Soulgen

Where imagination meets purpose, and ideas, people and communities come alive.

Soulgen is a boutique consultancy creating bespoke, participatory experiences that help people, organisations and communities discover the strengths and assets already around them, connect differently, build social capital, and turn ideas into shared action, strategy and impact.

Through facilitation, consulting, capacity building, and innovative programs and products, we work with people rather than doing things to or for them – strengthening the capability of people, organisations and communities along the way.

At the heart of Soulgen is a simple belief: lasting change starts with relationships – people discovering their strengths, connecting with one another, and shaping the communities and systems they are part of.

Where people, ideas and communities come alive.

Youth & Change

  • Young people aren’t problems to solve. We create the conditions for them to participate, lead and shape what happens nex
  • Youth engagement · co-design · youth leadership · youth summits · youth strategies · youth-led projects · youth centre activation · storytelling

People & Place

  • Discover what’s strong. Connect what’s there. Grow change from the inside out.
  • Community development · ABCD · place-based approaches · social cohesion · asset mapping · community engagement · activation · communities of practice · collective impact · intergenerational leadership · strategy

Practice & Possibility

  • For people whose work is working with people.
  • Facilitation · experiential learning · capacity building · professional development · supervision · participatory practice · community and youth practice · Camp Venture facilitator trainings · tools and resources

Experience & Becoming

  • Exploring how we relate to ourselves, one another and the communities we create.
  • Belonging · connection · relationships · psychodrama · experiential workshops · storytelling · creativity · personal and collective development

Watch, read, listen…

Designing for the Bump

I keep coming back to this idea lately: the power and beauty of the small. Don’t get me wrong. We need the big stuff too. Better systems, better policy, better services, better places, more investment. Absolutely. But while we’re trying to change all of that, what can we do now, with what’s already around us?…

Podcast Episode: From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers

Pip: What if the first question you asked a community wasn’t “what’s broken here” but “what do you already have?” That’s the thread running through dsoulgen’s recent work, and it turns out the answer is usually more interesting than the problem. Mara: This episode follows one extended case study — a community development program built…

From Youth Voice to Youth-Led Possibility: Co-designing a Social Enterprise in Rozelle

What changes when we stop asking young people only what they need – and start asking what they care about, what strengths they bring and what they would like to create? In 2020, Rozelle Neighbourhood Centre contracted Soulgen to lead a three-month youth consultation and co-design process across Rozelle, Balmain, Lilyfield and the wider Inner…

From Passion to Action: Growing a Community of Cooks River Changemakers

What happens when you bring together people who care deeply about a place — not to tell them what needs fixing, but to discover what they already have and what they might create together? In 2019, Soulgen founder Dimitrios Papalexis was contracted by the Cooks River Alliance to facilitate a series of workshops for the…

Longing to Belong: An Experiential Approach to Belonging

Everyone seems to be talking about loneliness and belonging these days.Maybe we are reaching some kind of collective realisation about how disconnected we have become – and how deeply many of us are searching for belonging.Perhaps. But I don’t want to jump onto a trend. I arrived at these questions through my own life, work…

Dimitrios has a genuine passion for working with young people and creating space for them to share and shape their ideas. As an extended part of our team, he supported us in both the development and delivery of Culture Waves, a new youth program focused on building social cohesion. His expertise in sociodrama and participatory facilitation helped us explore and test new ways of engaging with young people.

Waverley Council

Community Development Team