About Us
Illume Foundation is a social enterprise talent accelerator that supports students, graduates, professional and early-stage founders develop their entrepreneurial mindset and employability skills so they can launch their career or venture faster than they normally would. We bring startup know-hows, connections and industry mentorship to provide a ‘real-world’ experience to accelerate careers.
By connecting talent with innovative companies and industries that are on the cutting edge of technology or solving complex societal or environmental challenges and helping humanity to move forward, we aim to inspire the next generation to build the world they want to be part of!
What is Illume Foundation and why is it a social enterprise?
Our mission is to catalyse innovation and entrepreneurship through talent development.
We work with startups, universities and industry to ‘make Opportunities Accessible and breaking the No Experience No Job Cycle’.
As a social enterprise, our programs are offered at highly subsidised cost through philanthropic, government and industry support. We also offer fully funded scholarship programs for students from Indigenous and first nations background and those surviving hardships.
We’re aligned with 7 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more about the UNSD Goals here https://sdgs.un.org/goals
- Goal 1: No Poverty: Through dedicated programs, initiatives and scholarships targeted to underrepresented communities and those historically have been marginalised thus ‘breaking the No Experience No Job Cycle’
- Goal 4: Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
- Goal 5: Gender Equality: Achieve gender equality and participation through dedicated programs
- Goal 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Build resilient future by collaborating with industry, academic and government to foster innovation and entrepreneurship
- Goal 10: Reduce inequality through dedicated programs and participation opportunities
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals: Collaborate with industry, academia and government to foster global entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Why does Illume focus on Startup Internships?
A startup is a company or business typically in the early stages of its development that uses innovation and/or technology to scale rapidly and capture global markets.
As such startups focus on experimentation – continuously testing, iterating, and learning. This provides a training ground for entrepreneurial thinking, critical problem solving and innovative mindset. An internship at a startup can provide you with a wealth of experience.
Does Illume work with big companies?
While our placements and internships are focused on startups, our fellows have gone on to join firms like PwC, Deloitte, Accenture post Fellowship.
Our focus to work with startups comes from our mission to foster the startup ecosystem. We believe many of the big companies have the resources, manpower and brand to attract talent while startups need every bit of support, especially during the early days of their operations.
We do hope to collaborate with big companies, particularly innovative and technology companies as we believe ecosystem fosters when we all collaborate.
What’s it Like to Work with Illume Startups?
Read Illume Fellow’s (Bang An Duong) experience on Startup Internship
‘The Road Less Travelled: A Plunge into Startups with Startup Gippsland’
https://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/the-road-less-travelled
Our values:
Intellectual Curiosity | Integrity | Pay It Forward | Mental Resilience |
Having a growth mindset & be inquisitive about learning | Doing the right thing in the right way | Give back to our community & support one another | See challenges as opportunities and failures as learning experiences |