News
Introducing Catherine Brown, our new CEO
November 11, 2011
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It is an honour to lead the team of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation. The Foundation is Australia’s largest community foundation, with an inspiring history and potential.
A visionary Lord Mayor, Sir John Swanson, who understood the potential of philanthropy to make a difference to the Melbourne community, established the Foundation in 1923. Since then many other generous donors have contributed to the growth of the Foundation.
Our organisation has a very strong track record in thoughtful and informed grant making, ranging from small grants to large multi-year signature grants for projects to reduce homelessness. We also have a special capacity to use our research and communications programs to add value to the projects and causes that we support.
In the past few years, we have hosted major forums on the issues underlying homelessness, youth and ageing. These forums and our Grants Advisory Panels provide expert and community input into the Foundation’s strategic planning around our philanthropic work.
While grant making is the central core of philanthropy, the philanthropy toolbox holds other tools, which can help address current social issues. These include researching, raising awareness, convening and acting as a catalyst for change.
Our work in homelessness has highlighted our ability to make major grants, undertake research and hold forums that help us advance our thinking. At the recent announcement of our $1 million signature grant to the Salvation Army for the 24/7 Melbourne’s Road Home program, Associate Professor David MacKenzie, of Swinburne University, reported that it was possible for homelessness in Melbourne to be eliminated. This possibility inspires us to maintain our leadership in this area.
Through our grants programs, we have active relationships with over 500 charitable organisations of many sizes and from many sectors. We will be providing opportunities for these organisations to interact with us and to tell us how they could build their capacity to deliver more services on the ground.
Our Foundation is your Foundation – the Melbourne community created it. This is one of its greatest strengths. Donors from all walks of life give to the Foundation through the range of philanthropic opportunities that we provide. These include donations, giving accounts, charitable fund accounts, corporate community partnerships and bequests. We invite donors to be active in any or all of these areas. We have created opportunities for donors to meet and work together and we plan to expand these further.
We have also started a project to map the impact of our philanthropy with the aim of maximising our effectiveness. In this way we are applying the same evidence-based criteria to our own activities as used for assessing the programs we support. This ensures that we understand community’s needs and the aspirations of our charitable organisation partners.
Through all of our activities, we endeavour to find more ways to make it easy for you to support your community. We invite you to become part of the work we are undertaking and welcome your project ideas.
I look forward to working with you as donors and supporters to realise our shared philanthropic aspirations.
Wishing you the very best for this festive season.
Catherine Brown
CEO
Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation
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