Engage Change

Connecting people
with
impact stories regeneration culture creativity humour nature leadership wonder strategy one another

How might we inspire purpose, deepen engagement and deliver impact?

Engage Change is dedicated to exploring questions like this with changemakers like you – in enterprises, communities and networks across Australia.

Local learning lab with WWF-Australia and partners (photo: Nathan Baldwin)

Nature Play SA conference emceeing (photo: Cameron Edwards)

Dynamic State summit (photo: Nathan Baldwin)

Youth Action Plan forum (photo: Channel 44)

Strategy. Exploring better futures with ambition

To gain clarity, lead with passion and focus on what’s most important, we all need insight, guidance and professional support.

Our work in strategy considers your core values, the systems within which we operate, and how you can successfully inspire, inform and involve others with your mission.

Leadership. Developing courage and confidence

An organisation’s impact is defined by the quality of its leadership. Cultivating better leaders is an intentional process. It considers who holds positions of influence and how best to support meaningful growth.

We bring contemporary insights, resources and approaches to leadership development for teams, brands and networks of people ready to lead with purpose.

Facilitation. Co-creating and curating connection

Our approach to facilitating and designing workshops and larger-scale gatherings and strategic forums brings out the best from the co-design process.

We can help you creatively think and work through processes to reimagine social, environmental and economic relationships, stories and outcomes.

Mentoring. Building on individual strengths

A trusted advisor is an asset at any stage of your career or enterprise. Matthew brings decades of experience across the realms of business, community and government to one-on-one sessions for values-driven individuals.

A new enterprise, exploration of new networks, or simply a sounding board for your strategy, investments or hiring decisions can benefit from mentoring – what we focus on starts with you.

Emceeing. Bringing everyone’s stories together

It’s a great feeling when everything goes well with a big conference, forum or event. Curation and production are important, though it’s vital to have a great emcee.

Matthew, Engage Change’s founder, is a natural event host, bringing warmth, empathy, responsible time management and a sense of humour to your in-person, online or hybrid events.

Storytelling. Articulating and sharing inspiration

We all need to be understood. This is why stories matter so much. The way we communicate; the language, imagery, media and how it’s shared needs to look, sound and feel authentic.

We can help your story, your brand and the movement you lead to be understood, embraced and shared by your community.

Activation. Delivering changemaking projects and experiences

With genuine partnership almost anything is possible in organisations, communities and places.

We design ways to bring people together with empathy and ingenuity, enabling new relationships, narratives and projects of any scale to take root and flourish.

Hearts, Minds and Guts

How might we bring our passion, intellect and grit to the work of changing our world?

Hearts, Minds and Guts is a fascinating and fun leadership development and team-building experience. This highly adaptable workshop is designed for purposeful humans in almost any business, community or government organisation or network.

Available in person, online and in hybrid mode. Enquire to learn more.

Some nice things people have to say about us…

We recently engaged Matthew to facilitate a series of research events for us involving deliberative methodologies. Matthew is a powerhouse of creativity and enthusiasm. His vivacious spirit and innovative mindset made each session not just a learning experience, but also an exciting adventure.

Matthew is not only fun to work with, but his unique approach kept participants engaged and energised over long sessions filled with insightful exchanges and enlightening discussions

Rachel Ambagtsheer, Associate Professor, Centre for Public Health Equity and Human Flourishing, Torrens University

Our long-standing community network of services had a reputation for brave advocacy, but lacked consistency of strategy and structure to be as effective as we needed to be to influence change.

Matthew’s highly skilled creative and consultative approach slowly and respectfully brought the diverse members of the existing state-wide network along with the Executive to an exciting new brand design, website development, storytelling tools, strong governance structure and membership model.

We continue to rely on Engage Change’s keen understanding and expertise to assist us to guide an ever changing and growing peak body.

Susie Smith, Co-chair, Embolden

Matthew is an exceptional human. I say this for many reasons: he is incredibly knowledgeable; an excellent communicator; a humble professional; a powerful leader; and has a unique ability to bring a sense of calm in whatever situation he is in.

I’ve seen this with a small group in a workshop setting or meeting, though to an audience of hundreds of people. Matthew emceed the Nature Play SA conference with over 200 educators in attendance. It wouldn’t have been such a success without Matthew’s skills, experience, and flexibility.

Jason Tyndall, CEO, Nature Play SA

Matthew skillfully brought together a diverse group with a shared commitment to realising the regenerative potential of the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu region.

His adept facilitation unearthed common purposes, resulting in transformative alliances and expanded local and global projects. Matthew’s ability to cultivate enthusiasm not only among participants but also regional partners is a testament to his facilitation prowess.

This collaborative effort not only aligned with the highest ambitions of our Local Learning Lab but also opened up avenues for continued partnerships to realise these ambitions.

Carli Liembach, Innovation Manager, WWF-Australia

A2040 was an ambitious project to build an engagement-driven strategic plan that struck the right balance between community voice and local government planning needs.

Matthew took on the huge task of creating a strategic narrative that was authentically reflective of the proud Alexandrina community. He wove old threads of engagement and research with new strategy and stories, bringing community, leadership, and staff together to workshop priorities and themes.

As a program for change, A2040 was highly collaborative and iterative, producing a suite of bold publications, video and other media products. The following village conversations Matthew facilitated across our region gained our council and my team national awards for leadership in placemaking and planning.

Kathryn Gallina, General Manager Wellbeing, Alexandrina Council

During the development of the new State Youth Action Plan, Matthew supported us in co-creating and delivering a consultation event with young people, often going above and beyond to ensure the event was well supported, engaging, and successful.

Matthew utilised his strong skills in facilitation, emceeing, activation and storytelling to build and deliver an effective forum which connected and empowered young people to contribute and feel supported. Matthew’s agility, creativity, work ethic and thoughtfulness were crucial in developing and delivering a successful, interactive event that has provided rich youth insight and input for our plan.

Mark Hollis, Principal Policy and Programs Officer, Department of Human Services

Engage Change is a collaborative consultancy connecting people with impact.

If you are ready to deepen engagement and embrace change for your community, your cause or your customers, let’s talk.

Matthew Wright-Simon (he/him). Founder of
Engage Change

Matthew is the energetic human behind Engage Change. Along with a range of collaborators across Australia, Matthew supports businesses, institutions, governments, communities and networks to deeply explore problems, co-create strategy, articulate engaging stories and take pragmatic action.

Prior to launching Engage Change, Matthew led Ecocreative, a pioneering design and communications consultancy (founded in 1998).

Matthew holds qualifications from the Regenesis Institute of Regenerative Practice; the International Association for Public Participation; Common Cause Australia; and the Leaders Institute of South Australia.

Matthew is also co-director of Newday Leadership, a unique social enterprise devoted to ‘inspired leadership for the greater good’. Newday holds an annual leadership summit in November and delivers a transformative regional program for regenerative leaders.

As local Dean of microphilanthropy group, the Awesome Foundation, Matthew has helped give away more than $100,000 to people ‘doing something awesome’.

In 2020, Matthew was honoured with an Impact 25 Award as a ‘changemaker champion’.

Connect. Curious about working with Engage Change?
Email hello@engagechange.au or call +61 8 7228 6850.

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Ngadlu tampinthi, Kaurna Miyurna yaitya yarta-mathanya Wama Tarntanyaku. Ngadlu tampinthi purkarna puki-unangku, yalaka, tarrkarritya. We acknowledge the Kaurna people are the traditional custodians of the Adelaide Plains and pay respects to Elders past, present and future.

Connecting people with impact stories regeneration culture creativity humour nature leadership wonder strategy one another