Backing Leaders
Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation Annual Report 2024
CHAIR & CEO MESSAGE
Welcome
It is a privilege to lead the Board and Team of VFFF as Chairman and CEO. VFFF values and nurtures leaders at all levels and we chose 2024, when inspiring leaders are needed more than ever, to feature those we admire in our Annual Report. Like Edmund Hillary, VFFF believes that great leaders do not decide to be extraordinary, rather they decide to accomplish extraordinary things.
Through twenty-seven cohorts of the Vincent Fairfax Fellows, grants to more than 180 school leadership teams and more recently, three cohorts of Social Impact Leadership Australia (SILA) graduates, VFFF has supported more than 680 leaders. With their teams, these leaders are delivering extraordinary outcomes in Australian communities.
Director Angus White, who retires at the 2024 AGM, steered the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship (VFF) since 2009 ensuring his grandfather’s belief in Little Leaders was reflected in the shaping of each VFF Cohort. Director Sue Cridge, who also retires this year, reminded us as Chair of the Fair Education Working Group which developed VFFF’s largest multi-year partnership with Australian Schools Plus in 2015, that schools were best served when the leadership team was supported, rather than supporting an individual. SILA has created a unique culture of permission, facilitating leaders of Australian for-purpose organisations to learn, reflect, engage with talented adaptive leadership coaches and their peers and critically take time out for themselves.
The VFFF Board approved $10m in new grants this year and a key component considered in VFFF’s due diligence of these opportunities was the quality of the leadership team at the helm of the organisation. VFFF backs leaders who have passion, commitment and the expertise to achieve their mission. We follow talented individuals we trust like Sarah Davies, Travers McLeod and Kristy Muir. We find leaders new to the sector such as Kurt Jones, CEO of Co-Exist Australia, and the 36 leaders in rural and regional communities supported through our Backing the Future grant program.
The Grants Committee approved $850,000 across 17 grants supported by the skill and expertise of VFFF’s youngest leaders, the seven members of the Youth Advisory Group (YAG). We acknowledge Natalie Buckett, formerly Program Manager – Contributing to Society, whose leadership inspired the YAG and whose influence on our work will extend well beyond the four years she spent as part of the team. Natalie moved to the United Kingdom in July and we are confident that she will achieve great success whatever direction this adventure takes her.
We thank Directors for their leadership of VFFF during the year and warmly welcome four new members to the Board. Emilia Kefford, William White, Peter Johnstone and Sam Koslowski join the Board and we look forward to their contribution. We are grateful for the VFFF team, led with skill, kindness and inclusivity by Claire Mannion. The team purposefully seek out existing and emerging leaders who are backing young people in one or more of our strategic focus areas.
We hope you enjoy VFFF’s stories of good people accomplishing extraordinary things.
