FOR LOVE & MONEY- THE PODCAST
EPISODE 40 - RAVI PRASAD
Posted on May 15th 2023
Founder of Parliament On King
Ravi Prasad is a former ad man turned social entrepreneur.
A strategist, who in a career spanning over 20 years, worked for agencies including, EURO RSCG, Leo Burnett, John Singleton Advertising, Ogilvy & Mather, Sapient Nitro and Clemenger BBDO.
Over the years his work has won, or been a finalist, in awards, from W3 in New York to the IIB Awards in London, and from ADMA to AIMIA in Australia.
In 2013 Ravi shifted the focus of his life and work to pursue his interest in social justice and civil society, and founded Parliament on King.
Parliament on King addresses the barriers to social, cultural and economic participation faced by asylum seekers and refugees.
It’s also a social enterprise catering business, that offers training, work experience and paid employment to asylum seekers and refugees – all funded by the proceeds of its commercial catering operations.
The project has been recognized with awards including a Refuge Council Humanitarian Award and the Good Food Guides ‘Food for Good Award’. Ravi is also the recipient of a UTS Human Rights Awards and the 2022 NSW Human Rights Medal.
Ravi shares such valuable insights in this interview. There’s a theme that threads its way throughout our chat - the importance of belief, clarity of belief, self-belief and shared belief. This, combined with the other recurring themes of the power of ‘action’ to build belief; and the fallacy of limited resources, makes for an interview that I really hope will inspire people to act without any further delay.
Some of the highlights of our conversation
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A great philosophical discussion about the role of love in business
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Ravi’s view on the role of the social enterprise sector and the future of business
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The life defining moment that forced Ravi to examine his beliefs and what happened as a result
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The idea of limited resources being a barrier to starting to live your beliefs.
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Parliament On King’s start-up story – you’re going to want to listen to this!
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The importance of action – “doing things” – to create proof and belief to take the next step
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The power of doing something small
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What can one single person do? The power of one
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The secret to people being trustworthy is to trust them – Ravi’s story about his experiment on trust
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Social businesses are built on belief. Social business leaders can make their own rules.
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Parliament On King’s ripple-effect of impact –on asylum seekers and refugees, the homeless and other vulnerable groups
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Shared narrative, transformative leadership, action and stories
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Transparency of impact that builds trust
Connect with Ravi