Eddie Blass, Inventorium Pty Ltd CEO: Founder and CEO: “The focus of all of our work is on growth, co-creation and transformation through learning.”

In Australia, at least 25% of high school kids do not complete their schooling; in the USA, it is just over 10%. These are huge numbers and have dire consequences for future society in terms of crime, social cohesion, and reliance on welfare payments, as well as sustaining intergenerational cycles of poverty and deprivation. Research shows that these outcomes occur because the mainstream school offering is not suited to cater for the needs of these students, and so the cycle continues. The motivation behind the Inventorium was to create an alternative offering that meets the needs of these students  and offers them an alternative future stemming from education on their terms to meet their needs. Once kids drop out of school, it is almost impossible for them to return, as they have literally been left behind. Inventorium wants to disrupt this norm to make school education available to all students, regardless of their needs and ‘fit’ in the traditional model.

Inventorium offers a variety of educational platforms, each designed for distinct high school age groups and developed in accordance with its innovative pedagogical approach. The organization provides teachers, tutors, facilitators, and various resources to align with the students’ needs and aspirations. Here, the students are in control, setting their educational objectives while Inventorium offers support to help them thrive academically. Students engage with tutors on a one-to-one basis online, allowing them to dictate the pace, content, and specific results they aim to achieve.

In conversation with Eddie Blass, Founder and CEO of Inventorium Pty Ltd

Tell us in brief about your curriculum and your training process.

We treat our students like adult learners, and so they behave like adult learners. The curriculum is designed to support their self-development and critical thinking which  supports their growth in decision-making, problem-solving, and learning. Students start by exploring who they are and who they want to be, the factors that have contributed to the development of their identity to date, and how they want to solidify their identity in the future. In doing this, they generally find a future direction in which they want to travel, and our role then shifts to supporting them on this journey, considering any qualifications they need: literacy, numeracy, and communication skills; digital skills and financial understanding; time and resource management; and how to advocate for themselves.

Q. Specialized services come with an expensive price tag. How do you maintain your affordability and profitability?

Until now, we’ve bootstrapped all development, but as we grow, we recognise the  need for some investment in the systems side of the business to allow the platform to perform well at scale. We are a social enterprise, a ‘for purpose’ company, and a registered BCORP. Profitability has not been a key driver; keeping the education offering affordable and available has been the driver thus far. However, as we develop the tech with investment, we will look to developing a market for the tech side of the business that will provide a suitable return for investors, while the education delivery element will continue its partnership model, working with students who are marginalized, at-risk, or have already dropped out of the education system.

Q. Keeping in mind the social and cultural bondages that generally trim down the freedom, confidence, and boldness of women, what steps, programs, or policies would you like to suggest for women who want to be successful like you?

Systemically, we live in a patriarchal world. All the systems and processes of government, societal institutions, and measures of success were initially put in place by men, and so male privilege dominates the world in which we need to operate. I used to try to fight this to bring about change, and it was exhausting. Now I just ignore it. I know and expect to hit barriers, have to find my way around hurdles, and be criticized rather than appreciated by anyone within the status quo—because they are accepting of the world as it is, and I am not. I work to my agenda, in my way, to achieve what I want to achieve, and I ignore as much of the ‘noise’ coming from the current system as I can. I try not to let it upset me anymore; I don’t waste my energy getting angry with it and fighting it; I just get on with what I’m doing, knowing the impact the Inventorium is having on its students, and letting that be enough. Women need to define success in their own terms, not in the terms of a society where the measures were created by men in a capitalist system.  I don’t want to be a success in that world. I want to be a success in a world where collaboration, contribution to society, and helping people succeed and be happy on their terms are the important measures, not personal wealth, profitability, and beating the competition.

Q. Why is gender balance and having a more diverse workforce important, especially in senior management teams?

If two people in a decision-making team think the same way, one of them is unnecessary. Everyone experiences the world differently, and if we don’t draw on and celebrate what that difference has to offer, then we have a very limited perspective on the world and nothing to learn. The key is for people to feel safe expressing themselves in the workforce, rather than feeling a need to conform. They need to have fun and feel a bit mischievous, as that is how great ideas emerge. Some of the best additions we’ve made to the Inventorium started out as jokes, but as we let the jokes run around everyone, something serious emerged out of them, and that got implemented. But it takes time to develop that culture. Simply having diverse quotas around a table will not make it happen.

Q. There’s so much buzz about male allies. Conversations, studies, and presentations about mentors and sponsors are almost always about how leaders who are men can help women. Do you think that these narratives are important and necessary?

I think that it is really important for women to have male mentors because they can help them understand how patriarchy works so they can challenge it. If you don’t understand these narratives, you cannot work out how to out-maneuver them—it’s almost guerilla warfare. The more you know and understand the enemy, the better prepared you are to take them on. However, I think most people think the role of these mentors is to help women succeed in the ‘man’s world’. If that is what a woman wants to do, then that is fine, and male leaders can help support them with this, but the real opportunity is guerilla warfare tactics.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

We’re adding basic foundation skills to the curriculum offering this year as we have discovered that a good number of our cohort have reached high school without knowing how to read, write, or do basic mathematics.  And while technology can support people in surviving without these foundation skills, the ability for this cohort to learn and progress beyond a base level is restricted, so we’re going back to basics and putting in place something to address this for those that need it.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

We are launching in the USA. We’ve proven our concept and business in Australia, and now we’re going global, hence the need for some tech investment. The interest in the USA is significant among philanthropic foundations and community provisions, so we are  working out our business model and partners to launch in 2024. We have for-profit and not-for-profit companies registered, one for tech and one for education delivery provision, and we have an incredible advisory board that is guiding us in our development.

I’ve partnered with an amazing education entrepreneur, Tara Rodoni, for this American adventure, and we’re collaborating widely to firm up our  our strategy and funding model. This is a great partnership, as I am more of an innovator and Tara is more of an entrepreneur, so together we will be unstoppable. We’d love to hear from anyone who wants to talk about investment opportunities, partnership opportunities, or has a community we could support.

Eddie Blass, Founder & CEO

“The curriculum is written in such a way that it is easy for anyone to engage with as it is process based not content based, so the key requirement of the learning facilitator  is that they are interested in what the student is doing. Anything you get stuck with – call our teacher support team, which is what we are here for.”