September 21, 2012

2012 Philanthropy Australia Conference

September 2012

The Philanthropy Australia Bi-Annual Conference was held in Sydney on the 4th and 5th of September.

As the major assembling of the Australasian philanthropic sector, all of The Wyatt Trust’s Grants Portfolio Managers, the Chief Executive and several Governors were in attendance.

Themed ‘Making Philanthropy Our Business’, the conference featured high calibre Keynote Speakers, including Andrew Forrest, Baroness Jill Pitkeathley OBE, David Gonski AC, and Paul Clitheroe AM.

The Wyatt Trust attendees enjoyed thought stimulating conversation and presentations and arrived back in Adelaide thinking about how to connect these learnings to our work.

Some of the highlights were; learning more about the compound impact of social enterprise investment, cross sectoral collaboration and partnering with other philanthropics to deliver collective impact, and thinking about other, non grant-making ways that The Wyatt Trust can support its partners, recipients and the growth of the sector in South Australia.

Also highly valued were the considerations of balancing compassion with a focus on outcomes, and the important of listening to what recipients want rather than responding to needs identified by others.

Jessica Sutherland, The Wyatt Trust’s Grants Portfolio Manager for Education, delivered a paper on listening and looking for impact using our Bultawilta Program as a case study, and was impressed with, and grateful for the reception from others working in the field of educational philanthropy.