Only 51% of Indigenous Australians graduate school. The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation believes this is completely unacceptable.

In 2013 they sought $100M to educate another 5,000 children by demonstrating the impact of education.

In an election year, 2/3 Australians didn’t believe there could be an Indigenous Prime Minister in their lifetime*.

We commissioned an award winning artist to create a portrait imagining this individual. This ran un-branded with only the headline "This Will Never Happen" and #IndigenousPM.

As the debate ensued, AIEF explained why education meant this most definitely could happen.

Reaction was huge, with millions of dollars in earned media and 104M opportunities to see across key broadcast, print and online media outlets.

The country responded donating $40m. That’s 40% of the target in only 4 months.

The painting is now hanging in Parliament House.

Of course the real return, for individuals and the country, is incalculable...

*Newspoll 2013

We commissioned a celebrated artist to create a future-gazing portrait of Australia's first Indigenous Prime Minister.

The painting ran un-branded for 3 days in Australia’s national leading newspaper, The Australian, with only the provocative headline "This Will Never Happen" and an invitation to discuss via the hashtag #IndigenousPM.

It immediately provoked a national debate about race, equality, and Indigenous representation. The image was shared widely across social media and Twitter lit up as Australia debated the issue and speculated who might be behind it.

The topic reached a mass nationwide audience on ABC’s Q&A when one of AIEF’s Indigenous students asked our first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, how he too could be one of Australia’s firsts - Australia’s first Indigenous Prime Minister.

On the fourth day, the AIEF revealed themselves as the brand behind the campaign and unveiled why they believe an Indigenous Prime Minister most definitely can happen.

Within days, $10million was contributed by the government with an extra $30million from other partners, reaching 40% of the target in 4 months.

Media exposure from blanket coverage of the campaign across influential media outlets, including:

• Two front-page stories in Australia’s leading newspaper

• Nation-wide broadcast (TV/radio) coverage

• Comment from Julia Gillard on being Australia’s first female PM in relation to Australia’s first Indigenous PM

• ‘If I were PM’ film on Qantas flights

• Hundreds of thousands of Twitter accounts reached

• Portrait now hangs in Parliament house

Total monthly circulation 106,468,196

Total daily circulation 8,844,718

Total PR value $15,633,017

The real benefit is to the children involved, and our country.

"While many of our students may not want to be PM, we believe that quality education can open doors ... and that opening these doors can be nation changing." Andrew Penfold AIEF CEO