Melbourne Women’s Fund Set for Launch
15 July 2014 at 10:44 am
A new collective giving circle, the Melbourne Women’s Fund, has attracted prominent women in philanthropy ahead of its official launch on July 21.
Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation Chief Executive Officer Catherine Brown and Ian Potter Foundation Chief Executive Officer Janet Hirst have already joined the giving circle’s advisory board.
The Melbourne Women’s Fund is a Collective Giving Account, under the auspices of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation. The Melbourne Women’s Fund was co-founded by philanthropists Patricia Burke and Gillian Hund, who say they recognised a need in Melbourne for the establishment of a women’s giving circle.
Burke and Hund said they were inspired by visiting philanthropic leader and luminary Colleen Willoughby, who co-founded the Washington Women’s Foundation nearly 20 years ago. Colleen Willoughby is now Melbourne Women’s Fund’s Founding Patron.
“The giving circle aims to engage women in philanthropy which benefits our community and its vision is for ‘A better life and future for women and families of Melbourne’,” Burke said.
“This will be done by women coming together in what we call ‘A Giving Circle’, to pool their financial, intellectual, professional and personal resources to benefit groups and organisations in Melbourne that are bravely dealing with issues that undermine the quality of life and futures of women and their families.
“Membership is open to all women, of any age, interest or background – we only ask that they add value by contributing their donation so we can grow the fund and make a real difference.”
The Melbourne Women’s Fund said it aimed to grow membership in its first year to between 50 and 100 members to provide $50,000 to $100,000 for grants to be announced in June 2015.
The Melbourne Women’s Fund Launch, with guest speaker, philanthropist, humanitarian and Melbourne businesswoman Susan Alberti, will be held on July 21 and has already reached capacity numbers.
For more information, visit http://melbournewomensfund.org/
