The Wyatt Trust Board of Governors is pleased to announce that Sophie Doyle will step into the role of Chief Executive Officer at Foundation SA, effective 20 May 2024.
Pam Simmons, Chair of The Wyatt Trust Board of Governors says the leadership transition reflects the organisation’s extraordinary growth in its first three years.
“When The Wyatt Trust embarked on the work to establish Foundation SA, it was always the plan for the Foundation to become independent of Wyatt,” Pam explains.
“We are thrilled with the growth of the Foundation, which now has a corpus of over $3 million and has granted more than $800,000 to South Australian communities. The transition to a new CEO is an important first step towards Foundation SA’s independence.”
Stacey Thomas, CEO of The Wyatt Trust, who also held the role of Foundation SA CEO since its inception, says the community foundation’s third birthday is the right time to step down.
“Wyatt was proud to provide seed funding to establish Foundation SA and remain an implementation partner out of a strong belief that others with the capacity to, would find much purpose and joy in supporting their community,” Stacey says.
“The growth of Foundation SA has shown this to be true and the leadership transition confirms how quickly the Foundation is moving on its path to independence.”
Sophie Doyle will take up the role after three years as the Foundation’s Philanthropy & Engagement Manager.
With a bold ambition to triple the growth of the Foundation SA donor community within the next three years, Sophie’s priorities are to continue to raise awareness and deepen the organisation’s community connectedness.
“I’m thrilled to be stepping into the role of CEO at such an important time in Foundation SA’s growth,” Sophie says.
“The next two years will see Foundation SA start to mature into its own independent entity and keep growing its corpus to a level that gets us closer to long-term sustainability.”
“The simplicity of giving through a community foundation and the collective impact we make together are the basis of Foundation SA’s success,” Sophie continues. “I look forward to continuing to make philanthropy accessible to even more South Australians.”
Foundation SA is overseen by The Wyatt Trust Board of Governors until it grows in scale to become its own independent entity, at which time it will have its own Trustee and Board of Directors.
In announcing the leadership transition Pam Simmons thanked outgoing Foundation SA CEO, Stacey Thomas, for her vision and leadership.
“We are very grateful to Stacey Thomas for initiating the establishment of Foundation SA and for her outstanding leadership in its formative years,” Pam says.
While Stacey’s leadership focus will now return solely to The Wyatt Trust, her personal involvement with Foundation SA will continue for generations.
“Personally, it has been a wonderful experience to take Foundation SA from a kernel of an idea to a community of givers that will leave a powerful legacy for South Australia,” she says.
“As a Foundation SA sub-fund holder myself together with my husband and children, I look forward to us and future generations of our family, continuing to be part of such a vibrant giving community.”
