PA welcomes Laura Cochrane as Executive Director, Membership and Engagement

The Philanthropy Australia team is delighted to welcome Laura Cochrane as Executive Director, Membership and Engagement.

Laura is an executive with 20 years’ experience across philanthropy, social investment, corporate affairs and journalism. She was most recently CEO and Managing Director of the Bennelong Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bangarra Family Office, where she led giving in Australia and the UK focused on creating education and employment pathways for people facing the biggest barriers to participation.

Prior to this, she led philanthropy, community partnerships and workplace giving for one of Australia’s biggest banks, as Head Of Foundation and Strategic Giving at National Australia Bank (NAB). Laura has also held senior corporate affairs roles at NAB in Melbourne and at Royal Bank of Scotland in London.

She started her career as a journalist, reporting for Bloomberg News, Euromoney Institutional Investor and The Weekly Times. Laura is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Bachelor of Communications from RMIT University. She volunteers on advisory committees for non-profits focused on disaster resilience and refugee mobility.

Laura is based in Melbourne with her husband and two young girls.

Laura commented: “What drew me to this role is the timing. Philanthropy Australia is reinvigorating its strategy just as philanthropy itself is evolving to meet the challenges of our times. The conversations happening in the sector right now about collaboration and leadership are exactly where I want to be contributing. There’s something powerful about arriving when an organisation is looking forward and asking the big questions about how to best serve its members and the wider community.”