Overview
With renewed Federal Government attention on the social enterprise sector, we’re standing in a rare moment — a genuine window where coordinated advocacy can shape policy, unlock opportunity, and accelerate the sector’s long‑term impact. The question now is: what role should philanthropy play, and how can we be the kind of ally the sector actually needs?
Join us for the next Social Enterprise Funders Network gathering as we dive into exactly that.
Drawing directly from what social enterprises are calling for — and what’s resonating inside government particularly around the current employment services overhaul — Jess Moore (Social Enterprise Australia) will unpack where the strongest advocacy opportunities are emerging and why they matter right now.
Then, Ryan Ginard (Minderoo Foundation) will lift the lid on Minderoo’s advocacy strategy and the lessons they’re uncovering about how philanthropy can meaningfully shape sector‑wide impact.
Together they will then take a step back and explore philanthropy’s role: where our support is most catalytic, where it can unintentionally get in the way, and how we can contribute to advocacy efforts that genuinely shift systems.
Whether you’re deeply engaged in advocacy or just beginning to explore it, this session will illuminate why this moment is so pivotal — and what each of us can do to help create a more enabling policy environment that strengthens outcomes for the entire social enterprise ecosystem. This session intentionally leans into the social enterprise national strategy priority area of Connect and align: Collaboration infrastructure, First Nations-led roadmap, and shared narrative and advocacy.
Online event
Details will be provided after the registration is submitted.
Date and time
Wednesday 29 July 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST (ACT, NSW, QLD, TAS, VIC)
11:30am - 12:30pm ACST (NT, SA)
10:00am - 14:00am AWST (WA)
Audience
This session is for Philanthropy Australia Social Enterprise Funders Network members. We welcome other funder members at the Engage (individual/organisation) or Impact membership tier who are interested in funding social enterprises.
If you are already a funder member of Philanthropy Australia, register through this page or reach out programs@philanthropy.org.au to sign up to this funders network.
Not yet a Philanthropy Australia member? Please email membership@philanthropy.org.au.
Note
Presenters will share their thoughts and views in conversation but will not offer any financial advice.
Speakers
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Jess Moore, Chief Executive Officer, Social Enterprise Australia
Jess is passionate about social and environmental wellbeing, and people working together to create change. Her work has always been in social innovation, in peak organisations, social enterprise and people-centred services. She was a Director at the Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT. She was CEO at Community Resources, one of Australia’s largest jobs focussed social enterprises, employing over 650 people. Prior to this, she led social enterprise Green Connect through startup and scaleup. Jess came into social enterprise from a background in public policy, advocacy and community development, and has led collaborations that changed government policy and decisions.
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Ryan Ginard, Head of Sector Development and Innovation, Minderoo Foundation
Ryan Ginard CFRE is Head of Sector Development and Innovation at the Minderoo Foundation. His career in organised philanthropy spans civic engagement, public policy, operations, and fundraising, including dirtector roles at the University of Texas at Austin, Philanthropy California, and as Chief of Staff for a $185 million philanthropic program across early education and charitable giving, impacting over 11 million students and 22,000 schools in 20 countries.
He has raised over AUD $50 million for charity and pioneering research in machine learning, computational oncology, and social justice.
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Ryan is the best-selling, award-winning author of Future Philanthropy and Nonprofit Moneyball and founder of Fundraise for Australia, a social enterprise aiming to train 1,000 new fundraisers by 2030 while mobilising an additional $120 million in charitable donations. His latter work earning him the 2025 Philanthropy Innovation Award at the recent Queensland Philanthropy Awards.
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Peer Network Co-Chairs
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Belinda Morrissey, Chief Executive Officer, English Family Foundation
Belinda Morrissey is passionate about how we collectively build forward just, sustainable and inclusive economies. She is the CEO of the English Family Foundation, one of the few Australian foundations with a sole focus on driving transformational change through the growth and development of social entrepreneurs and social businesses.
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Anita Hopkins, CEO, Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation
Anita is a highly experienced philanthropic executive, having worked with private, corporate and community foundations, as well as individual donors. She has led a number of philanthropic entities, including the Portland House Foundation and the Jack Brockhoff Foundation, and has been the inaugural CEO of the Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation since 2022. She holds an MBA (Monash), post graduate qualifications in women’s studies and public policy, and is currently completing a Masters of Social Impact (CSI, Swinburne).
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Peer Network Lead
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Brianna Kerr, Director, Knowledge and Practice, Philanthropy Australia
Brianna (Bri) Kerr is a social entrepreneur, academic, facilitator and consultant, with a decade of experience turning insight into action, knowledge into practice.
After an array of early career experiences in international development – spanning work in Papua New Guinea, India, Malawi and Indonesia – Bri co-founded social enterprise Kua – an organisation dedicated to improving the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda.
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When Kua was acquired by Commonfolk, Bri stepped into the higher education space – developing and delivering social impact and sustainability courses at the Centre for Social Impact UNSW and Monash Business School.
In recent years, Bri has consulted for a range of for-purpose organisations, both independently and in partnership with Pale Blue. Notably, in 2025, she managed the She Gives National Research Project – the largest mixed-methods study into women’s giving ever undertaken in Australia.
Bri holds a Bachelor of Arts from UNSW (Distinction) and a Master of Human Rights from the University of Sydney, where she studied as a distinguished Westpac Future Leaders Scholar.
Alongside her role at Philanthropy Australia, Bri is the doting Founder of Five Bucks and an eager Non-Executive Director of Think Forward.
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