When
Friday 1 March 2024
1pm - 2.30pm AEDT (ACT, NSW, VIC)
12:30pm – 2:00pm ACDT (SA)
12pm – 1:30pm AEST (QLD)
10am – 11:30am AWST (WA)
Virtual event only
Zoom link to be shared closer to the time.
Aims
- To showcase project profiles on how philanthropy is supporting people with disability.
- To spotlight opportunities for collaboration
Overview
Join us in this year's first network meeting for Disability Funders Network to come together and hear from our speakers:
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- Natalie Wade, founder and principal lawyer of Equality Lawyers, will talk about the opportunity to support the modernisation of the Disability Discrimination Act and removing forms of segregation.
- Jeff Smith, CEO of Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA), will present on the potential for philanthropy to support the intersection of climate and disability inclusion.
If you know of project profiles that highlight engagement of and co-design with people with disability, or an opportunity for funding collaboration, we also welcome your presentations.
Join the session as:
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- a presenter and share a 3-minute snapshot of project opportunities for collaboration.
- as an attendee and hear your fellow funders present
This is an invitation to converse and reflect on the insights from the showcase, consider collaboration, and deepen your connections with fellow funders.
Please note:
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- This is a virtual session only.
- There are limited spots for those who wish to share and present a project profile. Register soon to submit your EoI (expression of interest) to present.
Audience
This event is for Philanthropy Australia for funders in the disability space. If you are not yet a Philanthropy Australia member or want to learn more about the philanthropic work in this area, please reach out to programs@philanthropy.org.au.
Nominate today for the Australian Philanthropy Awards 2024!
The Australian Philanthropy Awards 2024 are now open for nominations, and we want to highlight the Inclusion Award. This award recognises and celebrates organisations, projects, initiatives, or programs that have made outstanding contributions to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the philanthropic sector and community.
You can nominate an organisation, individual, project or program which you believe has inspired more and better giving in Australia. All the details, including eligibility criteria and submission guidelines, are on the Philanthropy Australia website and the awards website.
Speakers
Natalie Wade - Founder and Principal Lawyer, Equality Lawyers
Natalie is a prominent disability rights lawyer and advocate. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Natalie is the Founder and Principal Lawyer Director of Equality Lawyers, a disability-led, disability rights law firm providing premium legal services to the disability community.
Natalie is an authentic leader who believes in designing law reform, public policy and community campaigns through lived experience and expertise. Current campaigns Natalie is leading alongside other human rights champions include Welcoming Disability to address equitable migrant rights for people with disabilities and their families, HR4SA to call for a Human Rights Act in SA and the POS Coalition, to provide civil society's response to the Disability Royal Commission's recommendations to phase out segregation in education, housing and employment settings.
In 2021, Natalie authored Disability Rights in Real Life, a practical handbook for disabled people, their families and allies on everyday disability rights law.
Natalie holds several senior advisory roles including on the Australian Disability Strategy Advisory Council and the Premier’s Council for Women.
Jeff Smith - Chief Executive Officer, Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA)
Jeff Smith is the CEO of the Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA), the peak membership body for independent advocates in Australia. Prior to joining DANA, Jeff worked as a senior executive for 15 years, being a longstanding CEO of EDO NSW and People with Disability Australia.
Jeff is a person with disability who has moved into the disability sector in recent years, while also continuing to work in the environment sector and seeking to identify linkages between the sectors.
Jeff is a solicitor with a lifelong commitment to social justice and the environment. Jeff also has a wealth of governance experience, with 50 years’ cumulative experience at Board level with the Leadership Coalition of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), Climate Action Network International, Haymarket Foundation, the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law, EDO NSW, the Total Environment Centre, the Environmental Planning and Law Association, and the Climate Institute.
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.
