Jumping Ship: From the Heart of Corporate Australia to the World of Social Investment

Jumping Ship is the story of social entrepreneur Michael Traill. An ambitious, competitive kid from a country town, Traill converted his education opportunities in the hallowed halls of Melbourne University’s Trinity College and Harvard Business School into a highly paid and successful career at Macquarie Bank. But at the peak of his career, in his early forties, Traill decided to leave all that behind. Reconnecting with the values of family and community that shaped his childhood, Traill founded a unique Australian non-profit success story, and became a key architect of one of the biggest social enterprises in the world.

Jumping Ship is a manifesto, built on the work of Social Ventures Australia, to reshape the Australian non-profit landscape and address social disadvantage.

About the author: Michael Traill went to the local public school in the industrial town of Morwell, in country Victoria. Through his engagement with the local community, he developed an awareness of disadvantage and deprivation in the town.

Michael spent 15 years in merchant banking and was a co-founder and executive director of Macquarie Group’s private equity arm, Macquarie Direct Investment. However, in 2002 he decided to ‘jump ship’ and joined Social Ventures Australia as founding CEO, working with philanthropists and the not-for-profit sector to improve the lives of people in need. In partnership with other not-for-profit organisations, Michael was one of the architects behind the establishment of Goodstart Early Learning, created out of the ashes of the ABC Childcare chain, and now one of the largest social enterprise organisations in the world.

Michael is currently chair of Goodstart Early Learning, Assetic Pty Ltd, SVA Social Impact Fund and a director of M.H. Carnegie & Co, Sunsuper, Australian Schools Plus, Australian Philanthropic Services and the National Museum of Australia.