Closing the Gap: driving change through creativity with Beyond Empathy

Beyond Empathy is an organisation that works with communities across Australia to shift perceptions and generate positive social change. With a strong connection to First Nations communities, their team of artists, mentors, community workers, local practitioners, and leaders forms creative partnerships with people in need, empowering and transforming lives in the process.

Beyond Empathy successfully ‘pitched’ their idea to receive COORDINARE funding from an engaged audience at an event called Pitch Night in Wollongong, 2019.

Funding awarded to Beyond Empathy led to their Illawarra team offering a unique and inspiring podcast project called SHIFT − Shaping How I Feel Today. The project gave young people living in public housing estates in the Illawarra the opportunity to use audio, storytelling, multimedia, and live performance to tell stories that stimulate conversations about health.

By providing a creative way for young people to express their thoughts and feelings about health, including the importance of looking after our mental health, SHIFT helped create new pathways to better health and wellbeing.

Read the full case study here!