Brave Foundation: how a PRF grant led to a partnership with another funder – via the Philanthropy Australia conference

Jill Roche, the CEO of the national not-for-profit, Brave Foundation, drew from a capacity-building grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation to attend the Philanthropy Australia Conference in 2024. This led to a chance conversation that over time led to a multi-year funding partnership with another funder. Jill shares how events unfolded and says it shows how important it is to ensure diverse voices are ‘in the room’ at important sector events.

Being in the right place at the right time doesn’t always just happen. Jill’s story is testament to that. Brave Foundation is a not-for-profit dedicated to supporting young parents, and she was at Philanthropy Australia’s conference in Adelaide when she attended a workshop discussing the importance of lived experience within the sector.

Support informed by lived experience is at the heart of everything the Brave Foundation does – including a Young Parents Advisory Group for contemporary experience – so Jill was keen to hear other organisations discussing their take on the subject. Even better, near the end of the workshop, she was able to ask a question and explain a little of what Brave does and how it works.

She observed that when engaging with young parents and using an evidenced-based model of lived experience, it was essential that there was reciprocity of value, not an extractive relationship. Unbeknown to Jill, sitting directly behind her was a representative of a foundation that had recently focused strategically on this specific space. They began a conversation sharing their perspectives on the critical importance of elevating and genuinely respecting lived experience. That moment of connection led to further conversations and eventually resulted in a multi-year funding partnership.

A happy outcome all round, but one that Jill is quick to point out was not an accident or chance encounter. “What really stands out for me is that you need to be able to be in the room where the philanthropic organisations are going to be, having discussions like that, to make those connections,” she said. She added that many NFPs would struggle to find the funds, or justify the spend, to attend such industry events.

Jill was only able to be there because of flexible funding from one of Brave’s supporters, the Paul Ramsay Foundation, which had provided a five-year grant supporting the charity to build new partnerships and diversify its funding.

It’s a broad, multi-year grant running until 2026 that also allows Brave to explore ways of better evaluating its work, measuring impact and the like. With freedom to utilise the grant for the best result, Brave decided a Philanthropy Australia membership, and attendance at the conference where so many potential funders and other NFPs would be gathered, was a strong investment.

“We wouldn’t have had access to that membership or conference without the Paul Ramsay Foundation,” Jill said. “We want others in the philanthropic sector to understand that there are ways you can support not-for-profits that may appear a little lateral, but can have a big impact, as this has for us. Likewise, charities should seek such opportunities out.”

The Paul Ramsay Foundation has also been pleased with the result. “For-purpose organisations incur a range of costs beyond program and service delivery and philanthropy has a role to play in ‘paying what it takes’ to achieve positive impact,” the Foundation’s Chief Alliances Officer, Liz Yeo, said.

“We’re delighted that our grant to Brave – supporting the team to build organisational sustainability through new networks and partnerships, evidence and advocacy – was a catalyst for expanding their relationships in the philanthropic sector.”  

Even without that unexpected conversation, Jill said it was inspiring to be at the conference. “The impact it can have on your work when you get back to your desk is profound,” she said.

“It stimulates different thinking, can make you more expansive in your strategy and allows you to know where philanthropists are willing to take risks and come together to work as partners. You can be more intentional as you chase opportunities because such conferences, sector journals and other industry communications emphasise and facilitate the mutual value in connecting.

“Sometimes that connection has to be engineered, which is why the Paul Ramsay Foundation grant has been so great for us.”

Philanthropy Australia’s 2026 Conference will be held in Brisbane in September.