She Gives was thrilled to be a part of the 2025 NEXUS Australia Summit held in Melbourne in March, with the three-day event embodying the spirit of Brave Voices and Bold Ideas. She Gives presented a Plenary on Generations of generosity: Intergenerational Family Philanthropy with Founder Melissa Smith facilitating a panel discussion exploring the very personal links between family and philanthropy and how generations working together are continuing to lead positive change today and into the future.
Panelist Debbie Dadon, Chair of the Besen Family Foundation, spoke to her rich experience in areas of intergenerational philanthropy and disability, sharing how she has nurtured the involvement of the third generation of the Besen family in philanthropy. Joining Debbie on the panel was Tania Austin the CEO and founder of DECJUBA, one of Australia’s biggest privately owned retail companies. Tania shared her experiences establishing the DECJUBA Foundation in 2021 and insights from her years of philanthropic work with local and global charities.
Alongside Tania was her daughter Sky, who told how her experience raising funds for charitable causes as a teenager, and exposure to philanthropy from both parents from a young age, helps inform her work as Chair of The Hunger Project Australia Youth Board.
That evening She Gives partnered with Philanthropy Australia and Melbourne Women's Fund to host a Women's Giving Dinner and Discussions. The event included an in-conversation with Michelle and Sonia Lin of the Vermillion Foundation. The sisters shared how they work together to champion diversity through a gender, cultural and disability lens within their family foundation and shared their passion about New Gen philanthropy.
The energising roundtable discussions that followed touched on the different motivations and approaches that women have to giving, and explored ways that collaboration and systemic change could positively impact women's giving for generations to come.
