People with Purpose: A variety of ways to make a difference

Tell us about yourself and your earliest connections with giving.

In 1975, my father was a founding member of Variety, the children's charity (or Variety Club as it was called then). He has remained very heavily involved ever since, including stints as the state chair, national chair, and international president.

Meanwhile, my mother started Ladies of Variety (women weren’t allowed to join the club in the 1970s) and they would visit or take the children on outings. They were often referred to as ‘the heart of Variety’ and that entity still exists today.

I grew up being very aware of philanthropy and from a young age I would accompany my mother on Ladies of Variety outings, and I became more involved as time went on – first with Young Variety, then joining the NSW board. When I moved to New York City in 2005, I joined the Variety of NYC board and started their first Young Variety, even though I wasn’t so young then!

So, my first interactions with giving were really focused on one organisation which I guess gave me the opportunity to develop a very close association and understanding of how they operated, and it allowed me to develop a familiarity with the machinations of a not-for-profit.

What drives your giving?

I guess it’s that sense of giving back. My dad did not come from a wealthy family but did very well in business at a relatively young age and, early on, he and Mum had a strong desire to give back, both financially and with their time.

That left its imprint on me, and having grown up in a very fortunate position, I feel an even greater desire to give back. I think embracing the practice of giving has also been assisted by my association and familiarity with Variety.

My giving is also driven by my belief in the importance of connected communities and the hope that if we support the regrowth of that connective tissue, we might be better able to support each other on a basic human level, and perhaps rely on philanthropy less. I think the pandemic reminded us of how good it is when we feel connected and supported.

Back in 2011, I had the opportunity to study a new course on social impact developed by the Centre for Social Impact in partnership with the Australian Business School.

I had started to question the sustainability of some of the philanthropic models I had exposure to and was seriously excited to hear about the developing area of social businesses and social entrepreneurship.

I also loved the idea that businesses are becoming more aware of the importance of the role they play in creating healthy communities to ensure their own success.

So I would say that community, sustainability, and systems change are the biggest drivers for me.

With our family foundation, we are in such a rare and fortunate position as we do not need to fundraise in order to give.

As a result, I have suggested we consider supporting organisations that work in areas which can be challenging to discuss and therefore hard to fundraise for. In response, we have started supporting a range of organisations who operate in the homelessness sector, an area that is often greatly misunderstood.

And our giving has most definitely been driven by our experiences as a family. Because of the lifesaving liver transplant that my daughter received as a seven-month-old baby and the continuing care she receives (she’s currently a very robust nine-year-old), we very proudly fully funded a new standalone clinic for immunocompromised children at Westmead Children’s Hospital.

The conversation with the hospital about how we could show our gratitude in the best way started pretty early on. It took a while to realise that vision but to date, it represents our largest single gift.

How do you give?

Any way I can! To date it’s been either financially or through volunteering my time. A large part of my time, more recently, has been spent serving on a few philanthropic boards and I really relish the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and work with organisations I care deeply about. My personal financial giving is via either one off donations or regular giving.

Our family foundation doesn’t have a formal public process for applying for funding; we don’t have grant rounds or anything like that. When the PAF (private ancillary fund) was formed, we started with a small number of organisations that my father had been supporting philanthropically for many years.

As the corpus of the foundation has grown so has the number of organisations we support and the scope of our support. We commit to funding organisations for a few years and are also open to providing capacity building and untied funding.

What have you learnt from your giving journey?

How important relationships are. I believe you should be willing to trust organisations to make the right decisions about how they spend your funding, and this requires time spent getting to know them and then, also keeping in touch.

It is a way to feel like we are embarking on the journey together. As a funder, I have learnt to respect an organisation’s expertise while also being willing to ask questions and knowing the right questions to ask. It is important to be flexible and compassionate regarding the difficult task the organisation has taken on.

What are your ambitions for your giving?

For our family foundation, I look forward to more opportunities to gather as a family to discuss what matters to us. And I hope that can inform a robust strategy that we can all feel connected to.

Personally, I look forward to working with my daughters and inviting them to play an active role in our giving.

While they are still young, I love the way they look at the world and am constantly surprised by their insights and wisdom – I think this is the case for children generally, not just mine!

I hope they will grow up fully appreciating the importance of giving back. I want my girls to know they can engage with the world and make a difference.

This profile was first published on the She Gives website.