On Taking Risks and Funding Pathways for Women

My earliest memories of giving are of attending a Jewish school when I was a child. We always took a coin with us on a Friday to put into a charity box. That started when I was in kindergarten and continued throughout my entire childhood. Those are my earliest memories of giving. 

I’m motivated to give when I perceive a lack of opportunity, a lack of social cohesiveness or a lack of equity, generally. For example, when I think about Pathways to Politics for Women, which is my main passion and focus in my philanthropy, I think about all the amazing women in this country who could make an enormous contribution as citizens and to us, as a society. All they need is to be given the opportunity and the skills to do that, and the encouragement and the confidence. 

Philanthropy also plays a big role in seed capital, in programs and areas where it's too risky for government to invest without there being a tried-and-true formula to invest in. For me, being willing to take risks and be entrepreneurial in my philanthropy is absolutely crucial. I see entrepreneurial philanthropists working in all sorts of different areas, seeding ideas which, once proven, can then become programs. If you can prove a thesis is feasible and you can prove a program is viable, you can then say to the government, ‘Look at the results we're getting from this!’ It can then become a program the government can justifiably fund.

I often look for opportunities for partnerships because I hate duplicating what has been done before and I love collaborating with others. I’m always looking to establish partnerships, because it gives everybody leverage. That’s how I structure my giving. I look at the opportunity I think needs to be funded, and then I look for partners and collaborators within that sphere, and I look to hopefully embolden them and give them leverage. And I also look to get leverage for our own giving. One of the collaborations I am most proud of is opening up Pathways to Politics for Women. This particular area is a huge focus for us. It’s about asking: how do we ensure that we have those incredibly deserving, contributing women representing us in governments throughout Australia? I have to say that teaming up with universities was a stroke of genius because the universities have been the most wonderful partners in terms of their receptivity to the ideas, the resources and knowledge that they contribute, and the warmth, encouragement and enthusiasm with which they embrace not only the program, but the whole concept and notion of getting more women into politics. And it's not only a critical mass of women that is required, but it's also a critical mass of women for a critical mass of time. And the universities are sustainable institutions that are there for the long term and absolutely committed to the program. We've had over 400 women through the program and of those 400 women, we have more than 10% of our alumni in some level of elected office, which is absolutely stunning. That is going to radically increase because both Western Australia and Tasmania joined at the start of the year so it’s now a national program. 

I come from a very entrepreneurial background in business, and I operate within the same context in my philanthropy. So, I think that if there's one big learning out of philanthropy, it's to be courageous and be prepared to take a risk. Now, I know that's easy for me to say because I risk my own capital - I risk my own capital in my business pursuits, and I risk my own capital in my philanthropic pursuits. But I think that if one is in charge or the trustee of a large philanthropic fund, one can potentially justify allocating a small amount of those funds to more entrepreneurial philanthropy, to try and seed those areas of philanthropic endeavour that are seen as being potentially risky but have huge payoffs if they succeed.

I'm fortunate because I do have private funds available for philanthropy, so I see the world as my oyster. I'm very interested in environmental issues, and I'm also incredibly interested in social infrastructure in cities. So, for example, I like to investigate how parks are constructed. I've seen playgrounds and parks in overseas countries which are just stunning. And I ask myself, ‘Why don't we have parks like that in Melbourne?’ Could that be a funding issue? I haven't explored that yet, but it's something that I'd really like to because I think parks offer up such great pieces of social infrastructure for communities. There's a huge opportunity there to do something philanthropically. 

I think it's important to encourage women to feel financially empowered. Historically and traditionally, it's usually been men who've made the decisions around where philanthropy is given, and they write what we call the bigger cheques. I think, both in commercial life and in philanthropy, women need to acknowledge their financial power and their own ability to give, particularly in areas where they believe they can have an impact and influence change in positive ways. The issues faced by women and girls in their everyday lives have not been funded philanthropically in the same way as men’s and boys’ issues have. That imbalance needs to be addressed. It needs to be evened up. When we invest in girls and women, everybody benefits.