New gender-wise resource launched to support philanthropic collaborations
Australians Investing In Women (AIIW) and the University of Melbourne's Melbourne Social Equity Institute (MSEI) have launched a comprehensive resource to increase the impact of philanthropic and social investments.
Read moreRob McLean and The Nature Conservancy: ‘We wanted to be involved in an organisation that’s kicking goals’
Philanthropist Rob McLean AM is excited as he talks about kelp. He’s explaining the potential for 'blue carbon' and exploration of mangroves, sea grasses and regrown kelp forests potentially becoming options for carbon storage. It's an initiative by The Nature Conservancy, a global organisation that Rob helped bring to Australia. He talks about his long and continuing involvement with the organisation and why he's proud of its achievements.
The case for doubling giving: ‘Now is the time to lay the groundwork’
We can increase giving to not-for-profits by double or more in the coming years by fostering trust, implementing strategic policies and engaging generations young and old, says Doug Taylor, CEO of children’s education charity The Smith Family. But it is a two-way street and NFPs will need to work hard to ensure impact also grows to meet donor expectations.
How do we shift evaluation from a ‘reporting’ to a learning lens?
Brenda Solorzano is a leading changemaker in trust-based philanthropy. Brenda had an insightful and candid conversation with our Philanthropy Evaluation Network to share her ideas on how evaluation can be reframed to achieve learning and change through a trust-based approach.
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.
Grace 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.
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.