How Hard Can it Be?

We are delighted to welcome John Richardson as our guest for our first episode.  John has been a member of the Art Gallery of New South Wales executive team since 2014. He played a pivotal role in the success of the Sydney Modern Capital Campaign which raised over $150 million towards the stunning Naala Badu building.  In his early career, John worked in at Back Row Productions and at the New 42nd Street Project in New York City. Prior to joining the Art Gallery of NSW, he spearheaded the commercial transformation of the South Sydney Rabbitohs as their chief commercial officer, establishing the club as a benchmark for sports administration in Australia.

Our guest for this episode is the wonderful Kenneth Watkins AM, Philanthropy Director at The Australian Ballet and probably one of Australia’s best known fundraisers in the arts. He has worked tirelessly for the Ballet for more than 30 years, 17 of those as a member of the Executive team.  During this time, he has made a strong contribution to the vision, values and strategic objectives of the company. He has led the philanthropy team to increase the profile of The Australian Ballet as well as to ensure it has the resources to be one of the world’s premier ballet companies.

In this episode we’re thrilled to speak with Louise Baxter, CEO and Executive Director of the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Louise began her career in marketing in the corporate sector, transferring to the non profit world in 2001.  She’s had over 17 year’s experience with Starlight and has been leading the organisation since 2009. Louise steered Starlight through the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis as well as through the Covid-19 pandemic and yet despite these signficant challenges, under her leadership Starlight’s revenue has grown exponentially. Louise is a stunning and ever so compelling example of a CEO taking on the role of Chief Philanthropy Officer.We hope you enjoy this conversation.

We are delighted to welcome Louise Walsh to this episode of How Hard Can It Be.  Louise is founder and CEO of Walsh Capital, a bespoke, third-party capital raising business based in Sydney. Before launching Walsh Capital in 2021, Louise was the CEO of the Future Generation companies where she grew Australian stock exchange listed funds by $1 billion dollars in assets in just six years. Additionally, Louise’s illustrious resume includes roles at the law firm Allens, the Sydney Olympics, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Artsupport Australia and Philanthropy Australia.Louise is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading philanthropic advisers and fundraising experts. 

We are delighted to welcome Yvonne Zammit to this episode. Yvonne is an arts and non profit strategist and practitioner with over 18 years' experience in raising funds for some of Australia's leading arts companies including Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia. Most recently, Yvonne was Executive Director of the Powerhouse Museum Capital Campaign where she was instrumental in securing a $20 million gift which is one of Australia’s largest donations to a cultural organisation. We hope you enjoy this conversation