Georgina Byron AM is the CEO of Snow Foundation. She also serves as Co-Chair of Deadly Hearts Limited, Deputy Chair of Sydney Community Foundation and Chair of Sydney Women's Fund Advisory Group.
The initial influence certainly comes from my upbringing and the values instilled in me by my parents. I grew up in Canberra with a loving family, good education and a cohesive community, I was lucky and knew not to take it for granted. My dad had this saying, ‘If you see someone struggling, give them a helping hand' and he encouraged us to treat everyone with decency and respect. My mum, a pharmacist, is very caring, compassionate and modest and she too instilled these beliefs, and above all, humility and kindness. But the real catalyst in my giving education was when Dad presented an opportunity to run the Snow Foundation, 18 years ago. It has changed me as a person.
Leading the Snow Foundation has given me so much passion and purpose. It’s given me a strong sense of social justice and an understanding of the responsibility that comes with running a structured giving foundation with significant resources. Plus it’s inspired my own giving.
The driving force has been the work itself, but especially the people who are part of it. The people who give, the people with lived experience and the beautiful people who want to make the world a better place.
Once you start those relationships and you see the need and then the impact, it makes you more engaged, more aware, and it widens your perspective. It’s like a continuous uplifting circle that drives you to do more, do better and it initiates and sustains the positive change that’s needed right now.
The people—brave social entrepreneurs like Alison Covington from Good360—drive me, as do others with their passion for their people, like our Aboriginal advisor Vicki Wade, and also Dr Bo Remenyi, both of whom I have worked with for over 10 years. Their fierce commitment to end rheumatic heart disease is infectious. And the people in Canberra who have led community projects like Home in Queanbeyan, Common Ground and Tender Funerals. You become part of this organic grass-roots team with a shared social change advocacy agenda to make the world more equitable.
Coming from a fortunate background of opportunity, entering this space of change-making, has been huge. It fuels my desire to join with others and grow the change that's needed collectively. You can call it giving, but really, it’s a sense of being, a sense of purpose.
Giving is a whole-self experience. It's about giving with love, respect and an open mind to learn, I become completely immersed, and it’s hugely fulfilling. This is what my job in leading the Snow Foundation is about. I never wanted it to be about the money.
The ‘how’ of giving is about being informed, being bold, building relationships and giving with others to amplify the impact. It’s a combination of treasure, time, talent, voice and energy. The treasure is the grant-making and investing the corpus in social impact. The time and talent are about providing that extra support, and constantly thinking and listening to what’s needed – the wraparound, tailored support and really backing social entrepreneurs and for-purpose partners where we bring people together through shared learning sessions, retreats and professional development. It’s the convening and connecting; getting your hands dirty and encouraging others to rally and get behind people and causes too.
It’s also about using our voice and advocating even when it’s uncomfortable to drive the change that's needed. It takes many people to create change, and you have to be strategic about who should be part of the conversation. As a funder, it’s about dismantling your power to ensure that the voices being heard are those that need to be heard. Where there’s community empowerment and leadership, there’s transparency and that feeds into driving systems change; change can be transformative on both a macro and micro level.
In terms of my personal giving, I’m very passionate about my city of Sydney and my local community. I have a great belief that when you benefit from the place where you live, work or come from, you actively contribute. I’m instilling the idea of service into my four daughters, they all volunteer at our surf life-saving club, and take other opportunities through school and my work. They also each sponsor girl’s education in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I’m conscious that I want my kids to grow up to be thoughtful and kind and think of others.
In a broader sense, the issues that grab my heart, and get more of my time and energy, are around women and girls, gender equity, and both First Nations and LGBTIQ+ communities. I have a huge commitment to Sydney Women’s Fund and the Sydney Community Foundation, and I extend that commitment to other boards, so I can be a part of the conversations that will help influence change.
When I first came into this giving sector, I had so much to learn. I came from the corporate world, so I did a lot of listening and learnt more about humility and the power imbalance of a funder. I learnt how to shed that power to empower others, those with lived experience, and embrace trust-based partnerships; they produce the best outcomes.
I’ve learnt about the importance of going deep and long-term and understanding cause areas and communities, then committing all the resources you can. But it’s also ok to have a lighter touch, sometimes all that is needed is some funding or an initial conversation. It’s about listening and tailoring. Some of our social change areas, like rheumatic heart disease in First Nations communities, require endurance, perseverance and partnerships with many. We’ve been in it for 13 years now and we’ll continue to commit. And that extends to establishing a charitable entity, Deadly Hearts Ltd, to enable increased prevention of this disease, working with First Nations Guides, cardiologists and health workers.
There are also a lot of lessons around what works and what doesn’t, especially on advocacy. We’ve had shared wins in the social change space where we’ve invested considerable resources, like marriage equality and single parents, and we’ve also had losses like the First Nations Voice. You learn how to deal with the loss and keep persisting and being a good ally, it only grows your compassion and approach, and you as a person.
The other learning aspect is around collaboration. You can do a lot on your own, but with many, you can be transformative. I’ve learnt a lot about First Nations communities and their culture, and that has been a real joy, especially bringing my family out on country.
You have to use your voice and stand up for what you believe. It inspires others to understand, have empathy and become engaged. Some will even become champions of that issue too.
Giving isn’t just about committing to only substantial matters. It is about finding what you love and care about. It might be something small or it could be something big. What’s important is to commit no matter whether it is through time, talent and/or treasure.
Men’s giving is often put in the spotlight and it’s important to showcase women’s giving as equally valuable and impactful. She Gives provides a platform to unite women, celebrate their giving, and empower and motivate them to join a growing community of giving that fosters systemic social change. As women, our actions stem from compassion and a genuine desire to make a difference collectively. With increased resources and strategic collaboration, we stand at a pivotal moment to shape a brighter future.
It’s an exciting time with giving growing and this intergenerational wealth transfer opportunity. We’ll see younger generations joining the giving fold who are more socially minded and environmentally conscious, and we’ll also have more women giving. I’m looking forward to future collaborations and achieving a lot more with new talent and experienced individuals.
I'd love to see more men and women rise up together to create real change around gender equity, we have such an opportunity to do better. I want to contribute so much more to systemic structural reform and entrepreneurial approaches. I've set up a sub fund within Sydney Women's Fund called Strong Women and I intend to establish another structured giving vehicle. But my major focus and time is certainly on The Snow Foundation. Being a family foundation, it involves my parents, my sister, my two brothers, their partners and my partner, plus a great team, strong advisors and independent directors. It brings my whole family closer together and allows for a wide range of diverse issues to be given attention. It is joyful, exciting and challenging all at the same time. So that requires my time, but it's nice to carve out a little time for me personally, so I can double down on some of the key areas that I am most passionate about.
I hope this campaign sees more people discover the joy of giving and genuinely connecting with community. Just to start somewhere with an open mind.
Georgina Byron AM is CEO of The Snow Foundation, and since 2006 has significantly grown the Foundation’s reach and impact from its origins in Canberra.
Georgina is passionate about creating social change to improve the lives of Australians, especially women and girls and First Australians. Collaboration is central to the Foundation and Georgina has led several co-funding and social change initiatives and brought innovative programs to the ACT.
She is Co-Chair of Deadly Hearts Ltd, Deputy Chair of Sydney Community Foundation, Chair of Sydney Women’s Community Fund Advisory Council, Philanthropy Australia board member and previous Chair of their Family Foundation Network. Georgina was previously a director of Good360, the Australian Women Donors Network, and Hands Across Canberra Community Foundation.
