Macquarie Group announces winners of $A50 million philanthropic award
Melanie May | 29 August 2019 | News
Macquarie Group has chosen the five winners of its $A50 million (£27m) Macquarie 50th Anniversary Award.
The award, announced last September to mark the Macquarie Group’s 50th year of operation, saw almost 1,000 applications worldwide, whittled down to 12 finalists. The five winners each receive $A10 million for their projects in the areas of lifesaving healthcare, protection from diseases, improved social mobility for low-income workers and action to rid the world’s oceans of plastic.
The winners are:
- The Ocean Cleanup (Netherlands): Developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup plans to remove half of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch every five years after reaching full deployment and a long-term goal of ridding all oceans of 90 per cent of plastic by 2040.
- Last Mile Health (United States): Community-based primary healthcare for vulnerable and remote populations in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Monash University (Australia): A self-sustaining, cost-effective, biological control solution to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne tropical diseases. The World Mosquito Program’s aim is to protect 100 million people by 2023.
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (Australia): The World Scabies Elimination Program’s objective is to eliminate scabies and to alleviate suffering and disability caused by the disease, affecting more than 200 million people worldwide.
- Social Finance (United States): Social Finance aims to unlock $US1 billion of impact investment capital, building the first evergreen investment fund focused on workforce development and helping underskilled and underemployed individuals achieve economic mobility.
The projects will be delivered over the next five years, with funding to be released according to an agreed timeline with each one.
Macquarie Group Chief Executive Officer Shemara Wikramanayake said:
“The Macquarie 50th Anniversary Award extends the longstanding approach of our Foundation to give back to the communities in which our staff live and work.
“We are delighted to work with these organisations over the next five years. Their projects are addressing areas of significant social need and promise meaningful, lasting community benefit.”Advertisement
Macquarie Group Foundation Chair Mary Reemst added:
“These five winners all put forward bold ideas which have the potential to impact millions of lives.”
“I would also like to recognise the calibre of the almost 1,000 original applicants, the 60 semi-finalists and the 12 finalists and the inspirational and quite outstanding proposals they brought to us throughout this process.”
Last financial year, Macquarie Group Foundation also contributed a record $A31.7 million to over 1,600 non-profits globally, while Macquarie employees carried out approximately 53,000 hours of voluntary community service.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.