This entrepreneur has devoted his life to helping the less fortunate.

Growing up in Windang, south of Wollongong, in the 1950s and '60s, Steve Lawrence couldn't help but be influenced by his parents' powerful social conscience. Both were committed Methodists who lived by the maxim that charity begins at home.

"My dad gave away probably 60 per cent of his income to charitable causes, which is a pretty unusual environment to grow up in," he says.

"Both my parents had a sense that they had done well out of life and wanted to contribute to the community. My dad would also bring home folks who had drug and alcohol problems."

Despite his charitable commitments, Lawrence's father, a pharmacist, could still afford to send his son to a private school, which became another strong formative influence.

"One of the things I struggled with was living in Windang with a large Aboriginal community and steel workers, and then going to a private school," he says. "That raised some questions in my head about power, money and influence and how the world ticks."

After completing a degree in social work, Lawrence decided to put his beliefs into practice, joining an alternative Christian community.

"We were committed to living the radical model that we thought Jesus embodied and trying to do that in a way that related to the needs of the society around us," he says.

All money within the community was pooled and all but the smallest expenditure had to be sanctioned by the group. "We used to be paid $5 a week pocket money - that was the money I could spend without asking anybody's approval. Anything beyond five bucks I had to work out with the folks in the house I was living in.

"We found we could live very cheaply - far more cheaply than most people today would think was possible. We ran a food co-op, bought second-hand stuff and picked things up from the tip.

"There was conflict but there was also a lot of richness when you spend a lot more time talking about the things that really mattered."

During his 18 years with the group, Lawrence worked with the local Aboriginal community, helped run a before- and after-school-care scheme, worked on art projects and set up employment training programs, along the way founding a non-profit organisation called WorkVentures (www.workventures.com.au) in 1979.

When he left the community in the mid-1990s, WorkVentures began paying him a modest salary as chief executive. Since then it has grown to employ 200 people, with an annual turnover of more than $16 million. WorkVentures runs employment and training services, community development programs and a thriving computer repair business.

Recently, after some health problems, Lawrence stepped down as head of the organisation. Now with a business card that says "Founder and Social Entrepreneur", he is continuing his passion for fostering social innovation in Australia and around the world.

It's a role that is not big on personal financial reward but, Lawrence says, it brings enormous satisfaction.

"I do feel it is my calling to work for a better society and to spend my life and energy working in that area rather than on my own personal financial security," he says.

"When our life is dominated by 'things' we forget what is really important, which is relationships and being able to be real with one another. I don't think my worth as a human being is defined by how much stuff I've got. In fact, we are recognising with the environment and other issues that face us, that stuff is getting us into a lot of the trouble we are in."

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Biggest break Work Ventures being adopted in the mid-1980s by the founding managing director of Microsoft Australia, when it was just one of a host of emerging software companies, and being able to maintain this partnership over 20 years.

Biggest achievement

Lifting my two daughters into the world during home births in 1979 and 1985.

Best investment

Buying an old house in Kingsford with a group of fellow students to live there in 1971 for $32,000 and selling for $56,000 after five years - enabling us to buy a big house in Katoomba that is still a co-op retreat centre.

Biggest regret

That my first marriage failed after 27 years, perhaps partly because I took myself and my work as a social entrepreneur too seriously.

Attitude to money

Money is important but less vital than relationships, learning, health, leaving a lasting legacy and spiritual connectedness.

Personal philosophy

Life is a wonderful gift from a God who loves me, despite my eccentricities. The journey inward in personal discovery and growth and the journey outward in social engagement must find a good balance. We must leave the world a better place for the next generation - and be less obsessed with "stuff".