Think+DO Tank Foundation (TDTF)

Über uns

Think+DO Tank Foundation is an arts impact organisation. We make social change through the arts, in league with local people in SW & Western Sydney.
Since 2013, Think+DO Tank Foundation (TDTF) has been working within local communities in low-income parts of South Western and Western Sydney, co-creating artistic projects and social enterprises in which creativity and collaboration are driving forces.

Think+DO Tank Foundation exists to increase the level of community self-direction over everyday circumstances in low-income parts of South Western and Western Sydney. Think+DO Tank Foundation has earned a reputation as an ideas factory, and as a creative connector in the communities in which we work. In partnership with local people, we create participatory public art and community development projects, and social enterprises.

Our vision is of proud, creative, connected multicultural communities that draw on the skills of their members to achieve shared goals.

Our mission
• Think+DO Tank Foundation (TDTF) partners with low-income and marginalised communities in NSW, with a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse women and children. Together we develop a shared methodology, designing projects that have a demonstrated impact.
• We address urban disadvantage and catalyse positive change using evidence-based, arts-centred approaches to improve community cohesion, reduce isolation, and foster equity.
• We shift the cultural paradigm by creating sustainable pathways for social change, and celebrating togetherness in a multitude of languages.

Programs:
• Community house: Previously, this space used to be home to our now online bookshop, Lost In Books. In consultation with community, we redeveloped it to be a community hub, a gathering place and event venue for our creative programming.
• Employment and Training: Think+DO Tank Foundation runs an active employment and training program. Further, we train local bilingual women as storytellers, workshop facilitators and community translators to generate new skills and means of generating income.
• To Your Door is a travelling mobile stage that brings live performances, creative workshops and invitations to make art across Western Sydney.
• Lost In Books is a multilingual bookstore for children, young people and adults from all backgrounds.
• Seed of Hope is a collective of migrant and refugee women seeking greater connection with the communities around them, and a difference in their lives and those of their children.
• Multilingual Creative Classrooms Course is self-paced, accredited online course rich with research and learning – all designed to assist you and your learners and community members.
• Language Writing Academy
• The People Movers is an experimental transport solution developed by Think+DO Tank Foundation in consultation with local community members in South-Western Sydney.
• The Universe of Possibilities: In 2020, Think+DO Tank Foundation took delivery of a custom-built outreach caravan to deliver creative and language arts programming to regional settlement locations in Sydney and across NSW.
• The Writers’ Room is about cultural democracy - who gets to read, write and share stories, and cultural innovation - how those stories are told. The Writers’ Room is an invitation to join a supportive group for writers in Greater Western Sydney who write in languages additional to or other than English.
• Grow Well Community Garden: At the back of our beautiful home we have our very own community vegetable garden, thanks to our partnership with the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens.
• Homework Club: At our Community House in Fairfield, we have a dedicated after-school program to provide support in English and Arabic (or other languages by arrangement).
• The MIRROR Mentorship program exists to broaden development opportunities and industry access for talented artists who come from historically marginalised communities and who are developing literary work for children and young people (0-14 years) for publication in English and in languages other than English (bilingual works).

Suji Upasena is the Business Operations Manager of Think+DO Tank Foundation.

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.