to transform a northern pocket of Melbourne’s CBD into a world leading social innovation precinct. Alongside academics from RMIT’s Social Work and Human Services Cluster and local community members, we have been investigating what universities might do differently to unlock the potential of community partnerships for social change and impact. As well as a framework for collaborative partnerships, the project identified a range of specific ideas that could be prototyped as part of Precinct Development. Find out more about the City North Social Innovation Precinct and the range of exploratory projects it’s funding here.

Broome’s FDV One Stop Hub opens

In Western Australia, we were delighted to hear that the Broome Family and Domestic Violence One Stop Hub has opened its doors. Back in 2021, ThirdStory (then Innovation Unit Australia New Zealand) collaborated with the Broome community to co-develop a culturally responsive operating model for the hub. It aims to be a one stop entry point for a range of specialist supports for people experiencing family and domestic violence, including advocacy, counselling, legal assistance, and support for children, and works towards a more aspirational future that breaks the cycle of intergenerational family violence. After significant work procuring a consortium of place-based organisations to run the hub - named Bibimbiya Jan-ga Buru (women and children's healing place) - the Department of Communities announced its opening in June.

Transforming public education in Bermuda

Our support of the Bermudian Government’s education reform agenda is now in its fifth year, and we are continuing to collaborate with educators and communities as schools prepare to transition into Parish Primary Schools and Signature Schools. Read about how one school is preparing for transition here.

 

While we get busy on our next 100 days, you can…

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