Foundation for Young Australians

The Foundation for Young Australians "is an independent national grant-making organisation, funding and working in partnership with youth-led initiatives which aim to positively contribute to young people and their communities." The Foundation for Young Australians gives out two types of grant, Low Engagement and High Engagement grants:


 * "Low Engagement: These are one-off grants for individual young people and organisations to deliver community-based initiatives.


 * "High Engagement: The majority of investments are multi-year partnerships where we provide funding and work closely with our grant partners. High engagement partnerships are funded in two stages - the first stage supports young people to prioritise their own outcomes and develop a plan for an initiative that they want to undertake.  The second stage involves funding and support to implement the initiative."

"The Foundation commits at least 20% of total grant funding to initiatives specifically designed to benefit young Indigenous Australians." 


 * Vice Chair - Adam Smith (Australia)

Coinvestors
In May 2006, the Foundation's website notes that their "current co-investors include BHP Billiton, The Department of Family and Community services, The Department on Education, Science and Training, The Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, The International Youth Foundation, Lucent Technologies Australia and The Myer Foundation.

Other supporters
Source
 * ACON
 * Aitken Hill Conference & Events Venue
 * ANZ Banking Group
 * Austereo
 * Australian Ethical Investment Ltd
 * Blake Dawson Waldron
 * Commonwealth Bank
 * Donna Karam
 * Egon Zehnder
 * Good Company
 * Government House Western Australia
 * Government House South Australia
 * Grossi Florentino
 * John Nolan
 * Jonathon Clifton - PricewaterhouseCoopers
 * Kiss IT
 * KPMG
 * Levi-Strauss
 * Macquarie Bank
 * Matt Campbell
 * McKinsey & Company
 * Media Research Group
 * Merrill Lynch
 * Microsoft Australia
 * National Australia Bank
 * Office of Youth Affairs (NT)
 * Pfizer
 * The Foundation's Board and Committee members
 * The Media Research Group
 * The Myer Foundation
 * Russell Employee Benefits
 * SEMYA
 * Social Ventures Australia
 * TAFE NSW
 * Tasmanian Community Foundation
 * Towers Perrin
 * Victorian Golf Association
 * VicHealth
 * Warakirri Asset Management
 * X-ray Design

The board

 * Mr William J. Conn OAM – Chairman: Chairman of the Grand Hotel Group, Homeloans Limited, Palm Springs Limited; Director of Village Roadshow Limited and other public and private companies.
 * Mr Adam Smith (Australia) – Deputy Chairman: Adam is the founder of ‘Directing Potential’, a dynamic social enterprise to maximise the potential of Australia’s young people. He has worked with the Coalition for the Homeless in New York and was Australia’s Youth Representative to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2003.  Adam is a Trustee of the Skills Plus Youth Foundation.  He is an Australia Day Ambassador and a recipient of the 2004 Celebrating Melbourne Award.
 * Mr Mark Paton – Honorary Treasurer: Managing Director, Corporate of ANZ Banking Group Ltd. He is also a Director of ANZ Nominees Ltd and ANZ Custodians Pty Ltd.
 * Karina Gray - Director: Works at the Department of Workplace & Employment Relations Indigenous Employment Programme Branch as the Economic Development Team Programme Officer.
 * Tracey-Lee Edwards - Director: Communications Officer for the Kulunga Research Network, the Indigenous Research arm of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth WA. Has worked for the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
 * Jason Grubisic - Director: Works at NetX and is also Director of the Youth Action & Policy Association (YAPA), the peak organisation in New South Wales for young people and youth workers, and Marketing Officer for the Australian Law Students Association (ALSA), the peak national representative body for students of law in Australia.
 * Min Guo - Director: Vice-President of the Adelaide University Union, which provides services to students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.
 * Dr Jeff Harmer - Director: Secretary of the Department of Family and Community Services.
 * Ms Tanya Hosch - Director: Has worked in a range of areas of Indigenous affairs for the past eight years in both State and Commonwealth Government agencies. This has included work with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Unit of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Secretariat of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.
 * Mr Felix Ho - Director: Currently studying a Bachelor of Science and Computing at the University of Tasmania. Has previously worked with young people in a training, self development, consultative and health setting and was privileged to have been selected as the Tasmanian Young Australian of the Year for 2006.

Contact
Web: http://www.youngaustralians.org/

Related sourcewatch resources

 * Philanthropy Australia

Publications

 * Annual Report 2006