Q&A with Foundation SA Chair Jennifer Duncan

Inaugural Foundation SA Chair, Jennifer Duncan, is in the business of making good things better.

A passionate community advocate, Jennifer was drawn to the community-led nature of Foundation SA’s work and its unique role as connector, convener and educator.

“I’m passionate about changing systems so that they are fairer and more equitable,” Jennifer says, “and it’s extraordinarily important for people to have agency in the things that affect their lives.

“Community-led philanthropy helps give choice and control back to the people in those communities which is critical for social wellbeing, social cohesion and social capital.”

Jennifer recently shared her thoughts about her ambitions as Chair, the status of philanthropy in Australia and the burgeoning potential of community philanthropy to create positive change.

You’ve worked at the intersection of not-for-profits and philanthropy for some time now. What are your thoughts about giving in South Australia?

For many years, I’ve felt strongly about two things. The first was the need for better information and more honest conversations between not-for-profits and philanthropic funders, so that we can create better relationships. And the other thing is ensuring a strong and vibrant philanthropic sector here in South Australia, because so much of what I call institutional philanthropy, happens on the eastern seaboard and goes to organisations in the eastern seaboard, which is something I am dedicated to changing. I am a proud South Australian, so being part of the Foundation SA board is such a gift.

There is strong and vibrant infrastructure that exists within our communities, and I love that Foundation SA works with those skills and assets rather than seeking to recreate them. By facilitating the conversations that need to happen between donors and communities we can ensure that funds are flowing to the areas of greatest need, rather than to areas that might have been identified through an individual or a group’s preconceived idea.

What appealed to you about joining, and chairing, the Foundation SA board?

The first thing that appealed to me was that Foundation SA is helping to build a movement that gives so many opportunities for passionate and enthusiastic people to make a contribution and have impact.

I love being actively involved and assisting with things I’m very passionate about and community foundations are one of those things because of what they represent. They are helping to democratise philanthropy because they are a vehicle in which ordinary people can see how they can give, and that, I think is very important.

And then the third part of it is that the new DGR1 status and community charity designation gives community foundations new capabilities which, to me, feels like the most exciting thing that is happening in the for-purpose space.

We are going to do incredibly exciting things, and who wouldn’t want to be part of that?

Now that Foundation SA’s 2026-2031 Strategy has launched, what are you most excited about?

I’m most excited about the period of exploration and innovation that sits in front of us. We’re exploring. We’re pushing boundaries. We’re looking for change. We want to be able to do things differently for the best possible outcome, so that we can deepen the impact our individual donors and we as a collective can make.

You are also a fundholder at Foundation SA. What are the cause areas will your sub-fund support?

I am! And I am very excited to have a sub-fund. The areas of support I’ve nominated are women and children and animals, which are of course, very individual choices.

Fifty per cent of my business profits go to not-for-profit organisations, either through direct donation or pro bono activity, but I’m also thinking about what will happen when the greatest component of wealth transfer happens for me, which is going to be through the bequests I make when I’m no longer here.

My dual intentions in that regard are supporting the causes which are particularly important to me and also enabling my sub-fund to support the ongoing development of Foundation SA and its work in South Australia beyond my lifetime.

How would you describe the community of givers at Foundation SA?

It’s a really passionate values-led community that wants to make a real difference. I think it represents all the best things about South Australia and our history of social progressiveness.

I think of our giving community even more broadly than our current donors because I believe we can offer all South Australians a way to give back.

The exciting adventure that lies ahead of us is connecting with that bigger community and talking to them about the opportunities for giving back and offering really viable, impactful pathways for doing that.

What kind of future do you hope that community foundations will help create?

We live in a world of scale – a world that lauds and pursues scale. And I honestly think that the bigger

the institutions are that are making decisions about what happens at the local level, the more divorced they are from what’s needed and wanted in our communities. Many communities feel very disempowered by the fact that they live with decisions that were not of their making, that were in fact made by people who’ve never even been to their community.

Community foundations not only source support, they give that support to the organisations and individuals who are invested in those communities, who are based in those communities, who are living in those communities, who are leading within those communities. It’s a process that puts communities back in control of decisions and choices that impact them and I feel like this is very overdue.

Community foundations, I believe, have an important role to play as part of incredibly impactful change that puts communities back in control.

The Foundation SA Board (pictured L-R): Michael Dawson, Lisa Tarca, Jennifer Duncan (Chair), Andrew Plastow and Stacey Thomas (Board Advisor).