Solai Valliappan is a tech investor, startup advisor and a champion for female founders and Women of Colour. She’s Chair of Forever Projects, a not-for-profit that helps women in Tanzania start their own businesses
In Indian culture, whenever it's your birthday it’s custom to donate either your time or money as a blessing for the year ahead. It was a ritual that was quite ingrained in my family. My parents came to Australia as migrants, so they didn’t have much to give at first. Even when they eventually did, I distinctly remember Dad saying that you can give money, but your time is the most valuable thing in the world. That really stuck with me and made me think about what I could do with my time, because it’s easy to throw money at a cause and forget about it but, when you put your time and effort in, then it really means something.
I always thought that charity was something I’d do after I retired. But about five years ago I did the Observership Program (a program that gives young, talented individuals structured experience on non-profit and government-appointed boards), and Joe Skrzynski AO, the founder of one of Australia’s biggest private equity firms, gave a talk about how he’d dedicate at least half a day a week to for-purpose work. And I thought, if he can run one of the biggest firms and still do this, then why should I wait until I retire to sit on charity boards and get involved? It really shifted my timeline of giving.
What drives me is systems change and a strong sense of social justice, which was also a big part of my upbringing. I want to put my time and energy into things that are going to have a long-term impact. I work in startups, and I recognise that you can also come into not-for-profit work at a discount for greatness, and what you do at the early stages can really impact the next round of growth.
Although I financially contribute to different causes, I predominantly give my time. I’m chair of Forever Projects, a not-for-profit that helps women in Tanzania start their own businesses and become financially independent to stop the orphan crisis. Women go through a 12-month programme and are given formula milk as part of it, which in Tanzania costs the equivalent of a week's wage. We help them start their own businesses so by the end of the programme they have independence and a very healthy baby.
I met the founder five years ago, and at the time I'd never met a not-for-profit founder who was applying startup principles and concepts to the work. The business model is unique in that we have core donors who give towards the operating model. This means that when a public donation comes in, 100% of that money can go towards the actual projects in Tanzania. In addition to Forever Projects, I also sit on the Finance Committee of the Sydney Writers Festival, which is encouraging me to read more fiction!
The work in Tanzania has taught me the importance of listening to and being guided by local partners. On one of my trips there I was part of a startup panel, and a Tanzanian founder was talking about the mindset of Westerners who come to help, and she said something that really stuck with me: “Build with us, not for us.” At Forever Projects, we work with local partners because they know best what their community needs and which programmes will work. Our job is to concentrate on getting them the money to make it happen.
The other thing I've learned is that you don’t have to retire to do this kind of work. I can grow my giving whilst my career is in motion because there's a lot that I've learned from the not-for-profit side that I can apply to the for-profit side, and the other way around. They're all interchangeable skills. And the last lesson is actually from the She Gives story you did with Prof Larissa Behrendt AO, (read her story here) who encourages all her boards to be giving boards. When I became chair of Forever Projects, I suggested we do the same thing, and now we have a board where everyone donates their time and money.
I want more people to start giving earlier in their career, because whenever you speak to someone who is further along, they often wish they did it earlier. You really can do it in tandem. I also think how we view philanthropy has been traditionally very homogeneous and I want that to change as well. We need more diverse voices to invest in all sorts of causes rather than funding always coming from a particular cohort of society. Otherwise only a limited range of ideas are seeded. It’s actually very similar to what I see in startup investment.
I'd also love to see more data-driven impact and decision making. When you know exactly where the funds and time are going, then you can better measure the impact. When I was on the Observership Program, one of the boards I was assigned to handed me all this data and I created a graph for them. It was fairly straightforward, but having all that information laid out meant that they could see the wood through the trees. It was amazing how a couple of graphs could suddenly unlock all these fresh insights.
Is a technology investor, advisor and board director based in Sydney.
Prior to her involvement in the investment space, she qualified as an Actuary and progressed to the position of Chief of Staff in the Australian business of a global insurer. Soon after she pivoted to work at a startup where she wore many hats but predominantly worked on the finance side. It was here she became increasingly curious about venture capital investing.
Using money originally set aside for an MBA, Solai began angel investing and has been investing advising in the Australian startup ecosystem since, which has included consulting for family offices, VC funds, accelerators and startups.
She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chair of Forever Projects, a not-for-profit working with local partners to help create a self-sustaining future for Tanzanian women, she is also a member of the finance committee for Sydney Writers’ Festival.
