“We’re just getting started”: How Innovation Bay helped Forever Projects off the ground

“There’s someone I REALLY think you should meet.” 

Sometimes those words fall flat, but when Bradley Busch introduced me to Ian Gardiner at the end of 2019, I had no idea what a game-changing moment this would be for me as a founder, and for the trajectory of our non-profit, Forever Projects. 

So I was thrilled to see Ian mentioned in the 100 Innovators list last week. Huge kudos to him, Phaedon Stough, and the whole Innovation Bay team for the generous value they’ve created for so many people like me over the years. 

Before I unpack more of that, some background…

I lived and worked in Tanzania between 2010-13, having moved there with my wife and two kids. During our three and a half years living and working there, we fostered and eventually adopted three more beautiful children, and moved home to Australia at the end of 2013. 

The Dombkins Family. Source: Supplied

Inspired by all we’d seen and experienced, we launched Forever Projects in 2015 to help Tanzanian women fight poverty so their families could flourish. 

Within a few years, the generosity of our fundraising community enabled our Tanzanian partners to scale their successful pilot project to four locations across the country! 

So in late 2019, I decided to leap out of my full-time maths teaching gig to focus on scaling Forever Projects.

Which brings me back to “There’s someone I REALLY think you should meet”. 

I’m so grateful Ian took time out of his busy schedule to meet with me and Brad over coffee, hear about Forever Projects and invite me to join Innovation Bay in 2020.

I must say there was some serious impostor syndrome on behalf of myself – a maths teacher by trade – and our charity – despite aspirations of operating like a startup, who were we to be part of an innovative tech community?!

Despite the self-doubt, Ian wholeheartedly welcomed me and FP to join. 

After just one in-person event, I got a taste of the amazing community they’d cultivated over time, sitting next to amazing humans like Hannah Yan Field and learning from outstanding leaders like Katherine McConnell during an IWD event in Sydney. 

THIS was the community I’d been looking for to level up as a founder and accelerate Forever Projects’ mission. 

Then… we went into lockdown.

And the impostor showed up louder than ever!

“How are you going to lead a Tanzanian non-profit locked down in Wollongong?”

“What were you thinking of leaving a steady job for all this stress and uncertainty?!?”

“If this doesn’t work out, will they give you your job back?”

I can honestly say that the community that helped to quiet that impostor and reframe my mindset from simply surviving lockdown, to actually thriving and growing through it, was Innovation Bay. 

Led by Ian, who showed up generously week after week for this community online. Everything from hosting engaging weekly webinars, cultivating networking opportunities, and providing access to a community of resilient humans who refused to become victims to the current constraints and circumstances. 

This was STILL the community I’d been looking for to level up as a founder, and accelerate Forever Projects’ mission.

Post lockdown, I’ve joined Innovation Bay’s Canopy community, which has provided unique access to a firehose of innovative thinking, amazing humans, and most importantly, the self-belief to show up as the best founder I can be. If I can aspire to serve my team and the FP community even 0.1% of the way Ian has served his, I’ll be stoked!

In 2022, Forever Projects was proud to join forces with Innovation Bay on an impact partnership:

Money: as a business, IB gives to our operational costs as a charity, enabling 100% of public donations to reach Tanzania. 

Time: IB team members joined us for What’s Your Kilimanjaro, challenging themselves to ease the challenges of others.

Talent: the team uses their skills for good with FP. For instance, Ian leveraged his facilitation superpowers at our recent ‘Future of Work’ event.

Network: countless introductions with the potential to unlock mutual value where 1 + 1 > 2. 

Forever Projects has now sent $1.75 million to Tanzania since we began, empowering more than 1,500 women and 2,000 babies across 6 locations. 

And we’re just getting started.

If you’re a founder and on the lookout for a community to level up in – both as a leader and an organisation – I can highly recommend Innovation Bay.

Mark Dombkins is the founder of Forever Projects.