Chair's message
It was a great privilege to succeed Shemara Wikramanayake as Chair of the Macquarie Group Foundation (the Foundation) in December 2018 when she became Macquarie’s new CEO and Managing Director. During Shemara’s five years as Chair, over $A137m was contributed to non-profit organisations, and volunteering hours increased by 188%; from 32,000 in 2013 to 60,000 in 2018. Shemara led the Foundation with passion, expertise and a determination to make an impact in the communities in which our staff live and work, and I look forward to continuing this important work.
Last year we also welcomed three new members to the Foundation Committee, further diversifying the range of experience and widening the geographical spread of members represented on the Committee. You can see our Committee members later in this annual report.
During the year, a record $A31.7 million was donated to more than 1,600 non-profits around the world by Macquarie staff and the Foundation.
Across the world, there are young people who need greater support to overcome the social barriers they face. Our global grant making focus aims to break down these barriers and provide social and economic opportunities to those who will benefit most.
This year we’ve looked at the grant-making areas across our four regions – the Americas, Asia, Australia and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) – and uncovered the commonalities and differences in each area as together we work to create social impact.
Each location faces distinct challenges and priorities. For North America, a college pathway is almost imperative for a professional career, while in EMEA alternative pathways like professional apprenticeships are reducing economic disadvantage among young people who may otherwise have limited access to training and education beyond school. In Asia, ethical domestic labour recruitment can triumph over modern slavery to create fair working opportunities. And in Australia, marginalised young people are gaining greater access to work experience and career opportunities.
Learn more about the community organisations we’re supporting who are working with young people around the world.
| Generation Generation is a non-profit with a mission to transform education-to-employment systems to support adults achieve economic opportunity and mobility through a career. Our funding will support over 2,000 people into jobs in the green, technology and health sectors that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. It will also support Generation develop a digital mentorship platform to improve learner outcomes across their programs. |
| World YMCA World YMCA's mission is to empower young people and communities worldwide to build a just, sustainable, equitable and inclusive world, where every person can thrive in body, mind and spirit. Our funding will support the World YMCA to prepare for pilot interventions that use digital solutions and innovative financing to move historically underserved young people beyond skilling and into meaningful work. |
| Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) The Brotherhood of St Laurence is a social justice organisation working to prevent and alleviate poverty across Australia. Our funding will help drive more effective and community-led solutions to youth unemployment by expanding the Compass tool developed by BSL, that puts place-specific data into the hands of local stakeholders and decision-makers. |
| CareerSeekers CareerSeekers connects newly settled humanitarian entrants with corporate Australia to increase workforce participation. Our funding is supporting upgrades to its technology infrastructure and expansion in Queensland. |
| Foundation for Young Australians The Foundation for Young Australians’ mission is to back young people aged 12-30 years to transform the future. FYA invests money and time into young people's ideas, skills gaps and networks, reflecting its belief that young people should be the central agents of change. Our funding will enable YLab (a social enterprise arm of FYA) to directly employ young people to co-design improved services and systems in the areas of health, education and employment. |
| Generation Australia Generation is a non-profit with a mission to transform education-to-employment systems to help marginalised jobseekers overcome barriers to employment. Our general operations funding will support Generation Australia to achieve its goal of placing people facing significant barriers into technology and care jobs. |
| Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation The Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation (LMCF) inspires philanthropy to create positive social change. Our funding is contributing to the establishment of a pooled philanthropic fund, managed by LMCF, that will support work integrated social enterprises employing young people who face barriers to mainstream jobs. |
| Shoreline Shoreline connects schools with training organisations and employers, helping senior secondary college Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students obtain a vocational qualification and secure a pathway to employment. Our grant supports Shoreline’s capacity to undertake this. |
| PCYC NSW PCYC NSW works with young people to help them reach their potential through police and community partnerships. Our grant funds Stepping Up programs in western Sydney, helping young people transition from vocational training into work experience and then full-time employment or apprenticeships. |
| Social Ventures Australia SVA works to improve the lives of people in need by offering funding, investment, and advice to support organisations to increase their social impact. Our grant supports the Pathways to Skilled Employment Program, which seeks to gather evidence to help government, employers and young people design and deliver programs to address employment issues. |
| White Box Enterprises White Box Enterprises builds, supports, and advocates for jobs-focused social enterprises. Our funding will build on the implementation of the Federal Government’s Payment by Outcomes trial led by White Box Enterprises, with the aim of supporting up to 750 participants to access entry level jobs and transition pathways by 2025. |
| DeadlyScience DeadlyScience provides science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and resources to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners across Australia. Our grant supports the professional development of DeadlyScience staff and helps strengthen capacity to deliver impactful programs. |
| First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation First Hand Solutions exists to improve the lives of Aboriginal people through continuation of culture and connection to country, providing training & employment and economic development opportunities through art, craft, tourism, bushfood & native plants. Our grant will provide operational support for First Hand's management of the 2025 National Indigenous Art Fair (NIAF) event, including supporting Indigenous people into senior positions and as performers at NIAF. |
| Literacy for Life Literacy For Life trains Aboriginal people to bring literacy to their communities, using an innovative, evidence-based approach that has helped millions around the world and is now delivering results in Australia. Our grant funds core operations. |
| Together 4 Youth Together 4 Youth is a collaboration of 11 non-profit organisations, which have united to amplify the voice of young people and effectively support them through their education to improve life-long outcomes. Our funding is part of a funders collaboration which has supported Together 4 Youth to undertake research and development work and will now support the implementation of a pilot program. |
| America Needs You (ANY) America Needs You supports economic mobility for ambitious, low-income college students by providing intensive career development, mentorship, networking and holistic support. Our funding supports and sustains the Chicago Fellows program, support the launch of a Los Angeles based Fellows Program, and a new digital curriculum that will support ANY students nationally. |
| Breakthrough NY BTNY is a tuition-free, ten-year college success program committed to getting high-potential, low-income middle school students to and through four-year colleges. Our grant supports the college and career coaching and program support for students |
| College Advising Corps College Advising Corps works to increase the number of low-income, first-generation college, and underrepresented high school students who enter and complete higher education. Our funding will support a new pilot program focused on professional development opportunities for College Advising Corps advisers – recent college graduates with lived experiences similar to the high school students they support. |
| Heights Philadelphia The mission of Philadelphia Futures (PF) is to provide Philadelphia's low-income, first-generation-to-college students with the tools, resources and opportunities necessary for admission to and success in college. Our grant helps PF run programs aimed at reducing the institutional, academic, social and financial barriers to college and career success. |
| Instituto Four Instituto Four seeks to select, train, and develop young people who think about ways to solve Brazil's biggest problems and aim to be in the main decision-making spaces in the country. Our funding will create scholarships for two students to complete the ProLider program, fund an award (in honour of the late Mr. Hitoshi Castro) and contribute to Instituto Four’s seed funding deposit for an endowment. |
| OneGoal Houston OneGoal’s mission is to close the degree divide in America. Its vision is that every young person will have an equitable opportunity to achieve their greatest postsecondary aspirations. Our funding supports a college persistence program pilot that involves peer mentoring and online support. |
| Pursuit Pursuit is an innovative social impact organisation whose mission is to close the opportunity gap in America. Our funding will enable Pursuit’s Core program, a one-year software engineering program designed to train high-potential individuals to become software developers, to be updated and enhanced with additional job-readiness and pre-employment training modules. |
| Take Stock in Children Take Stock in Children is a non-profit in Jacksonville supporting underrepresented youth to achieve college completion. Our funds will establish a college division and support college persistence programming for low income students. |
| The Opportunity Network The Opportunity Network works to equal the playing field for highly motivated students from low-income and historically underrepresented backgrounds by facilitating access to colleges, career opportunities, and professional networks. Our grant supports a fellowship program that supports students from grade 10 through to college graduation and into a career. |
| United Negro College Fund The United Negro College Fund empowers students to get to and through college each year. Our funding will support historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) ‘Transformation Offices’, designed to catalyse student engagement and their voices within HBCUs, preparing the next generation of leaders of colour in the education system. |
| Year Up United Year Up United is a national workforce organization seeking to support untapped talent with access to livable-wage careers and help companies become more inclusive employers. Our grant funding will support Year Up United to train and support young people as they launch careers whilst supporting systemic changes in corporate hiring practices. |
| Bullard Center for Environmental & Climate Justice The Robert D. Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University was launched to address longstanding issues of systemic inequality and structural racism that cause disproportionate pain, suffering and death in Black and other people of color communities. Our funding will be used to fund a new historically black college or university (HSBU) EJ Climate Corps at Texas Southern University. The program will equip young people with the tools they need to become the next generation of leaders and educate them on climate change and its impact on communities of color. |
| Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) LISC invests in people and places to address longstanding deficits and disparities in housing, employment, education, safety and justice, and health. Our funding will support neighbourhoods in Philadelphia and Jacksonville to implement community-centered strategies to advance racial equity by reducing crime, improving neighbourhood safety, and increasing opportunity. |
| Agrasar Agrasar implements high-impact skill programs that help disadvantaged, migrant youth lead more meaningful and dignified lives. Our grant supports one centre in Kapersera, Gurgaon, as well as a community radio program that connects to youth in hamlets within 10 kms around Gurgaon City. |
| Aidha Aidha helps migrant domestic workers and low-income women achieve economic independence through financial education. Our funding will support Aidha to significantly scale, from directly benefiting 850 beneficiaries in FY2022 to close to 10,500 beneficiaries annually by the end of the grant period in FY2026. |
| Asha India Foundation ASHA is dedicated to improving the lives of Delhi’s urban poor through programs covering health, education, empowerment, financial inclusion and environmental improvements. Our grant is supporting a program to increase the number of young people attending college, by assisting young people in slums to reach higher education and in turn break out of the intergenerational cycle of poverty. |
| Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) APMM is committed to supporting the migrant movement through advocacy, organising and building linkages for the advancement of migrants’ rights. Our grant supports the Women’s Encounters program, which aims to build and enhance the grassroots community movement of women migrants across Asia, to advance rights, promote collective wellbeing and enable mutual support and learning. |
| Bright Future Bright Future works with youth in urban slums of Mumbai to provide life skills and improve employability through their livelihood training centres. Our grant funds two livelihood centres in Mumbai and supports capacity-building within the organisation. |
| Bosconet Bosconet works to improve lives of marginalised and migrant youth. Our grant is helping build a unique platform which integrates various support services available to migrants. |
| EmpowerU (Migrasia) EmpowerU provide high-quality education to those on the margins, so they can use their voice to create a better future. Our grant will support the development and execution of the upgraded Migrant Domestic Worker Curriculum in collaboration with The University of Hong Kong. |
| Fair Employment Foundation Fair Employment Foundation believe forced labour is a solvable world problem and develops business solutions to make the market work better for workers and employers alike. Our funding supports Fair to significantly scale its impact to help build and grow ethical employment agencies across Asia. |
| Jan Sahas Jan Sahas has been working with migrant workers and vulnerable communities in India for the past two decades. Our funding will support district migration resource centres in Gurugram. |
| Lotus Petal Foundation Lotus Petal Foundation provides education, nutritious meals, healthcare facilities and skill development to the children and young adults in India. Our funding supports unemployed young adults from low-income backgrounds to participate in a programs specifically designed to make them career-ready and employable. This program enables their entry into the job market and supports secure, sustainable livelihood both at their source and destination country. |
| The Majurity Trust The Majurity Trust is a philanthropic organisation that works with donors and social impact partners to build a thriving and sustainable community for all in Singapore. Our funding will support the expansion of a pooled fund to include migrant domestic workers (MDWs) alongside other funders like Bloomberg Philanthropies, advancing research and capacity building to better tailor programs for MDWs. |
| NavGurukul NavGurukul offers free higher education and software programming training for girls from diverse, marginalised and low-income backgrounds. Our funding is preparing students with education, job-ready skills and building the capability of the NavGurukul team. |
| Seefar Seefar has a mission to find a way towards a world in which vulnerable people have more opportunities to advance themselves. Our grant supports the expansion of the Safer Migration Project, which equips returned Filipino migrant domestic workers with knowledge and skills to increase access to decent work in their home country. |
| Uplifters Uplifters’ mission is to uplift migrant domestic workers (MDWs) lives, by providing them with access to digital education and community support. Our grant will support Uplifters’ work in enabling MDWs to access education at scale and achieve behavioural change in money management. |
| Voice of the Free Voice of the Free (VF) works to build the resilience of young women and girls to end slavery and other forms of exploitation and abuse. Our funding will provide operational support to strengthen VF’s work in the Philippines, which empowers vulnerable women and children so that they can explore education and work opportunities without the risk of trafficking and exploitation, as well as enhancing their prospects for economic participation. |
| Humana People to People India Humana People to People India (HPPI) works for the holistic development of the underprivileged and marginalized people in rural and urban India through social development and poverty alleviation interventions. Our grant will support HPPI to initiate environmental awareness, protection and sustanibility. |
| Special Olympics (Asia Pacific and Bharat) Special Olympics is a global movement driving inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities through the transformative power of sports. Through Special Olympics Asia Pacific and Bharat, our funding supports country programs in the Philippines, Singapore and India by increasing quality sports training opportunities, unified sport competitions, inclusive youth engagement and the development and training of coaches. Our funding will train youth with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities in leadership roles and contribute to their personal development. |
| Mother's Choice Mother’s Choice serves children without families and pregnant teenagers in Hong Kong. Our grant is funding the creation of a holistic L&D Framework, incorporating both core and job competencies, skills and attributes required for both staff and volunteers, so they can provide best in class care. |
| An Cosan An Cosán aims to empower through education by providing people of all ages with pathways to learning, leadership and enterprise. They offer a variety of programmes in early years education and care, parenting, community, further and higher education. Our funding will support the Workability Programme which will provide education, career coaching, and connection to employment for 30 people (over 75% women) aged between 18-35 years from areas of high deprivation across Ireland. |
| Breaking Barriers Breaking Barriers is a specialist refugee employment charity. Our grant will support 105 refugees per year in the UK to overcome their individual barriers to employment. We’re also providing funding to help Breaking Barriers scale operations, to reach the growing demand for their services. |
| Fundacion Tomillo Fundacion Tomillo focuses on generating opportunities for young people aged 12 – 35 years in vulnerable situations, with the aim of enabling them to develop their full personal and professional potential. Our grant will maintain the successful foundations established during the Accelerator job placement Programme pilot, and further develop and enhance pre-employment support, and post-employment evaluation. Additional activities will enhance the programme's primary goal: to support young people in vulnerable situations to promote their growth and employability, with 50% of those supported securing employment. |
| Generation UK and Ireland Generation is a non-profit with a mission to transform education-to-employment systems to support adults to achieve economic opportunity and mobility through a career. Our funding will support and scale the existing Sustainability Project Officer green jobs program across the UK as well as add a second program to their green jobs portfolio. Our funding will support beneficiaries in Greater London, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Scotland. |
| Generation France Generation is a non-profit with a mission to transform education-to-employment systems to support adults to achieve economic opportunity and mobility through a career. Our funding will help expand Generation France’s Green Mobility Program (bike maintenance) as well as add a second program to their green jobs portfolio (Heat Pump Installation). These initiatives target the expansion of green job opportunities, enhancing skills and employment prospects for underserved groups while meeting the growing talent needs in the green sector. Our funding will support beneficiaries on a national scale especially in the Paris region (Ile-de-France) but also in Pays-de-la-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur etc. |
| Islington Giving Islington Giving is an independent group of funders, businesses, residents and voluntary organisations working together to tackle poverty and inequality in Islington. Macquarie is the founding funder of the BIG Alliance (Businesses for Islington Giving). |
| LTSB LTSB is a social mobility charity that prepares and supports bright young people from under-represented communities into meaningful roles with major firms. Our funding will support 120 young people aged 16-24 years to achieve their social mobility aspirations, with a target of over 75 gaining employment. |
| Socialbee Socialbee was founded in 2016 with a mission of facilitating sustainable integration for refugees, migrants, and their families building a life in Germany. Our grant funding will help socialbee build scalable products and processes, increase the usage of digital and automated solutions, and explore and integrate strategic partnerships. During the three-year funding period, socialbee will engage approximately 1,300 people in their programs, with around 870 of these individuals moving into the labour market. |
| Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) Social Mobility Foundations supports high-achieving young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into top universities and professions. Our grant funding will support the Youth Voice Project, which enables young people to build and practice their leadership, communication and decision-making skills, along with allowing them to fully participate in issues affecting social mobility. |
| Street League Street League is a UK-based charity dedicated to fighting poverty and assisting young people in finding employment through sports and education. Our grant funding will help Street League support young people to find work and secure a brighter future through employment, education, further training and apprenticeships across Scotland. |
| Telemaque Telemaque aims to support social mobility in France by supporting underprivileged motivated and involved young people to reveal their full potential. Our funding will support the Telemaque Pro programme, providing mentoring, collective workshops, and financial support to over 500 young people. It will also fund the employment of a full-time mentoring officer. |
| Baobab Foundation The Baobab Foundation supports, grows and strengthens Black and Ethnic Minority communities in the UK. Our grant directly contributes to building solidarity, sustainability, and impact by creating an unprecedented ‘by and for’ led funding organisation with communities at the heart of decision making. |
In late 2018, Macquarie Group announced the Macquarie 50th Anniversary Award, a $A50 million philanthropic commitment, to initiate or build on bold ideas to address social need. Finalists were announced in May and winners will be announced in August 2019.
We helped SYC fund research into pilot solutions for long-term youth unemployment and supporting Aurora as it links senior Indigenous secondary students with high-achieving Indigenous university graduates for role modelling.
We supported batyr’s Get Talkin’ Tour, which helped young people in regional NSW feel less alone by providing mental health tips, and rallied together to raise money for a range of drought-affected communities.
We helped raise the funds needed for the International African American Museum to open, so that largely untold stories can be showcased and preserved.
In New York, we worked with the Double Discovery Center at Columbia College, which helps low-income, first-generation youth through their high school and college educations. We also spent 800 hours mentoring and coaching underrepresented students across the region on college and career success.
We matched fundraising efforts and donated 200+ laptops and related computer equipment for the Cambodian Children’s Fund, supporting the provision of free healthcare, childcare, food and nutrition programs, education and housing in impoverished communities.
We’ve supported ChildFund in Korea to provide emergency treatment and protection, as well as intensive psychological treatment and consultation, to underprivileged children who’ve suffered abuse.
We worked collaboratively with local non-profits in the UK as part of the Community Resourcing programme (CoRe). It provides strategic advice and helps build the capability, capacity and sustainability necessary for meaningful community development.
We have supported our staff and the issues important to them such as 30 fundraisers in aid of Teach for Romania.
During our fifth annual Foundation Week in 2018, more than $A2.8 million was distributed to over 180 organisations around the world. In Foundation Week, non-profits receive double-matching of amounts raised up to $A5,000 by Macquarie teams, as well as additional ‘donations for doers’ charitable donations to recognise volunteering activities.
For the past five years, Macquarie Group staff in offices around the world have risen to the challenge of raising funds for causes close to their heart. Together, we have raised and donated $A10 million during Foundation Weeks alone. Thousands of staff have participated in a range of events, from fitness challenges to clothing drives to music and trivia nights.
In FY19 we made it even easier for staff to give money or time on our new staff giving platform: My Community. Now staff can find everything in one place: community activities in their area, easy ways to get involved, and a dashboard to track their giving activity.
In My Community staff can:
New staff giving platform brings everything into one place
Bettina Delos Reyes, Manila Office
Detail from “Around and Within” exhibition, Space Gallery, 2018. Image Flashpoint Labs.
For over 30 years, the Macquarie Group Collection has been supporting emerging Australian artists, in all media. The Collection was established in 1987 as part of the Macquarie Group Foundation and now includes more than 800 works that are displayed in over 40 Macquarie offices worldwide.
Under the theme of The Land and Its Psyche, each year a volunteer committee of Macquarie Group staff members and a curatorial expert select submitted works. This year, we celebrate the new remarkable contributions to our growing and significant collection.
Over 200,000 children have participated in a Macquarie Sports program since 1999. More than 60 young athletes have been provided with the necessary experience and opportunities to pursue both their sporting and career goals through the Macquarie Sports Scholarships program. In 2019, Macquarie Sports will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
In FY19 we made it even easier for staff to give money or time on our new staff giving platform: My Community. Now staff can find everything in one place: community activities in their area, easy ways to get involved, and a dashboard to track their giving activity.
In My Community staff can:
Our annual reviews highlight the key financial, volunteering and pro bono support Macquarie and staff contribute around the world each year.
