Every business spends money. On suppliers, services and the relationships that keep it moving.
But what if those purchasing decisions could also help fund cancer research?
That is the opportunity behind Par 5 Business, the business network and B2B marketplace James Stewart helped establish and develop. Its ambition is to create commercial wins while building sustainable funding for research into low-survival cancers.
James joins Kate Save and Tobi Skovron on the Hear Me Roar podcast to share the purpose behind that ambition. His story brings together personal loss, community and a belief that businesses can help create better outcomes for future generations.
It is a big mission, built around a practical question: how can the business we already do create more value for the people around us?
James Stewart: a personal reason to build something bigger
For James, the connection between business and cancer research is deeply personal.
Driven by his own experience of loss, he is committed to improving the future for people affected by cancers with poor survival outcomes.
During more than six years working with Pancare Foundation, James became concerned by the challenges facing medical research funding in Australia. He saw an opportunity to bring businesses together around a model that delivered mutual value and supported a cause with lasting significance.
That thinking helped shape Par 5.
The premise is compelling: give businesses a reason to connect, help them achieve meaningful commercial outcomes and create a way for that activity to contribute to research.
For business owners and leaders, James’s story raises a question worth considering. Could the relationships you build and the purchasing decisions you make serve a purpose beyond the immediate transaction?
What is Par 5 Business?
Par 5 Business is a business network and marketplace established at Pancare Foundation.
It connects members with opportunities to find customers, source products and services, and develop business partnerships. Facilitated introductions, networking and events help turn those connections into commercial activity.
Its research funding mechanism is specific: revenue-sharing arrangements with members doing business through the programme.
That connection between business activity and research support sits at the heart of its purpose. Members pursue commercial value, while participating transactions help generate funding for cancer research.
What does impact procurement mean?
Procurement is simply how a business buys the products and services it needs.
Par 5’s Impact Procurement Model connects that familiar business function with a wider community goal. It creates a pathway for participating businesses to support research through their commercial relationships.
The starting point remains a real business need. A company requires a product or service. A supplier has a suitable offering. The network helps connect the opportunity.
For a business considering participation, the practical questions are straightforward:
- Does the supplier meet our requirements?
- Are the quality, service and commercial terms right?
- How does the relevant revenue-sharing arrangement support research?
Those questions keep the model grounded. The strength of the idea is that commercial value gives businesses a reason to participate, while community impact gives the relationship additional meaning.
Why Pancare Foundation matters
Established in 2011, Pancare Foundation works to improve outcomes for people affected by upper gastrointestinal cancers. These include pancreatic, liver, biliary, oesophageal and stomach cancers.
Its work combines research investment, advocacy and support for patients and their families.
That support is essential because the impact of a cancer diagnosis reaches far beyond the consulting room. It can reshape family routines, working lives, financial circumstances and the way people imagine their future.
Pancare provides services including specialised support, counselling, financial assistance and trusted information. Its focus recognises that people need help navigating the experience today, alongside research that could improve outcomes tomorrow.
James’s ambition for Par 5 connects with that longer-term goal: helping build funding that supports progress for future generations.
What business leaders can take from James’s story
James’s work offers a useful perspective for founders, executives and anyone responsible for business growth.
Start with a problem that matters
Personal purpose can give an idea direction. James’s experience helped him identify an issue he wanted to address and the role business could play.
For leaders, the question is where your experience, relationships and expertise could make a useful contribution.
Make participation commercially meaningful
An impact model needs a clear reason for businesses to engage. Customer opportunities, useful introductions and strong supplier relationships can make participation relevant to everyday business decisions.
Purpose becomes easier to sustain when the model also addresses a genuine commercial need.
Build community through shared action
A network gains meaning through what its members do together.
When introductions lead to business and that activity supports a shared cause, the community has a practical way to put its values into action.
Keep the people behind the mission in view
Research funding is ultimately about people: those living with cancer, the families supporting them and future patients who need better options.
That human connection gives the commercial model its purpose.
Watch James Stewart on Hear Me Roar
James Stewart’s story brings a powerful idea to Hear Me Roar: the business community has resources, relationships and purchasing power that can contribute to something bigger.
Joining Kate Save and Tobi Skovron, James shares the mission behind Par 5 and his commitment to turning personal loss into purposeful action.
For anyone interested in entrepreneurship, business networking, impact procurement or cancer research funding, it is a story that invites a fresh look at what business can make possible.
Watch James Stewart’s conversation with Kate and Tobi on Hear Me Roar.
To explore the network, visit Par 5 Business. To learn more about Pancare’s work or support the foundation, visit pancare.org.au.
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