{"id":318403,"date":"2022-05-19T12:57:51","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T02:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=318403"},"modified":"2022-05-19T17:27:02","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T07:27:02","slug":"unique-raffle-to-back-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/05\/19\/unique-raffle-to-back-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Unique Raffle To Back Entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dean Foley (Photo: LinkedIn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 19, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barayamal – a charitable association encouraging Indigenous entrepreneurship – has launched a unique fundraising program.<\/p>\n

The registered charity was set up in 2016 by NSW man Dean Foley.<\/p>\n

Since then it has run mentoring and business accelerator programs for First Nations people.<\/p>\n

He said these would-be entrepreneurs often had trouble raising capital as banks were unwilling to lend money to invest in Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n

Dean felt powerless as he watched other First Nations people around him struggle to find support.<\/p>\n

“Funding is scarce. People feel frustrated when they have an idea that could help the community but can’t get funding to implement it,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Without access to capital, these people would never be able to achieve their full potential.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something strange about Australia. We spend billions on commercial for-profit lotteries, and yet many communities could really use that money.<\/p>\n

“I recently heard a great idea from a friend – what if we make a lottery called the First Nations Lottery?”<\/p>\n

Dean has been inspired by the well-known Mater and Endeavour lotteries which support positive community activities.<\/p>\n

“Why don\u2019t we create a national lottery where all the money goes to First Nations community development?” he said.<\/p>\n

Dean has started small, with a $10,000 first prize raffle and $5 tickets sold across four States: Queensland, NSW, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.<\/p>\n

Barayamal plans to use the money raised through this first raffle to bankroll its community development programs.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dean Foley is a Kamilaroi man from Gunnedah.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After completing Year 12, he went to university and also served five years in the RAAF.<\/p>\n

In 2019, he won the CSIRO Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander STEM Professional Early Career Award and was featured on Kochie’s Business Builders<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n