Kathy Richardson

Kathy is an Executive Director and Chaos Controller at Our Community, a self-sustaining social business that exists to provide practical, affordable training, leadership and technological solutions for not-for-profit and grantmaking organisations. Our Community was one of the first companies in Australia to enshrine its values in its constitution, mandating that its commercial imperatives be afforded equal priority to its social mission, its commitment to employees, and its responsibility to the environment. Its enterprises include SmartyGrants, GiveNow, Institute of Community Directors Australia and Funding Centre. Kathy has a degree in journalism from RMIT and a Diploma in Business (Governance). She’s a fellow of the Institute of Community Director Australia. She spent the early part of her career working as a journalist, switching focus from news to social change in the early 2000s, joining Our Community in 2003. She was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship (Innovation) in 2014. Kathy has a passion for equality and social justice. She has served in a voluntary capacity on the boards of a range of not-for-profit organisations and grantmaking bodies, including the Flemington-Kensington Community Legal Centre, the Malmsbury Cemetery Trust, Hepburn Wind, the RACV Community Foundation and Women’s Leadership Institute Australia. She is a self-confessed grants nerd who has a deep interest in mobilising technology and data to accelerate positive social change.