109. The power of giving back for business

109. The power of giving back for business

June 18, 2026 · 43 min · Season 4 · Episode 109

About this episode

Mitch Shaw discusses the impact of Upstream, a charitable organization that connects businesses and charities to support youth in New Zealand.

In this episode I am joined by Mitch Shaw from Upstream. Mitch is the Managing Director and Co-founder of Upstream, a charitable organisation that connects businesses and charities in a way that turns everyday spending into real support for young people across New Zealand. Mitch joins me to talk about the story behind Upstream, how it works, and why it exists. We discuss his own background, including how youth work played an important role in his life when he was younger, and how those experiences helped shape the work he does today. Mitch has seen first-hand the difference that good support, good people and the right opportunities can make for young people. Upstream was created as a smarter and more sustainable way to fund youth-focused work. Rather than relying only on donations or grants, the model allows businesses to use suppliers within the Upstream network, with a portion of those everyday transactions going back to support charity partners. In simple terms, businesses can keep spending money on the things they already need, while also helping generate funding for young people in the community. We also talk about how businesses can get involved, why purpose-driven business…

People in this episode

Host: Godfreys Law

Guest: Mitch Shaw

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Upstream

Places: New Zealand

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