Philanthrocapitalism and the State: Mapping the Rise of Venture Philanthropy in Public Education in Australia

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

This article maps the rise of venture philanthropy in public education in Australia, examining how policy networks mobilize high-level systemic reform and governance technologies. It analyzes philanthrocapitalism as a fundamental shift enabling policy mobility and modes of redistribution. Using network ethnography, the study focuses on Social Ventures Australia (SVA), showing how venture philanthropy leverages resources and reshapes traditional government’s form and function.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

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Design/Approach/Methods

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Introduction

Philanthrocapitalism and the State: Mapping the Rise of Venture Philanthropy in Public Education in Australia Emma E. Rowe Deakin University ECNU Review of Education 2023, Vol. 6(4) 518–540 © The Author(s) 2022 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311221128840](DOI: 10.1177/20965311221128840)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311221128840)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: This article maps the rise of venture philanthropy in public education in Australia, exploring how policy networks mobilize high-level systemic reform and governance technologies. This is philanthrocapitalism, a fundamental shift for policy mobility and modes of redistribution. Design/Approach/Methods: Drawing upon network ethnography, I focus on a node called Social Ventures Australia (SVA), an organization committed to revolutionizing venture philanthropy in Australian education reform. SVA, the brainchild of McKinsey & Company and multinational corporations, is a useful example to map how venture philanthropy leverages resources and, in the process, fundamentally changes the shape, functionality, and form of traditional government. Findings: SVA has successfully advocated for several intermediaries, such as an evidence broker (Evidence for Learning), a national charity (Schools Plus), and a national education research institute (Australian Education Research Organisation). Overlapping philanthropy and state, the intermediaries stand as a critical assemblage and technology of governance. Originality/Value: Venture philanthropy and the way in which these networks achieve high-level systemic reform is under-researched in Australia. It stands as a critical lever of policy reform in Corresponding author: Emma E. Rowe, School of Education, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood VIC 3125, Australia. Email: [Emma.Rowe@deakin.edu.au](Emma.Rowe@deakin.edu.au) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). public education. This article will scrutinize and map the way these networks mobilize reform and function as an identiﬁable form of economic exchange. Keywords Education policy, philanthrocapitalism, policy networks, reform, state, venture philanthropy Date received: 5 December 2021; revised: 1 February 2022; accepted: 11 May 2022 Introduction The rise of venture philanthropy in public education is well researched in countries such as the U.S.(Saltman, 2010; Scott, 2009; Scott & Jabbar, 2014; Tompkins-Stange, 2016), or the UK, Europe, and elsewhere (Ball, 2012; Ball & Olmedo, 2011; Ball et al., 2017; Olmedo, 2014), but, as a recent development in Australia, it is under-researched in terms of how venture philanthropy inﬂuences education policy (see Hogan & Williamson, 2022; Hogan et al., 2022; Rowe, 2021a, 2022a) . Venture philanthropy is partnering rather than giving, or in other words, building inﬂuence and affecting change—and often this “partnering” occurs in a context where charitable acts are desperately needed—such as public education. In Australia, public schools are largely funded by their respective state or territory government rather than the federal government, whereas the continually growing and expanding private sector is funded by the well-resourced federal government, and high parent fees (Forsey et al., 2017; Rowe, 2019) . Public schools are increasingly underfunded,

FAQs

What is the focus of the article on venture philanthropy in Australia’s public education?

The article maps the rise of venture philanthropy in public education in Australia and explores how policy networks mobilize systemic reform and governance technologies.

Which organization is used as the main example in the study?

The study centers on Social Ventures Australia (SVA), described as a peak venture philanthropic organization and an influential node in reforming public education.

What intermediaries has SVA advocated for, according to the findings?

SVA has advocated for intermediaries including an evidence broker (Evidence for Learning), a national charity (Schools Plus), and a national education research institute (Australian Education Research Organisation).

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk