This event is for funders only.
When
Monday 21 October 2024
1pm - 2.30pm AEDT (ACT, NSW, VIC)
12:30pm – 2:00pm ACDT (SA)
12pm - 1:30pm AEST (QLD)
11:30am - 1pmACST (NT)
10am – 11:30am AWST (WA)
Virtual event only
Zoom link to be shared closer to the time.
Overview
This is a joint meeting of the Disability Funders Network and Jobs and Skills Funders Network.
The aims of this meeting will be to gain an update on recent developments, including the DES reform process, the response to the Royal Commission, and the challenges and opportunities emerging in this space.
Our presenters will share reflections on the role that philanthropy could play over the coming months and years in supporting an ecosystem that creates improved employment outcomes for people with disability.
We invite network members currently funding or interested in funding into the disability and employment space to share their reflections and ambitions before discussing potential opportunities as a group.
Please note:
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- This is a virtual session only.
- The session will be recorded.
Audience
This event is for Philanthropy Australia funders in the disability space at the New Gen, Active, Engaged, and Impact membership tiers.
If you are a funder member of Philanthropy Australia interested in becoming part of this funders network or you want to know more about the philanthropic work in this area, please reach out to programs@philanthropy.org.au.
Not yet a member of Philanthropy Australia? Please contact membership@philanthropy.org.au.
Presenters
Peter Bacon – Chief Executive Officer, Disability Employment Australia
Kirsty Nowlan – Executive Director, The Achieve Foundation
Disability Funders Network Co-chairs
Nick Taylor – Disability Portfolio Lead for a private philanthropic trust and the Chairman of the Board for Wheelchair Sports NSW
Nick Taylor is the Disability Portfolio Lead for a private philanthropic trust, and the Chairman of the Board for Wheelchair Sports NSW. A native of South Africa, Nick grew up in a sports obsessed family of four siblings. In 1998, just after he finished high school, Nick was involved in a serious car accident that left him paralysed from the waist down. At the time, Nick was leading his team in the South African National Basketball Championship and despite his absence from the grand final, his team would go on to win the national title in overtime. They dedicated the win to their fallen captain, who would also be named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Nick received a bachelor’s degree in business science in Cape Town, including spending a year on a wheelchair basketball scholarship at the University of Texas. Going from strength to strength, Nick then secured a role with a leading international management-consulting firm in Johannesburg and got back to representing South Africa, playing wheelchair basketball in both the World Championships and the Paralympics.
In 2006 Nick immigrated to Australia to build a brighter future for himself in Sydney. He became an Australian citizen and sat out of international competition in wheelchair basketball for three years so he could switch his nationality in order to represent Australia. He did so at the highest level by playing in the London Paralympics in 2012, winning a silver medal and two years later in Korea, he and his team would be crowned World Champions!
Kirsty Nowlan – Executive Director, The Achieve Foundation
Dr Kirsty Nowlan is the Executive Director at The Achieve Foundation, leading large systems change initiatives across both international development and in Australia. She has worked across areas as diverse as ageism in Australia, child mortality and fragile and conflict-affected states. Underpinning all the roles in her career is a deep commitment to social justice. Kirsty is dedicated to making better outcomes happen for people with disability and shaping society to embrace the diversity of human experience as a strength.
Alongside her work with The Achieve Foundation, she is on the boards of The Centre for Social Purpose – a membership organisation that works to support operational excellence in for purpose organisations – and Peacifica, an Australian-based organisation that aims to promote peace through genuine partnerships with Pacific Islanders. She holds a PhD on international law and politics and her thesis explored the evolution of new forms of power through citizen activism around international trade negotiations.
Jobs and Skills Funders Network Chair
Stephen Torsi - Program Manager, Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation
Stephen Torsi is a social impact leader with over 20 years' experience across corporate, not-for-profit and government sectors in the UK and Australia. He is currently a Program Manager at Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, Australia's largest and oldest community foundation. Stephen's 'portfolio' learning and working life includes musical theatre, hospitality, national literacy projects, strategic communications, community development, government relations and social impact.
Stephen is very good at building trusting and collaborative relationships. He is obsessed with uncovering the root causes of inequality and how complex systems thinking can illuminate the darkest corners of our shared purpose. Stephen is also Chair of youth service YouthNow and serves his community in several voluntary roles.
