As part of a volunteering team, CI staff members really ‘walk the talk’ and get their hands dirty cleaning up donated goods to make an impact in the lives of new families doing it tough.
We know poverty has increased and disadvantaged families are struggling with the cost of everyday living, let alone the essentials every child needs. A recent report from the Australian Council of Social Services shows that at September 2021 there was a 25 per cent increase of families on welfare than before the pandemic began.
The CI team recently volunteering at St Kilda Mums, an organisation whose mission in is a future where we waste less, share more and care for every baby and child.
St Kilda Mums
To coincide with National Volunteering week, a team of CI volunteering went to the St Kilda Mum’s Clayton Warehouse to be part of a solution that helps nearly 12,000 babies and children per year receive essential nursery items and equipment.
As the St Kilda Mums team told us on the day, they can’t do what they do without the support of volunteers. The work the team did on the day – picking, packing, cleaning and sorting will have an immediate impact on Victorian families doing it tough this winter.
HUGE shout out and thank you to our volunteers – Cliff, Emily, Jackson, Joseph, John, Tom, Trish, Suzanne, Warren and Nicole.
Pro Bono Funds Management
Our Portfolio Managers provide their investment talent through pro bono funds management to create tangible value to the charitable sector by participating as managers for Hearts & Minds Investments (committed to providing significant financial support to leading Australian medical research organisations). To date, Hearts and Minds has distributed $33.9m in donations to nominated medical research partners making it one of Australia’s Top 50 Corporate Philanthropists.
Future Generation Companies (listed investment companies that deliver investment and social returns). Since inception Future Generation Companies has distributed $32.9m to nominated social impact partners supporting children and young people at risk.
By providing pro bono investment services to these organisations and waiving management fees, CI is part of a collective that has directed more than $65m over the past five years to the charitable sector supporting kids doing it tough and enabling vital medical research.
Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds Investments Limited (HM1) is a unique listed investment company that was established in November 2018 with the combined objective of providing a concentrated equities portfolio of the highest conviction ideas from leading fund managers, whilst also supporting Australian medical research institutes.
Cooper Investors’ talented investment team dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to ensure that the very best support and investment ideas are provided to the listedHM1 vehicle. The appointed team conduct a formal meeting regularly to discuss and assess our stock picks to provide the best value for the fund, its investors and for the betterment of Medical Research in Australia.
Cooper Investors elected Mental Health research as its focus area for the Hearts and Minds distributions. We then selected the world-renowned institution of Orygen, The Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health as one of the recipients.
To date this partnership has resulted in the distribution of over $2m to transform the delivery of mental health services.
We recognise mental health as the health challenge of a generation and believe that, wherever possible, we should look to support institutions like Orygen to conduct vital translational research.
We seek to support organisations with a track record of working with the private sector, government and young people to redefine what is possible in global youth mental health research, policy, education and clinical care.
Sector Support
In addition to our granting support directly into the charitable sector, Cooper Investors’ Philanthropy Program is also an advocate for more and better philanthropy in a number of ways.
Cooper Investors is proud to be an advocate for more and better philanthropy through our three-year commitment to Philanthropy Australia’s Philanthropy Champions initiative.
Cooper Investors is particularly invested in supporting the ‘Philanthropy Blueprint’. The purpose of this Blue print is to outline the roadmap for how the philanthropic, not-for-profit, business and government sectors can work together to supercharge structured giving in Australia – with the objective of doubling this type of giving by 2030. Growing structured giving helps support and reinforce other pro-social giving behaviours, such as mass market giving, impact investing, volunteering, and other initiatives that benefit the community.
Along with Philanthropy Australia, Cooper Investors recognises there is a growing momentum for philanthropy in Australia . The experience and knowledge of traditional philanthropists, combined with new philanthropists and social entrepreneurs is creating exciting opportunities for innovation, growth and impact. To harness, sustain and enhance this momentum, a collective response is required.
Empowering Purposeful Futures for All
In March 2021 Cooper Investors was delighted to be a Gold Sponsor of the 2021 NEXUS Australia Summit, bringing together the next generation of philanthropists and social entrepreneurs. The Summit offered delegates the chance to connect, share, learn and create at a time when meaningful connections were needed most.
The theme of the 2021 Summit was ‘Building Tomorrow Today’. NEXUS Australia creates a space for young people of wealth and leading social entrepreneurs to leverage private capital to tackle complex global challenges. In the wake of intersecting crises during 2020, we were inspired to see young leaders discuss new approaches to the immense difficulties facing our communities.
Speakers and presenters at this year’s event included world renowned conservationist, Dr Jane Goodall DBE; chair of Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Valerie Rockefeller; founder and CEO of Tobacco Free Portfolios, Bronwyn King AO; and Australia’s first Indigenous consul-general, Benson Saulo. We particularly enjoyed the session with Suparna Bhasin, Director of the MaiTri Foundation in conversation with Zak Williams on good mental health and well-being. Zak is an entrepreneur, angel investor, mental-health advocate and son of the late, legendary Robin Williams. Zak and Suparna discussed the importance of putting a value on your mental and emotional hygiene and living a life of purpose and service. A truly inspirational session for all in attendance.
