Discrimination and marginalization still exist across the world.  Lack of education, racism, economic inequality and a historical legacy of exclusion can combine to put whole classes of people at risk.  The example of Australia's Aboriginal people is particularly compelling.  Like Native Americans in the United States, the progressive segregation of Indigenous Australians has resulted in reduced opportunities for advancement.  The data show a striking disparity in human development between Indigenous Australians and the country as a whole.  Compared to the country average, Indigenous Australians are about half as likely to graduate high school, twice as likely to be victims of violence, three times more likely to be unemployed, and six times more likely to be homeless.

The Silver Lining Foundation was founded by an Australian businessman-turned-social entrepreneur in Wondai, Queensland, to cultivate success in at-risk people on a sustainable basis.  Donations from In the Running will support The Silver Lining Foundation’s National Indigenous Centre for Enterprise (NICED) and its “Enterprise" program.  NICED currently supports four selected “Young Entrepreneurs" between the ages of 17 to 19, from the local Cherbourg Aboriginal community.  NICED uses an innovative, simultaneous approach to personal and professional development called the “earning and learning" model, which first instills confidence and skills, and then places its participants in an apprenticeship to transition to full-time employment and self sufficiency after the twelve-month program.

Sustainable change requires a system that can perpetuate and grow, not one that is forever reliant on donor grants.  The Silver Lining Foundation has developed a system of simultaneous education and employment and an ambitious schedule for growth that shows great potential.  This system focuses on each individual Aboriginal person (in a culture that is very relationship-oriented), and does not mandate any one prescription for success.  Silver Lining (like KENWA) pursues a comprehensive and efficient approach to Aboriginal advancement: both the recipients of its programs and its employees come from the Cherbourg community.  Aboriginal leaders mentor participants with the hope that the positive effect of the “learn and earn" enterprise model on the community will inspire more Indigenous participation.  The Aboriginal people near Wondai are supportive of NICED and have named it BAHUN JAL MÓNÓ, meaning the "Place for People of Tomorrow."