Many parents might baulk at the idea of welcoming prostitutes and drug addicts into the family home, but for Elliot Costello and his siblings Claire and Martin, it was not unusual to have people from the margins of society sitting around the dining-room table.
Elliot Costello’s early experiences of growing up in St Kilda in the 1980s and ’90s have shaped his life perspective. Now 29, he is a poster boy for the benefits of exposing children to the harsher realities of the world.
Following in his parents’ altruistic footsteps, he’s emerging as one of Melbourne’s most innovative philanthropists, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the less privileged in Australia, Africa and Asia.
“Mum and dad taught us these are people too,” he says. “People we need to care for. It was normal for me to be exposed to marginalised people, irrespective of their background.”
Costello is the middle child of Reverend Tim Costello, chief executive of World Vision Australia, National Living Treasure and outspoken campaigner for the underprivileged, and his wife Merridie.
As a child, he attended St Kilda Primary School, which he describes as “a melting pot of wonderful migrant communities”.
His best friends were Vietnamese, Cambodian and Indian. He says it wasn’t until he started at Caulfield Grammar, aged 13, that he began spending time with children from affluent families and discovered that not everyone had been exposed to the same economic and cultural diversity he had become accustomed to. But the pattern was set and these days he continues to enjoy an eclectic mix of friendships.
“I don’t draw class divides,” he says.
While Costello’s world view has undoubtedly been shaped by his altruistic parents, he says he has also been influenced by his uncle, former federal treasurer Peter Costello.
“I definitely took part of Peter’s brain for financial acumen and merged that with dad’s heart and philanthropic mind.”
The financial acumen landed him an accounting job at PricewaterhouseCoopers, followed by a corporate advisory role at PPB Advisory. His stint in the corporate world served as a valuable foundation for running his charity YGAP (Y-Generation Against Poverty), which he founded with Elena Critchley in 2008.
Initially the pair managed YGAP, billed as “an incubator for social change”, in their spare time. But in 2013, Costello took the plunge into full-time philanthropy.
Gen Y often gets a bad wrap for being lazy and self-interested, but you won’t find those characteristics in the 400 volunteers working on a range of YGAP campaigns and initiatives that feed funds to project partners in several countries, including Rwanda and Cambodia.
In the six years since it started, YGAP has raised $2.64 million, funneling funds to support locally run projects, including a school for 300 children in Bangladesh and a partnership with aid organisation Hagar International to help human rights abuse victims enter the workforce.
In Australia, YGAP contributes to SecondBite’s FoodMate program, which provides fresh food as well as community support and information on budgeting, food safety and healthy eating to those in need.
YGAP’s success is largely due to Costello’s ability to assess his volunteers’ skills. Many team members are professionals who give valuable time and experience, including a PR professional helping with communications and an accountant working on fund-raising and business procedures. Costello says YGAP, “enables volunteers to connect in a way that they can find a social return”.
YGAP’s major annual fund-raising activity is the 5Cent campaign, which encourages people to donate and collect their spare five-cent pieces. This year, the campaign collected more than 4.2 million coins, generating $213,192, and bringing the total collected over the past three years to $396,000.
This year, it also launched the Polished Man campaign, which encourages men to wear nail polish between September 1 and 15 to raise funds for, and promote awareness of, prevention of violence against children.
Adding to the cashflow is YGAP’s Kinfolk, a not-for-profit café in Melbourne’s CBD that opened in 2010. And in February, YGAP opened Feast of Merit, a social enterprise restaurant in Richmond, that also pours profits back into the charity.
The restaurant’s head chef Ravi Presser has worked at some of Melbourne’s best, including Fonda and Cumulus Inc as well as Kinfolk. Six months after opening, his Middle Eastern menu has proven a hit, and Costello hopes the restaurant will take the charity “three steps forward”.
Although he concedes that sourcing income for YGAP via a restaurant is not without risk, Costello is optimistic about the potential, hinting that there could be more, similar ventures in the future.
“If we get the business model right, we can have a tremendous impact.”
“I shouldn’t blow the horn too loudly. We have to get a number of things right before we can start looking at versions two and three.”
This cool young entrepreneur could easily be mistaken for a savvy businessman following in his uncle Peter’s footsteps, but Costello isn’t fussed about generating his own wealth. He’s more excited about creating a charity that’s self-perpetuating, “instead of asking people for money”.
He knows his generation is hungry for experiences, which is why he wants to give people a positive hospitality experience in return for their contribution to social change.
Even Costello is not immune to a bit of hedonistic downtime. “I’ve got no qualms about hanging out with mates on the weekend, going down to the coast, going snowboarding,” says the Elwood resident.
He took a $25,000 pay cut to leave finance and says, “While we’re driven and motivated by improving the lives of those less fortunate, we’re realistic, too.”
In YGAP’s first five years, it helped 30,812 people in Australia, Africa and Asia.
“This is only the beginning,” he says with conviction and, because Costellos aren’t known for doing things by halves, it’s safe to say he’s one to watch.
