Wunan acquires Social Compass

10 December 2013

Wunan recently acquired Social Compass, a highly regarded social research company providing robust research and program evaluations for organisations across government, business, university and community sectors.

Social Compass has already conducted a considerable body of work  in the Indigenous space, including that previously commissioned by Wunan; a FIFO feasibility study and Real Jobs II examining employment demand in the East Kimberley. Their approach is designed to inform future policy and practice for organisations committed to building stronger communities and promoting social inclusion.

Acquiring Social Compass provides Wunan the opportunity to focus its area of research more directly on issues impacting the Aboriginal community, and develop a stronger role in understanding   Indigenous disadvantage and informing  future policy and practice. We equally see the need to evaluate our own activities, particularly Living Change, to substantiate program design and outcomes: very necessary in the further development of effective programs and funding partnerships.

A strong research agenda, combined with Wunan’s existing strengths will enhance our position in thought leadership through which we can further contribute to the development of stronger communities and social inclusion.

Social Compass is managed by Dr Jehan Loza and Dr John Price, and can be contacted on (03) 9844 5366

DEC13-John-Price

Dr John Price

John arrived in Australia in 1982 as a 19 year old who had just badly failed his last year at school. After working in retail and then for World Vision he enrolled at Deakin University to do an Arts degree and left a decade later with a PhD in Sociology. He has spent the last 20 years working in the non-profit, academic and business sectors. Prior to joining Social Compass in 2006, John worked with Transfield Services where a key area of impact of his work was to develop meaningful opportunities for Indigenous people and communities to participate in the large infrastructure and maintenance contracts Transfield Services held.

He has been a regular visitor to the East Kimberly for almost a decade working with a number of communities and organisations across the region on a range of projects. He is a Board member of Abolishion (a nonprofit fighting human trafficking in Europe) and is a founding editorial board for International Sustainability, Accounting, Management and Policy Journal.

More importantly, he is passionate about Manchester United and Hawthorn Football Clubs

DEC13-Jehan-LozaDr Jehan Loza

After arriving as a six-year-old refugee from Egypt, Jehan Loza had a vision of one day wearing a red suit and running her own business. Research into marginalisation and exclusion – an issue she experienced herself – led her into a life of academia which included researching the community capacity building needs of Arabic-Australian people for the Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights, Deakin University and leading a review of corporate and government reports for Deakin University’s Corporate Citizenship Research Unit.  In 2004, she left academia to realise her childhood dream and established Social Compass.  Social Compass is a social research and evaluation Company. One of the Company’s core business areas is in Indigenous research and evaluation, including developing Reconciliation Action Plans and Indigenous employment and engagement strategies for the corporate sector and government sectors. Jehan’s work with Indigenous communities throughout Australia is driven by her interest in the current issues facing sectors and the need for partnerships and programs that add value to all sectors for the benefit of stronger communities. She believes stronger community  is based on collaboration and capacity building partnerships and programs aimed at social inclusiveness.

In 2013 Jehan was named Victorian Finalist for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards. Her biggest professional achievement is passing on Social Compass to Wunan – making Social Compass a fully owned and operated Indigenous business. Her biggest personal achievement is raising three strong, independent daughters and putting up with John Prince’s rantings about Manchester United!

Topic: Living Change