Partner Spotlight: Macquarie Group

Every term we recognise one of our fabulous partners for the inspiring work they’re doing to help young Australians feel heard, valued and supported.  We’d like to say a big thank you to our valued partner, Macquarie Group.

Raise Foundation and Macquarie Group, through the support of its philanthropic arm the Macquarie Group Foundation, have enjoyed a successful and valued partnership since 2014, after an introduction through our kind supporters, Ali and Jerry Meades. The Macquarie Group Foundation provides support to community organisations through financial support, volunteering and skill sharing, which made Raise a perfect fit as a major corporate supporter.

“We see Raise mentoring as beneficial for young people, the community, and our employees,” explains Macquarie Group Foundation Global Head, Lisa George. “For young people, it gives them the opportunity to engage with a positive adult role model. For our employees, it provides a chance to practice their mentoring skills, build empathy and gain a greater perspective which they bring back to their role in our organisation. Finally, mentoring benefits the community because our youth are the future and investing in them is very worthwhile.”

This has certainly been the case as this valued partnership continues to flourish, with an extraordinary combination of funding, employee engagement and skill sharing that has been invaluable to helping young people across Australia feel heard, valued and connected.

Making an impact
Macquarie Group have continually demonstrated their commitment to the wellbeing of at-risk young people by providing Raise with various grants and donations since the initiation of our partnership.

This includes providing significant funding to develop our technology platform on a multi-year basis, a key step in helping us reach our goal of offering our mentoring program in every public secondary school across Australia.

In 2019, Macquarie Group generously hosted our inaugural fundraising event for Raise in their Boardroom. The impact of this event was significant in terms of both fundraising income, matching and initiating incredible introductions and relationships that Raise has been able to foster and develop.

Most recently, the Australian-headquartered multinational financial service provider has shown their staunch support by donating emergency funding to help make up for lost funds as a direct impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Empowering employees and the community
Macquarie Group encourages their employees to engage with Raise by facilitating corporate mentor programs and workplace excursions that are accessible to everyone across the organisation.

“Our employees give their time and skills,” says Lisa. “It’s an investment in our employees because it’s a development opportunity for them as they do the mentoring.”

Raise has trained hundreds of youth mentors from Macquarie Group and, in 2020 alone, 54 employees were trained and ready to mentor young people in 3 high schools across Sydney.

“The mentees that I’ve had, I’ve learned something from all of them,” says Macquarie Group Executive Director of Market Operations Division and Raise Patron Advisory Council (PAC) member, Chris Bond. “They effectively mentor me, and I can take that back and apply it to life whether it’s at work or at home.”

Creating equality of opportunity
Over the years, Macquarie Group has hosted various workplace excursions for Raise mentees, providing valuable insights into working life at Macquarie and running informative and relevant information sessions on a range of helpful topics, such as ‘developing your personal brand’.  In 2018, they coordinated a group of Year 10 students from Willoughby Girls High School to take part in their International Women’s Day event.

A partnership to celebrate
“We are repeatedly blown away by the unwavering support that Macquarie Group have provided for Raise in so many different ways,” says Raise Foundation Founder & CEO Vicki Condon.  “We are ever grateful for this wonderful and collaborative partnership, and I am continually impressed with the engagement of Macquarie as a committed partner.  They are an organisation where philanthropy is truly embedded within their culture.”