Laura O’Reilly first turned her eye to business and charity works because of her brother, Shane.
Laura realised that Shane, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, did not enjoy the same quality of life that he should – his social, employment and educational opportunities were severely limited. It was these conditions that lead Laura to leave university, and found Fighting Chance, a youth-led, not-for-profit organisation.
Fighting Chance works with adults with severe and profound disabilities that limit their life quality, to provide both social and employment opportunities.
Since her win, Laura has been steadily improving and growing her foundation, which she says is made easier by the exposure gained through her participation in the Women of the Future awards last year.
“We’ve had about six or seven companies come forth and say that they’re really interested in partnering with [us],” she says of her organisation’s progress, “Which really gave us the confidence to increase the work opportunities.”
“Looking back on last year,” she says, “You can sort of look at the campaign and all the publicity we received because of it as the starting point.”
Laura has since used her prize money to purchase equipment for her organisation and fly to meet and partner with companies willing to contribute to Fighting Chance.
“We’ve gone from a little organisation,” she says, “To something companies consider to be credible, because of the association.”
To make a difference like Laura has, and to have a chance to share in a $100,000 prize pool, visit wotf.aww.com.au and follow the prompts.
