Jay Boolkin

Pitchfest Panel and Day 1 Speaker

Jay Boolkin is a passionate social entrepreneur with a diverse background in international development, philanthropy, and social enterprise. As a former Strategy Advisor at Spark Strategy and co-lead of Social Impact & Partnerships at Seventh Street Ventures, Jay has dedicated his career to advancing the impact economy.

Previously running Scaling Impact, the Social Impact Hub's impact investment readiness accelerator, Jay now takes on the role of Collaboration Manager where he is responsible for building relationships and initiatives with key stakeholders, identifying collaboration opportunities, and delivering projects for the benefit of the impact ecosystem.

Recognising the need for better sector connectivity, Jay co-founded Social Change Central, Australia's only opportunities portal for social enterprises, which reaches over 10,000 people monthly. He also serves as board member of the Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT (SECNA), the sector-led peak body for social enterprise across NSW and the ACT.

Jay has been an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development and was selected as a 2015 Myer Innovation Fellow, one of Australia’s top 50 young social entrepreneurs by the Foundation for Young Australians, and the Young Entrepreneur Finalist in the Sydney SHINE Awards. He blogs at Social Good Stuff, which is consistently included as one of the "20 Best Social Enterprise Blogs & Websites". Jay holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Marketing and Management, a Graduate Diploma in Project Management and a Masters in International Development.