Social change and anti-bullying advocate Project Rockit has been named the recipient of Flight Centre Business Travel’s 2023 Corporate Travel Grant to help fuel their growth and success in delivering their school-based programs to positively impact young people.
Co-founder and CEO Lucy Thomas said at the Corporate Travel Grant final pitching event in Brisbane, “Project Rockit is all about empowering young Australians to lead change beyond a program, beyond a workshop, to transform the cultures and communities they are living in for the better, and this is just the beginning.
“We’re a youth-driven, youth-led organisation and everything we do translates into impact on the ground and this grant is going to result in some really awesome programs for communities that would otherwise miss out.”
Project Rockit outpitched the other Corporate Travel Grant finalists: school lunch provider for kids in need, Eat Up; digital food and clinical safety solution provider, Monika; connected vehicle data company, Compass IoT; and inclusive filmmaker Bus Stop Films.
To apply for the grant, SMEs had to simply submit a one to two-minute video outlining what travel means to their business, and how winning the $30,000 Corporate Travel Grant would help them achieve their goals.
Flight Centre Business Travel then selected the top five entries and flew representatives from each organisation to its Global Head Office in Brisbane, to present their pitch in more detail to the selection panel — Candice Marsh, Flight Centre Business Travel Regional GM, Qld & WA; Clinton Hearne, Flight Centre Global Head of Marketing; and Henry Coles, General Manager, of Virgin Australia’s SME program Virgin Australia Business Flyer.
Flight Centre Business Travel’s Global General Manager Cameron Harris said that they were delighted with the quality of applicants for this year’s grant from a wide variety of Australian organisations across a range of fields.
“All of our finalists are to be congratulated for the standard of their pitches,” Mr Harris said.
“Our judges had a difficult time separating these five amazing finalists. 
“As a result, we made the easy decision to increase the value of the runners-up travel credit for them to share and continue their amazing work.”
The Corporate Travel Grant first prize worth $30,000 includes $20,000 travel credit with Virgin Australia; two Platinum Velocity memberships; $5,000 IHG Hotels & Resorts accommodation credit; $2,500 Hertz travel credit; $1,000 Flight Centre Business Travel voucher and a $500 luggage voucher.
The four runners-up won a share of $10,000 in Virgin Australia travel credit and two Velocity Gold memberships each, plus a share of $10,000 in Flight Centre Business Travel credit.
One of the judges on this year’s Corporate Travel Grant selection panel, Virgin Australia’s Henry Coles, said, “The finalists’ purpose and core values really came through in their presentations.
“They clearly articulated what they were offering their customers and communities and had a really strong sense of what the travel grant could unlock for their organisations. Virgin Australia is delighted to be involved in this initiative for such an important sector.”
Continual feedback from the SME community reinforces that the support provided through partnering with Flight Centre Business Travel and the immense value of their annual Corporate Travel Grant plays an invaluable role in supporting their business growth and success.
Flight Centre Business Travel’s Corporate Travel Grant will be back in 2024. Businesses can subscribe to receive notifications when applications are next open for the Corporate Travel Grant.
