Stories: Wired For Impact | Melbourne
Description
Trust, Meaning & Storytelling in a Skeptical Age
A B Corp Month Event
In an era saturated with content, storytelling has become easy. Trust, on the other hand, has not.
Audiences are more literate than ever - in persuasion, in branding, in the subtle choreography of “purposeful” language. Many can sense when a story is engineered to reassure rather than reveal. And increasingly, they are opting out.
As part of B Corp Month, this Melbourne gathering is an invitation to pause and interrogate what storytelling must become when attention is scarce, trust is fragile, and meaning cannot be manufactured.
Hosted by Humans of Purpose, the gathering opens with a short reflection from founder Mel Greblo - setting the frame for why storytelling is no longer just a creative act, but an ethical one. Why the stories organisations tell shape not only reputation, but behaviour, belief, and power.
From there, the evening moves into a live, in-conversation moderated by Bella Borello - bringing together Mel's and the following voices who sit at the intersection of data, impact and narrative:
Kristi Mansfield, Founder at Seer Data & Analytics, on what the data tells us about trust, attention and the growing gap between intention and perception
Sandy Blackburn, Founder at Impact Culture Australia, on theory of change, accountability, and why impact stories fail when they aren’t grounded in evidence
Jem Hecht, Co-founder & Community Lead at Brandkind, on turning big, purpose-led ideas into messages people actually feel
Together, the conversation will explore a quieter but more demanding proposition. That data, when paired with a clear theory of change, doesn't flatten story-telling. It deepens it.
That evidence can anchor meaning.
And that ethical storytelling requires both imagination and restraint.
Themes woven through the evening include:
the collapse of trust, and where leaders continue to misread the mood
the rise of purpose fatigue, and what it reveals about audiences’ unmet expectations
the ethics of persuasion in a world fluent in influence
the shift from branding to belonging
and the role of AI in reshaping how truth, meaning and responsibility are negotiated in 2026 and beyond
The evening concludes with facilitated conversation and shared reflection - followed by drinks and informal connection.
This is not a workshop.
It is not a performance.
It is not about perfect stories.
It is about honest ones - grounded in data, guided by values, and accountable to the world they help shape.
If you believe storytelling can still be a force for good - but only if we are willing to change how we practise it - this evening is for you.
Proudly presented as part of B Corp Month - a global celebration of businesses committed to using their influence as a force for good.
Lineup
Mel Greblo
Melanie Greblo is a purpose strategist, storyteller, and founder of Humans of Purpose, a B Corp working at the intersection of impact, business, and culture. With more than 25 years’ experience across social impact, sustainability, and communications, Melanie brings together professional expertise and lived experience to explore how stories shape power, trust, and systems. Her work reframes storytelling not as marketing, but as infrastructure for cultural and organisational change. Drawing inspiration from the women-led salons that quietly shaped Western history, Melanie examines why women’s voices, narratives, and ways of knowing are essential to addressing today’s most complex challenges - from business trust and social cohesion to planetary wellbeing. Melanie speaks on storytelling for impact, purpose-led business, and women’s narrative power, offering audiences ideas that are intellectually rigorous, culturally grounded, and urgently relevant to the world we are building next.
Bella Borello
Bella Borello is Growth and Innovation Lead at Humans of Purpose, and brings brand, digital marketing, partnerships, inclusion, engagement, operations & systems design in a powerful way to our team. A seasoned strategist with experience across corporate, government and purpose-led sectors for 15+ years. Bella loved to bring a whole-of-org approach to design human centred frameworks that are good for people & good for business. She has led national campaigns, strategic re-brand’s & repositioning, digital innovation, change management and championed meaningful partnerships.
Jem Hecht
Jem is a strategic communications, community and operations leader with over a decade of experience across investment and finance, startups, and NFPs and social enterprise. She has led brand and communications strategy, built and managed large professional communities, and designed and facilitated high-impact programs. Her work has supported purpose-led organisations globally across fundraising, business development, and growth. Jem is the co-founder of brandkind, a female-founded social enterprise and a community of professionals dedicated to helping charities, not-for-profits, and social enterprises communicate with clarity and confidence. Jem also serves as the Brand and Communications Lead at Australians Investing in Women, Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation advocating for investment in women and girls. Leveraging high quality research and data, AIIW develops tools, resources, frameworks, and case studies to drive ongoing discussions about gender equality. Jem is a Non Executive Board Director for Kids in Philanthropy and a 2026 Board Observer for the Public Galleries Association of Victoria.
Kristi Mansfield
Kristi Mansfield is the CEO and Founder of Seer Data, a for-purpose technology company turning data into action for impact leaders. She is recognised as a leading voice for community-led data access, sharing and storytelling and was awarded the Trans Tasman High Growth and Innovation Award in 2022 by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern. Prior to founding Seer Data, Kristi was Oracle’s go-to-market strategy leader for the company’s SaaS business in Asia Pacific and before this she was head of marketing for Nuance Communications. She is a published author was recognised as a 100 Women of Influence by the Australian Financial Review. She is a single mother of three children.
Sandy Blackburn
Sandy Blackburn has four decades of experience working in social change, impact measurement, capacity building and culture change both here in Australia and internationally, including working in community development and organisational development in pre- and post-Apartheid South Africa. She is one of Australia’s leading thought leaders in social impact, is the founder and CEO of Social Outcomes, and more recently Impact Culture Australia, both organisations supporting the for-purpose sector the define, measure and grow their impact. Prior to founding both impact organisations, Sandy was Head of Social Innovation for Westpac and helped to grow the social enterprise sector through her work with the Westpac Foundation as well as helping to establish the impact investing sector in Australia. She is the Deputy Chair of the NAB Foundation's Investment Committee and is a board member of Happy Paws Happy Hearts. She is a sought-after public speaker and a bestselling author.
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