Issue 3/2013 USA The Chonburi province school aims to provide opportunities for local rural families and improve their lives by reinventing itself as a hub for economic and social development, as well as an educational resource. The community development project is being facilitated by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), credited for being one of the key organisations responsible for decreasing the Thai population growth rate from over 3% annually in 1974 to the more sustainable 0.5% by 2003. The project will endeavour to stimulate active collaboration and a change in attitude between the school and the community it serves; establish a social enterprise on the school grounds to contribute to school lunches, generate income and serve as an agricultural demonstration site; establish a micro- credit fund for families with no other source of capital; train teachers and provide health screenings to disadvantaged community members. PDA, founded and chaired by Mechai Viravaidya who has garnered a number Seed funding helps schools and start ups of awards for his work in implementing family planning methods and minimising new HIV/AIDS infections in Thailand, will receive a two-year grant from the Macquarie Group Foundation to help it achieve the project’s aims. Angus Kent, Macquarie’s head of equity in Thailand has contributed to PDA in the past through fundraising. “My family and I have supported, with matching funds from Macquarie Group Foundation, Mechai’s work in rural communities in Thailand for some time,” he said. “We are continuously impressed with the deep impact of his particular model and the way it is able to empower local communities, utilising a bottom-up approach at the village level so people can share in and shape their own destinies.” The Funding Network (TFN) in Australia has also received a grant from the Macquarie Group Foundation to help it act as a conduit between social entrepreneurs and people who have the resources and interest to help them tackle pressing social problems. Supporting a rural school in Thailand and providing seed funding to encourage ‘people-powered’ solutions to community problems in Australia are the two most recent initiatives approved by the Macquarie Group Foundation, taking the number of organisations assisted through Macquarie grant partnerships to 35. TFN’s mission is to broaden the culture and practice of giving in Australia by making supporting early-stage social change projects accessible and rewarding. As a start-up organisation in Australia (based on a successful UK model) it pools resources: for a fee of $A100, anyone can become a member of the not-for-profit and put forward social change projects at TFN- organised events to pitch for funding. Prior to each event, members nominate and choose four social change projects, addressing a range of issue areas, with the goal being to raise to raise at least $A10,000 per project per event. Funding can serve any number of community issues, but must make a tangible difference. Macquarie has supported TFN with its pilot program in Australia in 2013. All 12 pilot projects exceeded their $A10,000 targets, with many doubling that figure. Many projects also received pro bono support demonstrating the ‘leverage’ effect of the model. Macquarie in the community One of Macquarie Group Foundation’s latest grant partnerships, the Population and Community Development Association concentrates on facilitating development programs in Thai rural towns and villages.
Transcript
Issue 3/2013USA
The Chonburi province school aims to provide opportunities for local rural families and improve their lives by reinventing itself as a hub for economic and social development, as well as an educational resource. The community development project is being facilitated by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), credited for being one of the key organisations responsible for decreasing the Thai population growth rate from over 3% annually in 1974 to the more sustainable 0.5% by 2003.
The project will endeavour to stimulate active collaboration and a change in attitude between the school and the community it serves; establish a social enterprise on the school grounds to contribute to school lunches, generate income and serve as an agricultural demonstration site; establish a micro-credit fund for families with no other source of capital; train teachers and provide health screenings to disadvantaged community members. PDA, founded and chaired by Mechai Viravaidya who has garnered a number
Seed funding helps schools and start ups
of awards for his work in implementing family planning methods and minimising new HIV/AIDS infections in Thailand, will receive a two-year grant from the Macquarie Group Foundation to help it achieve the project’s aims.
Angus Kent, Macquarie’s head of equity in Thailand has contributed to PDA in the past through fundraising. “My family and I have supported, with matching funds from Macquarie Group Foundation, Mechai’s work in rural communities in Thailand for some time,” he said. “We are continuously impressed with the deep impact of his particular model and the way it is able to empower local communities, utilising a bottom-up approach at the village level so people can share in and shape their own destinies.”
The Funding Network (TFN) in Australia has also received a grant from the Macquarie Group Foundation to help it act as a conduit between social entrepreneurs and people who have the resources and interest to help them tackle pressing social problems.
Supporting a rural school in Thailand and providing seed funding to encourage ‘people-powered’ solutions to community problems in Australia are the two most recent initiatives approved by the Macquarie Group Foundation, taking the number of organisations assisted through Macquarie grant partnerships to 35.
TFN’s mission is to broaden the culture and practice of giving in Australia by making supporting early-stage social change projects accessible and rewarding. As a start-up organisation in Australia (based on a successful UK model) it pools resources: for a fee of $A100, anyone can become a member of the not-for-profit and put forward social change projects at TFN- organised events to pitch for funding.
Prior to each event, members nominate and choose four social change projects, addressing a range of issue areas, with the goal being to raise to raise at least $A10,000 per project per event. Funding can serve any number of community issues, but must make a tangible difference.
Macquarie has supported TFN with its pilot program in Australia in 2013. All 12 pilot projects exceeded their $A10,000 targets, with many doubling that figure. Many projects also received pro bono support demonstrating the ‘leverage’ effect of the model.
Macquarie in the community
One of Macquarie Group Foundation’s latest grant partnerships, the Population and Community Development Association concentrates on facilitating development programs in Thai rural towns and villages.
Foundation newsCelebrating $A200 million by telling 200 stories
Two hundred years ago, Governor Lachlan Macquarie overcame an acute currency shortage in the new colony of New South Wales by purchasing Spanish silver dollars, removing their centres and creating two new coins. Governor Macquarie’s creation of the Holey Dollar was an inspired solution to a difficult problem and for this reason it was chosen as the symbol for Macquarie Group.
Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the Holey Dollar’s creation, 2013 also marks $A200 million contributed by Macquarie staff and the Macquarie Group Foundation to community organisations around the world since its inception in 1985. Thousands of initiatives have been undertaken by staff in their local communities over the years and this grassroots activity, coupled with the Foundation’s support, is central to Macquarie’s philanthropic approach.
Macquarie is celebrating both milestones by inviting Macquarie staff to enter a photo-story competition, with prizes totalling $A20,000 for charity.
The global competition, open from 17 September to 11 October, involves employees submitting a photo of their community activity together with their community story. A Macquarie Group Foundation panel will choose four winners from the most compelling and inspiring entries, each of whom will receive $A5,000 for their nominated charity.
Existential angst video takes the Macquarie prize
Inspired by the post-World War II writings of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, the winner of the 2013 Macquarie Digital Portraiture Prize, Nik Lee, wanted to explore the relevance of Sartre’s writing to contemporary youth.
The 18-year-old invited an actor and school friend to read a complex passage from Sartre’s novel Nausea and edited his struggle to interpret and perform it into a 12-minute video.
The Macquarie Digital Portraiture Prize supports artists between the ages of 18 and 30 years working with screen-based technology. Six digital portraits are now on display at Australia’s National Portrait Gallery, chosen from an open call for submissions for their unique and striking explorations of identity.
Lee won the Macquarie Group Foundation’s $A10,000 cash bursary for his entry which the judges described as conveying “a strong sense of the yearning to solidify self-identity through exploratory reading and thinking”. He will also be given the opportunity to undertake an artist residency with additional creative mentorship.
Art about in NYC
Macquarie Group Board members also demonstrated their interest in the arts this month, attending an event to celebrate Macquarie staff accomplishments with local community organisations at New York City’s Carter Burden Gallery. This not-for-profit gallery – underwritten by the Macquarie Group Foundation – exhibits re-emerging older professional artists who face limited opportunities to show their work. Exhibitions are curated based solely on quality and impact and represent older artists, many of whom were important participants in the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1960s in New York City.
The Carter Burden Gallery is a program of the Carter Burden Center, which promotes the well-being of older adults through a continuum of services, advocacy and volunteer programs. Macquarie employees have been volunteering with the Carter Burden Center since 2010, supporting the Elder Tele-Friend program, meal delivery and its Associates Council.
Finalists gather at the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Prize for the announcement of the winner.
From left: Adam Green, Rocking the Boat, Chris Devine, Macquarie’s Corporate Operations Group, Funmilayo Brown, Carter Burden Gallery, and Peter Warne, Macquarie Group Board member, at the community celebration gathering in New York.
Unlocking HOPE and opportunity in New York City
One spring morning this year, 12 Macquarie New York employees sat in a meeting room interviewing people. They weren’t recruiting new staff, but volunteering to help more than 20 participants in the HOPE Program prepare for the job market.
HOPE participants are adults who have struggled with employment barriers, including drug addiction, domestic violence, incarceration or homelessness. They complete a rigorous three-month program that helps them prepare for work, followed by a mock job interview to familiarise themselves with what can be an intimidating situation.
The two-hour workshop, which precedes a collegial lunch, is an opportunity for HOPE students to work on their nerves before the big day and gain tips on how to make the best impression. It is part of a long-term Macquarie partnership with the HOPE Program that has included internships for HOPE employees, resume workshops, career panels and an annual suit drive.
Helping to beat the insulin cycle
For the fourth year in a row, cyclists from the Delaware Investments office in Philadelphia donned spandex for a trip across Pennsylvania to support the American Diabetes Association. The Tour de Cure, an annual fundraising ritual, is championed by Macquarie’s Kishor Daga, who this year helped staff the Macquarie Group Foundation-sponsored rest stop along the route. The head of Private Placements, Brad Ritter, was part of the cycling team, which raised almost $3,000 to support research and education.
In addition to fundraising, Kishor has also served as an ADA ambassador, speaking to school students about nutrition and exercise in an effort to combat the spread of type 2 diabetes.
The 2013 class of Macquarie New York’s high school interns visit the New York Stock Exchange as part of their finance industry experience.
Risk Management Group’s Rachel Yemini helps a HOPE student practice talking about her past work experiences.
Macquarie Funds Group’s Brad Ritter winds down after competing in the Tour de Cure.
In the communityNo summertime blues for interns
Macquarie New York employees know it is summertime when 17-year-olds in suits and ties show up behind computers at the office. This summer, the sixth in a row, more than 150 employees welcomed nine students from Columbia University’s Double Discovery Center. The students, who are the first in their families to attend college, engaged in a month-long paid internship program with businesses ranging from IT to Macquarie Securities. They learned about budgeting, presentations, project management and Excel modelling while also hearing from presenters who explained the various facets of Macquarie’s business in the US.
In addition, the interns volunteered with their mentors, delivering meals to the homebound elderly, and attended several field trips, including a tour of the New York Stock Exchange. On the final day of the program, each intern stood and gave a presentation about the experience. “I observe the world differently now,” one intern said. “Macquarie truly broadened my perspective of the world around me.”
The Macquarie Group Foundation supports not-for-profit organisations around the world, predominantly in the locations in which Macquarie operates. Our work is significantly influenced by the activities of Macquarie staff and as such our key objectives are to:
• support and encourage staff leadership and engagement in the communities where Macquarie staff live and work
• contribute in skilled and sustainable ways to improve the performance and capacity of community organisations
• build awareness of Macquarie Group staff activities and achievements in the community.
We seek to achieve these objectives by:
• supporting staff-led community activities and matching Macquarie staff personal donations and fundraising efforts
• directing targeted funding to innovative and well-run organisations where Macquarie staff are involved through volunteering, pro bono skills
More information:macquarie.com/foundation
1 Comprising Macquarie staff donations and fundraising and Foundation matching support for these; Foundation donations to commemorate staff attaining 10-year and 25-year anniversaries at Macquarie; Foundation grants to organisations with a Macquarie board member serving for more than 12 months; and Foundation grants to community organisations in the 12 months to 31 March 2013
2 In the 12 months to 31 March 2013.3 Philanthropy Australia.
Note: Unless otherwise stated, all monies raised by staff include Macquarie Group Foundation matching and are denominated in local currency.
