GOODSTART is the name of the childcare centres pivotal to Michael Traill’s social enterprise work, but it also sums up his thoughts on life.
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The businessman, who began his life at Wangaratta, believes being raised in the country has helped his high-flying career.
“Compared to the city I think there is a great sense of spirit in the country which has served me well,” Mr Traill said.
But the son of Border rail campaigner Bill Traill also acknowledges parental help and expectations saw him outstrip peers from his Morwell high school.
Mr Traill wants Australia’s education system to improve to spread advantage and his work in social enterprise has seen him work to that goal.
The former Macquarie Bank financier left his job at the investment firm to become the founding chief executive of Social Ventures Australia.
“I’ve certainly found the work in the social purpose world enormously rewarding in making some sort of difference, but I also feel very privileged to have had 15 years at Macquarie, which was personally, professionally and financially rewarding,” Mr Traill said.
The Sydneysider tells his story in his autobiography Jumping Ship which was launched at the Albury library this week.
After investing more than $400 million in 42 businesses, including Neverfail bottled water, at Macquarie Bank, Mr Traill wanted to use his skills in a parallel arena.
His not-for-profit work has seen him take over 646 former ABC childcare centres and rebrand them Goodstart and back the Beacon Foundation which guides school leavers away from the dole and into work.
Mr Traill said a colleague’s advice “we don’t care what you know, until we know that you care” had helped guide his mindset in social enterprise which he sees as being about “making a difference in people’s lives”.
“You make a big mistake if you think there’s a dramatic difference between the business world and the non-profit world,” he said.
“I think there’s a strong two-way learning.
“It’s hard to measure things in the social enterprise world but it’s important to look at what you’re doing to achieve things and understand and evaluate your programs.
“Are they achieving their goals, are they making a difference?
“Financial investors want to see visible evidence of performance.”
