In this short video, Founder and CEO Nicole Dyson unpacks each of the 10 steps of our Entrepreneur’s Odyssey, the framework that underpins all the work we do at here Future Anything.

The product of seven years of delivering entrepreneurial education in hundreds of schools to thousands of students nationally and internationally, we’ve purpose built an education specific framework that draws from Gold Standard PBL, design thinking and entrepreneurial pedagogy.

The Entrepreneur’s Odyssey takes young people on a journey from looking at problems they care about, to pitching innovative solutions that bend the future. 

Eco Bed is Australia’s only sustainable recyclable anti-chewable dog beds made out of Kevlar material.

Jye & Phillip from Marymount College pitched at The Triffid on Monday 21 November 2022 at the Future Anything National Grand Final 2022 – check out their brilliant pitch here!

Eco Bed was crowned Grand Final 2022 winner, taking out the top prize worth close to $20,000.

Show this pitch to your students as an example of school-aged entrepreneurs who have developed a innovative new idea. What do they like about the pitch? What would they do differently?

Find out about how to bring Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum program to your school here.

In one of our most watched Live Learning sessions, Nic chatted with Nicola Bone, Director, Sound Off For Schools, and Louka Parry, CEO & Founder, The Learning Future, back in October 2021 about how to design schools that champion wellbeing for students and teachers.

To find out about our next Live Learning session, join our mailing list here.

Kate Clauson dives into three big stumbling blocks our teachers experience in building effective project management skills and share some of Future Anything’s top tips for overcoming them.

Read ‘Barriers and blockers to effective project management’ here. 

If you need help designing the ultimate Driving Question, start with the fantastic Tubric resource here.

One of our most popular classroom activity templates – use it to help young people studying marketing to build authentic target audience personas.

Download Future Anything’s Customer Persona Template here. 

In November 2021, Nic was joined by Joanne McEachen, Founder & CEO of The Learner First, to explore how assessment can be used to find, and grow, “good” and to create powerful learning experiences that connect young people to their real world.

To find out about our next Live Learning session, join our mailing list here.

Chloe makes lavender heat wheats in cool and funky materials. They are made with wheat and dried lavender. She is very passionate about her business.

Chloe from Redcliffe SHS pitched at QUT Gardens Theatre on Tuesday 23 November at the Future Anything 2021 National Grand Final – check out her brilliant pitch here!

Show this pitch to your students as an example of school-aged entrepreneurs who have developed a innovative new idea. What do they like about the pitch? What would they do differently?

Find out about how to bring Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum program to your school here.

Want inspiration for your next project? Check out High Tech High’s amazing student projects.

Provide scaffolding for your student pitches by following our P-P-P-P-A pitching template.

Download Future Anything’s PPPPA Pitching Template here. 

In 2022 Nic ran 3 sessions with Mykel Dixon, an award-winning speaker, author, professional musician and recognised authority in creativity, culture and the human future of work. Over the 3 sessions, Nic and Mykel unpack why it is that 98% of five-year-olds could be classed as creative geniuses when only 30% of ten-year-olds exhibit the same creative flair.

Nic  Dyson unpacks some great strategies for developing creativity in the classroom, including the cultural conditions for creative success, explicitly building the creative muscle through frequent, fun and fast practice and finally, staying curious about creativity with tools and resources to build our own capacity.

Read ‘A Playbook for Building Classroom Creativity’ here. 

Create a log in here to access a huge array of resources, case studies and strategy guides from PBL Works, who defined the Gold Standard PBL our Future Anything programs draw from. 

Our most watched Classroom Case Study, students will learn about Lauren Shuttleworth and her enterprise Words with Heart; an eco-friendly print, design and stationery company for people who want to change the world.

Nic talks with Laura McBain (d.school, Stanford, USA) and Kwaku Aning (Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking, San Diego Jewish Academy, USA) on bringing the real world into the classroom through project-based learning. 

To find out about our next Live Learning session, join our mailing list here.

Nic Dyson explores the skills and capabilities needed for young people to thrive, and unpacks how Future Anything assesses skills in our Activate classrooms.

Read ‘Knowledge is not power. Skills and experiences are.’ here. 

Mikhara Ramsing is the Founder of Miks Chai; a social enterprise that sells Chai with the mission of bringing people together to share their stories.

Use this video series and accompanying prompts to explore this fantastic local case study with your students.

Aqua Shield provides an innovative solution to the unnecessary killing of thousands of aquatic species along the coasts of Australia due to shark nets.

Kiavash, Byron & Ethan from St Andrew’s Anglican College in Queensland pitched live online on Friday 13 November 2020 at the Future Anything 2020 National Grand Final – check out their brilliant winning pitch here!

Show this pitch to your students as an example of school-aged entrepreneurs who have developed a innovative new idea. What do they like about the pitch? What would they do differently?

Find out about how to bring Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum program to your school here.

The Bright Ideas Summit, featuring Future Anything’s Future Fest, took place in Adelaide on Tuesday 4 May 2021.

It was livestreamed to 60 schools and over 1600 students across Australia. The event was created in partnership with _Southstart, Hacker Exchange, ThincLab University of Adelaide and Future Anything.

Use the Activity Kit to run your own Bright Ideas Summit!

View videos and Activity kit here. 

Dr James Fielding is the CEO & Managing Director of Audeara, a hearing health technology company that sells high-quality headphones, which personalise sound output according to the needs of the listener.

Nic Dyson shares her top tips for building better curriculum, and honoring the creative space, time, and support teaching teams need to step out of the ‘now’ and into the ‘next’

Read ‘Five Steps to Building Better Curriculum’ here. 

Catapult Cards are a series of process-driven decks of cards developed by our own Nicole Dyson.

Designed to support divergent thinking, the decks take users from looking at problems around them through to pitching their own innovative, scalable and sustainable idea.

Check out Catapult Cards here. 

In our Bending the Future podcast, our team chatted to epic entrepreneurs that started their enterprises whilst still in school. In this episode, Future Anything’s Nicole Dyson meets Kai Lovel, digital disruptor, Gen Z expert & TEDx Speaker.

Kai talks about his entrepreneurial journey, and discusses e-commerce, the importance of curiosity, and counting down to getting his ‘L’s.

This is a great listen for young people who want to hear about others who have set up businesses that solve real word problems while they were still at school.

Created in partnership by Future Anything and Western Downs Regional Council, our ten-part Launch series will steps through some of the key things young people they need to know to launch a business – including building your own Business Models Canvas, branding, marketing, competitor analysis, nailing your value proposition, funding, pitching and more.

Nicole Dyson looks at some of the stumbling blocks for effective Project Based Learning (PBL), including advice for setting the right context complexity for your young people.

Read ‘Going Bigger is not Always Better’ here. 

The purpose of this video is for viewers to explore the different types of economy.

The two Future Anything prompts at the end of the clip are :

1) “What is the difference between a circular economy and a linear economy?”

2) “Ideation: What products can be repurposed in a circular economy?”

Yasmin Grigaliunas is the Co-Founder and CEO of The World’s Biggest Garage Sale; an organisation that maximises the value of products already in the economy through the principles of reuse, renew, repurpose, recycle and re-commerce. Their mission is to activate dormant goods as a way to make a purposeful profit that creates a positive impact on people and the planet.

One of our most popular case studies, meet Nic Marchesi,  the Co-Founder of Orange Sky Australia; a not-for-profit organisation that helps provide connection to anyone experiencing homelessness or anyone who is doing it tough, by creating safe, positive and supportive environments.

Culturehood was founded by Josiane, Benina and Jai, 3 young proud Polynesians. They believe in a future free from domestic violence against women. We knew that domestic violence isn’t only an issue within their own community but is one that is found worldwide. However, hearing stories from our Polynesian community was our motivation to use business to speak up for our Polynesian community. Culturehood produces hoodies with unique Polynesian patterns and, in the future, hopefully more designs that showcase other cultures. A portion of their profits go to supporting the important work of RizeUp Australia.

Culturehood won the Future Anything National Grand Final 2019.

Show this pitch to your students as an example of school-aged entrepreneurs who have developed a innovative new idea. What do they like about the pitch? What would they do differently?

Find out about how to bring Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum program to your school here.

If you’re looking for fun, thought provoking activities that help your young people collaborate, reflect and plan, you have to check out Hyper Island toolbox.

Nicole Dyson shares one of her epic  – and always highly anticipated – annual reading lists! 

Read ‘Are you sitting comfortably? Then, I’ll begin…‘ here. 

This lesson activity helps students recognise that waste is a resource.

It is important to change our perspective on waste if we want to find solutions to the waste problem.

Why? When we start to view waste as a resource, we’ll begin to think more creatively about how it can be re-used or recycled, rather than simply throwing it into landfill. 

Click here to view activity. 

Nicole Dyson meets Maddy Buchner, Founder and CEO of Little Dreamers Australia. 

Maddy shares her journey from setting up the first iteration of Little Dreamers when she was just 9 years old and led it to become Australia’s leading young carers support organisation,  improving the quality of life for young carers across the country.

This is a great listen for young people who want to hear about others who have set up businesses that solve real word problems while they were still at school.

One of our most downloaded resources, the self-check in template gives students the chance to see if they’ve selected the best focus area for them or if they need to pivot.

Download the Self Check-in Template here.

On 14 June 2023, Future Anything’s Jen Buchanan spoke with three trailblazers who have successfully started their own schools. Imogen Hunt (Peregrine School, TAS), John Stewart (Living School, NSW)  & Brett Wood (Music Industry College, QLD) spoke about their experiences, challenges, and successes, and they shared insights and tips on everything from developing a strong curriculum to creating a supportive learning environment.

To find out about our next Live Learning session, join our mailing list here.

We’ve brought together some of our favourite ideas, activities and back to school classroom resources to help build rapport plus some quick reads on how getting to know our young people opens the door developing new, authentic and inspiring learning experiences.

View resources here. 

Tanieka Booth McNeill was a 15 year old student at Springfield Central State High School when she founded Shielded Socks. At Shielded Socks, they we believe in a world where every student can attend school without the fear of being bullied and feel proud of who they truly are (both inside and out).

They sell socks to enable young people to feel more confident in themselves. Thier socks look like normal school socks with the colour white being at the top of the sock (where you will see the sock) and the cool design being underneath the shoe. That way students can wear them without teachers getting angry and telling them to change their socks.

Shielded Socks was crowned Grand Final 2018 winner, taking out the top prize to help Tanieka launch her business into the real world.

Show this pitch to your students as an example of school-aged entrepreneurs who have developed a innovative new idea. What do they like about the pitch? What would they do differently?

Find out about how to bring Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum program to your school here.

One of the best ways to encourage young people to think like an entrepreneur is to use mini case studies of how others have catalysed their passions and interests to innovate.

In this 60 Second Docs video (a series of short documentaries profiling subjects and examining perspectives, trends and aspirations beneath the surface), Mike Bennett shows us how he uses recycled goods to bring cartoon characters to life in the real world.

View classroom activity here. 

Future Anything’s Nicole Dyson meets Isobel Marshall and Eloise Hall, Co-founders of TABOO Sanitary Products, whose 100% organic sanitary products improve the lives of people around the world.

They share their thoughts on social entrepreneurship, mentors, crowdfunding and the importance of establishing a mission-focussed brand.

This is a great listen for young people who want to hear about others who have set up businesses that solve real word problems while they were still at school.

Use this classroom activity to explore a cool invention that solves a (very real) problem!

Check out the Lego Vacuum classroom activity here.

Classrooms and schools across the world are facing design challenges every single day, from teacher feedback systems to daily schedules. Wherever they fall on the spectrum of scale – the challenges educators are confronted with are real, complex, and varied. And as such, they require new perspectives, new tools, and new approaches. Design thinking is one of them.
Download IDEO’s Design Thinking for Educators Toolkit here.