Overview

Employee engagement is an ongoing priority for corporate foundations seeking to provide opportunities for their employees to connect with their community investment and deepen their impact.

This session will explore practical ideas and emerging themes from both large and small foundations, highlighting how they approach employee engagement to create meaningful and measurable outcomes in their philanthropic work. 

The event will feature insights from subject matter experts, along with opportunities for Q&A and peer connection with corporate philanthropy professionals from across the country.

Date: Thursday 19 March

Time:

• 11:30am - 1:00pm AEDT (ACT, NSW, TAS, VIC)
• 11:00am - 12:30pm ACDT (SA)
• 10:30am  12:00pm AEST (QLD)
• 10:00am - 11:30am ACST (NT)
• 8:30am - 10:00am AWST (WA)

Format: In person, Sydney and Melbourne | Virtual, all other states

Melbourne venue: PwC Melbourne. 2 Riverside Quay, Southbank VIC 3006 

Sydney venue: PwC Sydney, Level 17, One International Towers Sydney, Watermans Quay  Barangaroo NSW  2000

Audience

This event is for Philanthropy Australia Corporate Philanthropy Peer Network members. 

We welcome other funder members who are corporate foundation staff, corporate leaders/grant makers and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) professionals. Philanthropy Australia membership at Engage or Impact tier is required to attend PA events.

Not yet a member at this level? Please reach out to membership@philanthropy.org.au.

Speakers

		Clair Millar, Global Lead, GHD In the Community Clair Millar is GHD’s Global Lead for the GHD in the Community program. She is passionate about empowering GHD’s people to create a positive impact in their communities through volunteering and pro bono work and is particularly interested in equipping leaders with data that demonstrates how their investment in these activities strengthens employee engagement and motivation. With more than 20 years of consulting and leadership experience, Clair enjoys combining her engineering background and personal experience organising community activities at GHD with her recent Master's in Social Impact to bring a unique perspective to this role.
		Chris Green, Chief Risk Officer, Consumer and Customer and Corporate Services, Westpac Group Chris is the Chief Risk Officer, Consumer and Customer and Corporate Services at Westpac, where he has been since 2021 after a long period at Macquarie Group. He is passionate about holistic risk management, social impact, and the transformative use of data and technology. Chris has recently become the voluntary Co-Chair of the Westpac Skilled Volunteer Network, providing senior sponsorship and strategic leadership.
		Kate Frank, Employer Brand Manager, Westpac Group   Kate joined Westpac in 2024 after a diverse marketing and communications career in both Sydney and London and an extended period of leave caring for her two children. She sits in the People team and is responsible for Westpac's Employee Value Proposition. She loves that her job allows her to combine her skills in marketing with her deep interest in people to improve the employee experience for all of Westpac's people.
		Kirsten Coombes,  Community Engagement Manager, Zurich  As Community Engagement Manager at Zurich, Kirsten leads community and volunteer initiatives aligned to the Zurich Foundation’s social impact pillars, delivering measurable outcomes that strengthen resilience and inclusion. She brings a strategic, collaborative approach to partnership building and social impact program design, drawing on experience across corporate, government, and not-for-profit sectors.

Peer Network Chair 

Amy Lyden, CEO, Westpac Scholars Trust and Westpac Foundation Amy has over 25 years of experience across corporate, foundations, SME, and not-for-profit sectors as a senior manager, founder and CEO in Australia and North America. When Westpac announced a $100m investment to create a scholarship fund, she joined Westpac Scholars Trust as Scholarship Program Director in 2015 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Westpac Foundation & Westpac Scholars Trust in July 2022.

Peer Network Lead

Mary Chackola, Director, Engagement (VIC/TAS), Philanthropy Australia  Mary is a passionate marketing and fundraising professional with over a decade of experience driving growth across both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and the UK. She brings with her a wealth of expertise in stakeholder engagement, member experience management, and strategic marketing. Her corporate background includes leading growth initiatives and marketing strategies that delivered measurable impact, complementing her work in the philanthropic space.

Learn more about Philanthropy Australia membership.