Sector appointments: LMCF new CEO, ACF new Board Chair
The Board of Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation has announced the appointment of Peter Walton as its new Chief Executive.
Read moreGrace Forrest wins prestigious US award for anti-slavery work
Human rights advocate Grace Forrest is the first Australian woman to win the prestigious Roosevelt Foundation Freedom from Fear Award 2024. She founded Walk Free, under the auspices of the Minderoo Foundation, which produces the Global Slavery Index, the world's most comprehensive dataset on modern slavery. Grace is the oldest daughter of Andrew and Nicola Forrest and joins the likes of high-profile global advocates who have been honoured with the award previously, including Malala Yousafzai, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Larma and former German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Mother Earth loan – an agribusiness finance model that cares for Country
The Mother Earth loan is designed to support the purchase of freehold title farmlands by First Nations farmers to revive traditional practices. It’s based on similar modelling to HECS, where repayments are due when Mother Earth is ‘healthy and able to share’ and payments are paused or significantly reduced when ‘Mother is struggling and needs time to heal’. Paul Girrawah House, one of the founders of the Waluwin Foundation, explains how it can work, its benefits and the role philanthropy can play.
Global platform launches to unleash the potential of data in philanthropy
In an era where data permeates every aspect of our lives, its transformative potential remains untapped in many sectors, particularly philanthropy. The ability to leverage innovative data-driven tools and methods could transform how our organisations – big or small – prioritise investments, tackle root causes and understand more deeply the communities they aim to serve. Recognising this, The GovLab and the Paul Ramsay Foundation joined forces to create the global platform DATA4Philanthropy.net. Stefaan G. Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief R&D at The GovLab, explains its benefit to the sector.
Innovative corporate philanthropy empowers staff to give
Independent wealth management firm Koda Capital has launched its own company foundation that empowers employees to become philanthropists in their own right. The Koda Endowment creates an appealing option for staff to structure their giving, building up their philanthropic capital via their salary in a similar manner to how they build up their superannuation - creating a lasting legacy for themselves and the community. Chris Wilson, Philanthropy and Social Capital Partner at Koda, explains how it works.
How impact investment is making a difference in global health equity
Impact investing is playing a critical and growing role in the development of medicines to treat ‘neglected diseases’ affecting the world’s poorest and most underserved peoples. These medicines would not otherwise be developed by the pharmaceutical industry, which is primarily driven by financial returns. Here, Mark Sullivan AO, founder and managing director of Medicines Development for Global Health, an Australian biopharmaceutical not-for-profit, describes how this finance model is supporting the development of Moxidectin – a potential gamechanger for the WHO’s roadmap to ending river blindness by 2030.
PA members leading the charge on the double giving agenda
With submissions on the draft Productivity Commission (PC) report due next Friday, 9 February, a strong response from the philanthropic sector will be important to securing the best possible outcomes for the double giving agenda, writes our Executive Director, Policy, Government Relations and Research, Sam Rosevear.