The Chamber’s longstanding partnership with PRONIA (Greek welfare) reflects something important about both of our missions — how businesses and community organisations work together to create a sense of belonging and opportunity. At the Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HACCI), we’ve seen firsthand how entrepreneurship and business success go beyond financial outcomes. A thriving business community fosters social cohesion, provides jobs, and offers pathways to meaningful participation for individuals from all walks of life.
PRONIA’s work complements our efforts by supporting individuals and families with the services they need to build strong foundations within the community. Together, we play different but equally important roles in creating a society where people feel connected, valued, and empowered.
Our organisations have a long and proud history of collaboration and mutual support. It is incumbent on the business and professional community, and those successful individuals who are leaders in the wider Australian community, to support community organisations that carry on the legacy of those who came before us to build the infrastructure of care, belonging and support. This is the legacy that binds us.
Business, in many ways, is the backbone of community. A job offers more than just economic stability—it builds identity and purpose, it creates networks beyond immediate families or cultural groups, and it strengthens the social fabric by bringing people together across divides. In this way, businesses have a powerful role to play in fostering social cohesion, helping individuals connect and thrive within their communities.
This belief drives much of the work we do at HACCI. Our mission is to support businesses at all stages of growth, not just to achieve commercial success, but to cultivate a community where collaboration and opportunity flourish. Whether it’s through our mentoring programs, business networking events, our national HACCI Awards or partnerships like the one we celebrate with PRONIA, we aim to create an environment where businesses, individuals, and communities can grow side by side – and endure for future generations.
Remember community organisations when you think about the future. The vital services they provide can only continue to support the community when the community come together to support them. Become paid members, sponsor events, all contributions matter. It’s wonderful to see so many businesses participating as sponsors in today’s event.
Our Hellenic Australian community is a proud and successful migrant story. For that story to continue we all need to back one another. Become paid members of community organisations to ensure they remain sustainable. Think about them when you leave bequests in your estate plan to pay it forward – just like previous generations were thinking of us when they established the infrastructure of organisations like Pronia and HACCI, many decades ago.
Partnerships like the one between PRONIA and HACCI are vital. It’s through collaboration—between community organisations, businesses, and individuals—that we build a society that is both prosperous and inclusive. Let’s all keep working together and lifting each other up.
Fotini Kypraios is a lawyer and the Chair of the Victorian chapter of the Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HACCI (Vic)
