The Seahorse, Issue 40, April 2021

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MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Significant developments After a strange and unsettling year, I am pleased to share some exciting news.

I am delighted to announce that in August 2020, The Ian Potter Foundation was the beneficiary of a significant bequest from the estate of the late Margaret Caroline Reid. A high-quality share portfolio with a significant balance of accumulated franking credits will ultimately be worth more than $26 million to the Foundation. The bequest will be known as the Kingston bequest.

The Kingston bequest is the single largest bequest received by the Foundation since Sir Ian’s own contribution, both during his lifetime and then from Sir Ian’s estate in 1994. In acknowledging such a significant bequest, it seems appropriate to share with you a little about Margaret Reid – generous benefactor and philanthropist.

Margaret Reid was a philanthropist during her lifetime, establishing scholarships at schools she attended. Margaret was also passionate about preserving Australia’s environment for future generations. Throughout her life, Margaret managed her personal wealth

with great care and was privately very proud that she was able to leave a substantial Subscribe Past Issues legacy to charity.

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In line with Margaret’s lifelong interest in the environment and at the request of the coexecutors of Margaret’s estate, the first significant contribution funded by the Kingston bequest is $5 million over 10 years to support the establishment of the new freshwater policy centre (Water Centre). The Kingston bequest was the pivotal commitment that led major funders of the Water Centre to proceed with the Water Centre’s establishment, taking committed funds for that Centre to in excess of $32 million over ten years.

Margaret Reid’s generosity will ensure that her Kingston bequest will generate more than $1 million each year supporting Australian charities through the Foundation’s grantmaking. Of course, that contribution will continue to grow over time. Please find below a more detailed biography of Margaret Caroline Reid.

New Board Members In equally exciting news, I am pleased to announce that four new members will join the Foundation’s Board of Governors this year. Sir Edward Byrne AC, Mr Craig Drummond, Professor Emma Johnston AO and Professor Karen Day AM have all agreed to join the Board of The Ian Potter Foundation.

World-leading neuroscientist Sir Edward Byrne AC attended his first Board meeting in April 2021. Sir Edward previously held the position of President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University and was most recently President and Principal at King’s College London.

Sir Edward began his career in Adelaide, specialising in neurology. In 1983, he was appointed Director of Neurology at St Vincent's Hospital and Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Melbourne in 1992, founding director of the Melbourne Neuromuscular Research Unit and the Centre for Neuroscience in 1993, and Professor of Experimental Neurology at the University of Melbourne in 2001. Sir Edward also has wide interests in the arts and has written several books of poetry. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering and an honorary fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

Sir Edward will join the Foundation’s Health Committee and its Vibrant (Arts) Committee.

Mr Craig Drummond will end his tenure as CEO of Medibank Private on 30 June 2021 and has agreed to join the Board of The Ian Potter Foundation effective 1 July 2021. In addition to his role at Medibank Private, Mr Drummond has over 30 years of experience in the financial sector, serving in roles including Group Executive Finance and Strategy at National Australia Bank, Chief Executive Officer and Country Head at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and CEO of Goldman Sachs JB Were. Mr Drummond was previously a Director of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and was recently appointed President of The Geelong Football Club. He has served as an externally appointed member of the Foundation's Finance Committee since 2014.

Mr Drummond will Chair the Foundation’s Audit & Risk Committee and will also continue as a member of the Finance Committee and join the Community Wellbeing Committee.

Professor Emma Johnston AO and Professor Karen Day AM will both join the Board in September 2021.

Professor Johnston is currently Dean of Science and Professor of Marine Ecology and Ecotoxicology at UNSW Sydney. A highly awarded scientist, educator and communicator,

Professor Johnston was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor Research at UNSW and Director Subscribe Past Issues Translate of the Sydney Harbour Research Program for the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.

An elected fellow of the Australian Technological Society (ATSE), her awards include the Australian Academy of Science’s inaugural Nancy Millis Medal, the Royal Society of New South Wales Clark Medal, and the Eureka Prize for Science Communication. Professor Johnston is a national advocate for the Science and Technology sector, Co-Chief Author of the Australian Government’s State of Environment Report, and a Director on the Board of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Professor Johnston will Chair the Foundation’s Sustainable Committee and will join the Early Childhood Development Committee.

Professor Karen Day is an infectious disease epidemiologist dedicated to improving global public health and is a founder of the scientific discipline of malaria genomic epidemiology, raising over $US20 million for her own research. Most recently she has been the Dean of Science at the University of Melbourne and continues her malaria epidemiology research at the University.

An experienced educator and academic administrator in medicine and science, Professor Day has held senior leadership posts in universities in the UK, US and Australia. She is an Emeritus Fellow of Hertford College, having been one of the first women science “dons” at that College.

Professor Day will join the Foundation’s Healthy Committee and Sustainable Committee and will join the Committee overseeing The George Alexander Foundation.

In such challenging times, in which we are all being affected in a myriad of ways, the above two significant developments remind me of the importance of personal philanthropy, generosity and the preparedness of so many to invest their time and energy to assist others.

I am so pleased to welcome our new Board members, each of whom I know will contribute to the Foundation’s efforts to continue to impact positively on the lives of many Australians.

Craig Connelly

IPF NEWS

Kingston Bequest

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Margaret Caroline Reid, (5 December 1935 – 11 May 2020)

Margaret Reid $26 Million Bequest Late last year, the Foundation was the beneficiary of a $26 million bequest from the estate of the late Margaret Caroline Reid. This is the single largest bequest received by the Foundation since Sir Ian's own contribution during his lifetime and then from his estate in 1994.

Throughout her life, Margaret Reid was a generous benefactor and philanthropist, who managed her personal wealth with care and was privately very proud that she was able to leave a substantial legacy to charity.

Born in 1935, Margaret Reid was the only child of John Wallace and Sue McKellar and grew up on the family farm at Derrinallum in Western Victoria. Her family home was lost in the 1944 bushfires and shortly after that tragic event, Margaret was sent to boarding school in Mt Eliza where she excelled at sports, in particular golf. A passion for golf continued throughout Margaret’s life and she was club champion at Royal Melbourne an incredible nine times.

However, the land was very much in Margaret’s blood. Her family held extensive grazing interests in the Riverina district, which led to Margaret’s love of the Australian bush and travelling through the outback. Influenced by her parents, Margaret also had a strong sense of community, establishing scholarships at Geelong Grammar School and Toorak College for students from less fortunate backgrounds.

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GRANTS ROUND UP

$9.48 million across 32 grants

Ian Potter House at ANU. Image courtesy of the Australian Academy of Science.

In the first funding round for 2021, the Foundation has awarded 32 grants totalling $9,478,790.

These comprised $4,018,340 across 12 grants in Arts; $2,555,450 across 6 grants in Public Health Research Projects; $1,445,000 towards 10 Medical Research grants; two Community Wellbeing grants totalling $900,000; one $10,000 Impact Enhancement grant; and one major grant of $500,000.

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PROGRAM AREAS & FUNDING ROUNDS

Funding round changes

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We have made some changes to the timing of open funding rounds for two program areas.

The Public Health Research and Arts programs will now be open for EOIs each year in Round 3.

These changes mean that the next open round for Public Health Research and the Arts will be Round 3 2022 which opens in June 2022. Round 1 2022 will now only be open for Medical Research applications.

For applicants seeking public health research funding, this change in timing will prevent clashes with the timing of NHMRC and MRFF submissions.

For arts grantseekers looking for co-funding, this timing better aligns with arts funding rounds for many state and government funding bodies.

Funding round dates

GRANTEE NEWS

Fish screens project to scale up

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Fish Screens Australia is an information hub featuring the latest information on screening, from fisheries, university and industry experts.

$26m leveraged by Charles Sturt University research We were pleased to hear recently from Professor Lee Baumgartner at Charles Sturt University's Institute for Land, Water and Society that the Developing design guidelines for diversion screens that save native fish and enhance agricultural productivity research project has leveraged $26M of Commonwealth Government funding towards irrigation screening as part of a $90M funding pool for the Northern Basin toolkit.

Project lead Professor Lee Baumgartner states the evidence to support this investment came from the science that The Ian Potter Foundation supported via a $300,000 Environment grant in 2018 and represents outstanding leverage. The project supported the design of best practice diversion screens to conserve native fish from agricultural irrigation.

The core research team from CSU and the NSW Department of Primary Industries have been working on the project with limited resources for a decade.

For more information see Fish Screens Australia, an information hub and collaboration between senior fisheries scientists, all types of water users, manufacturers, university researchers, engineers, anglers and conservation managers. CSU has also created a short video (1:39 min) on their Facebook page showcasing the impact the project is now achieving, including excellent industry, government and NGO leverage and take-up.

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SECTOR ENGAGEMENT

Sharing perspectives

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Philanthropy Australia conference At last week's annual Philanthropy Conference, our CEO, Craig Connelly moderated a panel session (You're the Voice!) reflecting on the importance of developing partnerships with not-for-profit's and the need for philanthropy to listen and learn from those ‘working on the ground’. This session provided an opportunity for four leaders from across the NFP sector to share their perspectives on what they think the future needs from philanthropy.

On 6 May, Craig Connelly will be moderating Land Futures – pathways to a sustainable food and land use system, a panel discussion with global and local leaders in food, agriculture and land use. He will also be a panellist discussing philanthropic collaboration on Five foundation executives reveal the keys to collaboration.

On the same day, our Research and Evaluation Manager, Dr Squirrel Main will moderate a session on Understanding the "black box" of philanthropic evaluation with a panel of philanthropic evaluation managers at four major Australian Foundations discussing the mistakes, learnings, challenges, and pitfalls of philanthropic evaluation.

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Social Impact Hub - Rise Workshop series Over the next few weeks, Social Impact Hub are running a FREE workshop series as part of the RISE program. Workshops include: Social Lean Canvas – 7 May Branding for Impact – 21 May Digital Transformation – 4 June Social Impact Hub has a mission to accelerate change by helping social purpose organisations design, demonstrate and scale positive impact, educating and empowering changemakers, driving and delivering thought leadership in social innovation; mobilising capital for good, and building community within the Australian impact sector.

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More grantee news

Major awards

The Ian Potter Foundation congratulates three of its major grant recipients on receiving significant recognition for building design.

State Library of Victoria ($10M, 2016)

State Library of Victoria

Sunshine Skills Hub ($5M, 2016) HammondCare ($2.5M, 2018)

State Library Victoria’s $88 million Vision 2020 redevelopment was announced as the winner of the National Exemplar award at the 2021 ALIA Australian Library Design Awards. The ALIA Awards celebrate the best in contemporary library interiors and exteriors in Australia. This is

These awards acknowledge the excellence and innovation inherent in these important new and re-imagined community resources.

the first time the ALIA has awarded a National Exemplar award.

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HammondCare HammondCare and Ethos Urban & Integrated Design Group have received a commendation at the Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW Awards, in the Social & Community Infrastructure category, for HammondCare Darlinghurst's outstanding design.

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Sunshine Skills Hub Victoria University's Sunshine Skills Hub designed by Woods Bagot has won 2020 Best of Year for Higher Education in Interior Design’s 15th annual Best of Year Awards which celebrates design globally.

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We produce this quarterly e-newsletter to keep our friends and associates up to date with all the news and recent grants made by The Ian Potter Foundation.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

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