EPIC Pathways is a First Nations-led organisation that inspires the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders through culturally grounded mentoring, leadership development and community connection. As demand for its impactful programs grows rapidly, the leadership team is preparing to scale nationally. EPIC Pathways needed a comprehensive, sustainable strategy to scale its success while keeping expansion place-based, locally informed and deeply rooted in its organisational values.

Social Ventures Australia (SVA) Consulting partnered with EPIC Pathways to translate these ambitions into an actionable roadmap. SVA brought together the leadership team’s internal strategic thinking and co-designed a holistic approach, including a clear strategic plan, phased implementation plan, robust impact measurement framework and dynamic financial model. This work positions EPIC Pathways to navigate growth, communicate its impact and secure the investment needed for nationwide expansion.

Overall impact

EPIC Pathways now has the information it needs to plan, prepare and make strategically informed decisions about national expansion. Through this project, the EPIC Pathways leadership team gained an actionable roadmap to guide its national scaling goals. The Theory of Change and Outcomes Framework help the team clearly communicate its impact to external stakeholders, partners and prospective funders.

An accompanying action plan supports the team to embed impact management into everyday practice. The dynamic, assumptions-driven financial model also helps the leadership team make informed, evidence-based decisions about the pace and scale of the rollout.

Together, these elements create a strong foundation that enables EPIC Pathways to confidently stage the expansion of its programs in line with its organisational capacity.

Background

EPIC Pathways has built a strong track record of delivering impactful programs. However, moving from a small, nimble organisation delivering local programs to an organisation operating nationally requires rigorous planning and a clear framework for strategic decision making. To support sustainable and well-managed expansion, EPIC Pathways sought a partner to help consolidate its vision into a clear, actionable plan. The organisation engaged SVA Consulting to co-create a strategic plan for this critical growth phase. SVA also developed the supporting impact framework, impact approach and financial modelling EPIC Pathways needs to implement the strategy effectively.

Vision and objectives

The project aimed to help EPIC Pathways scale the impact of its programs nationally with clarity and confidence. The work focused on giving the organisation the strong foundation it needs to scale sustainably and effectively. Key objectives included developing a concise strategic plan, mapping a phased three-horizon implementation plan, establishing a detailed programmatic impact management approach and building an assumptions-driven financial model for expansion.

Together, these objectives helped bridge the gap between EPIC Pathways’ current operations and its ambitious vision for national growth.

The EPIC team are all hands in.

Role we played

SVA Consulting worked closely with EPIC Pathways’ leadership team to co-design the foundations for scale. Our team reviewed and synthesised existing internal documentation and thinking to distil the organisation’s broad aspirations into a focused strategic plan on a page. We then developed an actionable implementation plan, sequenced to help EPIC Pathways build the internal capacity and capability needed before scaling its programs nationally.

To help EPIC Pathways measure and articulate its impact, we designed a detailed programmatic impact management approach across its six programs. This included an Impact Narrative, Theory of Change, Outcomes Framework and comprehensive data collection tools, along with guidance on cyclical data collection and analysis.

Finally, our team built a dynamic, assumptions-driven financial model to estimate the delivery costs of national program expansion and strategic initiatives, giving EPIC Pathways a clear financial roadmap for sustainable growth.

Outcomes

EPIC Pathways now has an actionable roadmap that clearly outlines how the organisation can achieve its strategic goals. The roadmap also gives the leadership team the information it needs to make informed decisions about national expansion. In addition, EPIC Pathways now has an impact framework to evaluate success and clearly communicate its value proposition to external stakeholders and funders.

These outcomes give EPIC Pathways greater clarity about its direction, the tools to demonstrate its impact and the evidence it needs to secure further investment for national expansion.

As EPIC Pathways has grown, we knew we needed a clear roadmap for how to scale while staying true to our purpose and values. SVA became a genuine partner, helping us distil ideas and ambition into a practical strategy supported by a robust impact framework and financial model. We now have the confidence, clarity and tools to make informed decisions as we expand, ensuring our growth remains community-led, culturally grounded and sustainable. We’re grateful to the SVA team for their expertise, generosity and commitment throughout the journey.” Tom Wensley • Chief Operating Officer, EPIC Pathways
EPIC's Sydney team sitting around in a yarning circle.

Sydney’s EPIC team sitting in a yarning circle.

Two people standing side by side, one with their arm around the other, both are facing the camera.

Rhi and Aunty Denise Proud.

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