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Gem Spotlights

News and Resources

Meet Sharon Hoffman, Gembridge's newest recruitment leader. From executive search to yoga teaching and mindfulness coaching, Sharon's unique career journey reflects her passion for helping people thrive and organisations create meaningful impact.

Gem Spotlight - Steffi Chang

Meet Steffi, Director of Philanthropic Partnerships at World Vision Australia. She is a passionate fundraising leader whose work is driven by a deep belief in the power of opportunity to transform lives. With more than 16 years’ experience and millions raised for causes spanning gender equality, climate justice, international development and medical research, she has helped launch initiatives that will create lasting impact for generations to come.

In this Spotlight, Steffi talks about the projects that have defined her career, the realities that keep her motivated, and her thoughts on how fundraising must evolve to engage the next generation of changemakers.

Gem Spotlight - Bec Stott

Meet Bec, General Manager, Philanthropy at Anglicare WA and 2025 Fundraiser of the Year. A leader in our sector we admire for her energy, generosity and passion, Bec shares what the award means to her and the journey behind it. Lets dive into what Bec has to say…

Gem Spotlight - Nathan Reynolds

Meet Nathan, passionate connector and purpose‑driven leader, Nathan builds meaningful partnerships that bring joy and support to seriously ill children and their families. This Thursday, he kicks off the Leadership & Emerging Issues track, sponsored by Gembridge with his inspiring session, “Harnessing the power of love in fundraising leadership.”

Gem Spotlight - Rebecca Passlow

Meet Bec Passlow, a purpose‑driven leader and bequests specialist who brings empathy, emotional intelligence and a deep commitment to conservation. With a decade of experience guiding supporters through personal and meaningful giving decisions, Bec honours their stories and helps transform their passions into lasting impact.

In this Spotlight, she reflects on what motivates her, the conversations that shaped her career, and why genuine connection sits at the heart of powerful philanthropy.

Gem Spotlight - Jayne Wasmuth

Meet Jayne Wasmuth, a values‑driven fundraising leader who brings clarity, purpose and heart to every conversation. At Strategic Grants, she helps CEOs and fundraising teams tackle complex funding challenges with confidence.

Jayne shares what inspires her, the advice that’s shaped her career, and why trust remains fundraising’s greatest superpower. Gembridge partnered with Strategic Grants on her appointment, and love catching up with her at sector events.

Gem Spotlight - Rachael Lance

Gembridge is proud to sponsor the Leadership & Emerging Issues track at the FIA Conference and feature Rachael as Co-Chair, bringing her expertise and passion for innovative fundraising leadership. Known for championing collaboration and creativity, Rachael is helping shape conversations that matter. A huge thank you to Rachael and all the volunteer committee who make this track and conference possible!
Read more about Rachael…

Gem Spotlight - Heather Little

Gembridge is proud to sponsor the Leadership & Emerging Issues track at the FIA Conference and delighted Heather returned as Co-Chair, a passionate advocate for bold, values-driven leadership. Heather’s commitment to mentoring emerging fundraisers and shaping the future of philanthropy makes her an inspiring force in the sector and a valued part of the Gembridge network. A big thank you to Heather and all the volunteer committee who bring the conference to life!
Let’s hear from Heather…

Gem Spotlight - Paul Mendham

Gembridge is proud to spotlight Paul as Chair of the Program Committee for 2026 FIA Conference, aptly named Impact Amplified. Paul recently stepped into his current role as Campaign Director at World Vision through Gembridge and brings exceptional energy and commitment to connecting generosity with purpose.

This year’s conference will feature 9 Specialist Tracks over 3 days, 7 pre-Conference Masterclasses, and 3 Keynote Sessions. A huge thank you to Paul and all the volunteer committee who make this possible!

Now let us hear from Paul…

Gem Spotlight - Alisa Vartuli

Alisa is driven by a passion for health equity and meaningful impact. “I love being part of a team committed to improving health outcomes across our communities,” she says, reflecting her dedication to values-driven work and collaborative fundraising at Cancer Council NSW as a Trusts & Foundations Specialist.

Gem Spotlight - Chris McKenzie

As Head of Philanthropy at Vinnies Victoria, Chris is driven by impact and collaboration. “All good things happen collaboratively,” he says, reflecting on a career shaped by community, connection, and a deep respect for those delivering frontline services.

Gem Spotlight - Francine Poisson

We were so excited to see that Francine Poisson was awarded the FIA fellowship.

With over two decades of experience in the not-for-profit sector, Francine is the Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships at the Black Dog Institute, a leading Australian medical research institute dedicated to mental health across the lifespan.

Here is what Francine has to say after we put her through the Gem Spotlight questions…

Gem Spotlight - Sharon Hillman, Arthur Venn Lifetime Achievement Award

Sharon Hillman FFIA has received the prestigious Arthur Venn Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to fundraising. With over 30 years of experience, she has been a leader, innovator, and advocate for best practices.

A dedicated member of FIA, Sharon has served as Past President of FIA Victoria, a Board Member, and a volunteer on key committees, helping to shape the future of fundraising in Australia.

Let’s see what Sharon has to say when we caught up with her…

Gem Spotlight - James Garland, Fundraiser of the Year 2025

James recently had the honour of being named Fundraiser of the Year 2025 at FIA’s prestigious Awards of Excellence, an accolade that recognises his extraordinary impact and leadership in the fundraising sector.

Gem Spotlight - Marietta Asaad

Marietta began her Senior Philanthropy Manager role at Peter Mac in the middle of this year. She talks about her journey into the ‘for purpose’ sector, her love for connecting people to cause, achieving positive impact and her formative first job in face-to-face fundraising.

Gem Spotlight - Humaira Mehboob

Humaira joined the Settlement Council of Australia as their Communications Lead just over six months ago. Here she shares her passion for storytelling, commitment to creating change and her lifelong desire to work in the development sector.

Gem Spotlight - Bree Jopp

Bree was hired as Eastern Health’s Head of Donor Engagement around 18 months ago, and she is currently their Acting Director, Foundation. Bree has kindly shared a little of her journey from first job through to her current role, along with the strategy that keeps her team happy and advice for a satisfying work life.

Gem Spotlight - Lisa Krishtul

Lisa recently joined Team Gembridge as a Senior Recruitment Consultant. Here we learn about her extensive travels, her love of shopping, what prompted her move into the NFP sector and how a manager’s comment gave her the confidence to shine.

Gem Spotlight - Mary Chackola

Mary was hired as Philanthropy Australia’s National Engagement Manager for VIC/TAS in early 2023. Here we learn more about Mary’s passion for marketing and fundraising and her journey to this current role and how she contributes towards positive and meaningful change.

Gem Spotlight - Olivia Zinzan

Olivia began her role as Head of Fundraising and Communications at Our Village (previously St Kilda Mums, Geelong Mums and Eureka Mums) just over a year ago. Now we have the chance to learn more about her...

Gem Spotlight - Sally de Guingand

Sally started as Monash University’s Senior Manager, Planned Giving in January 2023. Below, she shares a few things that bring her joy, from her family to swimming to the rewarding work she is a part of. Keep reading to learn more about Sally.

Gem Spotlight - Dugald McNaughtan

Dugald started his Head of Communications role at Beyond Zero Emissions nearly one year ago. Here he shares with Gembridge about his experience working in the UK and Australia and how his passion for protecting nature has informed his proudest achievements and led to where he is now.

Gem Spotlight - Richard Boland

From time in the Royal Navy, to marketing, to advertising agencies… to Account Director at Precision Fundraising… and now Group Marketing Manager for Precision Group. Discover Richard’s very interesting path not only to his role, but to Australia as well…

Gem Spotlight - Meg Butler

Meg Butler moved to her new role as Head of External Relations at Wildlife Victoria in August of 2022. Not only does she get to blend her interests in helping people, animals and the environment… she sometimes gets to work alongside baby wombats!

Gem Spotlight - Diana Khanom

Diana Khanom started at Eastern Community Legal Centre at the end of 2022, and she loves working for an organisation that lives out their values. Here she talks about some of her other loves… sustainable living, learning about new cultures, and Friends!

Gem Spotlight - Natalie Jones

Natalie Jones was placed at The Perfect Events Group by Gembridge almost exactly three years ago in the Corporate Partnerships Manager role. Today she is the Partnerships and New Business Manager, and loving every minute. Read on to learn more about Natalie and her love of animals, reality TV and making a positive difference in the world.

Gem Spotlight - Liza Nadolski

Liza became CEO of Melbourne Women’s Foundation in mid-2023 after being recruited by Gembridge. She is thriving in this role, and here she shares the importance of finding a role that aligns with your values.

Featured Article

News and Resources

Gembridge Leadership Breakfast with Wendy Cole

Great conversations, valuable insights and meaningful connections. Our recent Breakfast with Wendy Cole reminded us that effective leadership starts with creating space for focus, reflection and intentional action, while learning from others along the way.

Insights

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Gembridge Recommends

Looking for your next great read, watch or listen? Our team has curated a collection of thought-provoking books, inspiring podcasts and must-see entertainment, covering leadership, purpose, productivity, innovation and a little escapism too.

Adopting AI in the Workplace

Artificial Intelligence is creating new opportunities for for-purpose organisations to work smarter and free up valuable time. Dawn Patrick explores how thoughtful AI adoption can improve efficiency, strengthen productivity, and create more space for the human connections and mission-driven work that make the greatest impact.

Timing & Planning for Recruitment

The right hire starts with the right timing. In this blog, Michelle Varcoe shares practical recruitment planning insights, including typical hiring timelines, notice periods, and why working backwards from your ideal start date can help secure the best talent and reduce risk.

Resources

Featured

Building a Resume that resonates

A strong resume isn't about including everything you've ever done. It's about making it easy for recruiters to see why you're the right fit. Lisa Krishtul shares practical advice on tailoring your resume, highlighting relevant achievements, and showcasing the skills and purpose that employers value most.

Interview Success: Why Delivery Is Just as Important as Experience

As a recruiter, I often meet candidates with impressive backgrounds who don’t quite hit the mark in interviews - not because they lack experience, but because their delivery lets them down. The truth is, how you present yourself can be just as important as what you’ve done.

Preparing for a phone screening

An important part of a recruitment process is the phone screening. This stage allows recruiters narrow down the pool of possible candidates to take through to formal interview. From a candidate perspective, this is your second opportunity to shine (first being your written application!).

Troy Varcoe 10/17/22 Troy Varcoe 10/17/22

Career Burnout: What is it, what are the signs, what to do about it

We’ve been hearing about burnout a lot recently in our conversations with candidates and clients. Burnout isn’t a good thing for you or your career, and it’s an important topic to discuss and to be aware of for yourself, but also, if you are manager, this is good to keep in mind when thinking about recruitment and retention of staff.

Troy Varcoe 10/10/22 Troy Varcoe 10/10/22

Finding and Keeping Awesome Fundraisers

If you are like most for-purpose or social impact organisations, you will know that finding, recruiting and retaining great fundraisers is essential to your success. So, what can you offer to entice them? And once you have them on board, how do you keep them engaged and motivated?

Troy Varcoe 10/3/22 Troy Varcoe 10/3/22

Food, Glorious Food

What an amazing day of fun, laughter and learning, plus hard work planting trees and shovelling dirt at our recent Volunteer Day in September with Food For Change.

Troy Varcoe 7/21/22 Troy Varcoe 7/21/22

Why Healthy Work Culture Is Critical

When people are looking to move into a new role at a new organisation, the culture of the company is very important to them. Jenni shares a brief insight into company culture from an article she recently read.

Troy Varcoe 2/14/22 Troy Varcoe 2/14/22

Food For Change... SDG #2

Gembridge is very excited to embark on a multi-year partnership with Food For Change, helping to increase their impact through financial support and getting our own hands dirty!

Troy Varcoe 7/16/21 Troy Varcoe 7/16/21

The Art of The Exit Interview

When an employee decides to leave their workplace, most times there is a handshake, ‘thanks for your efforts and best of luck’. Perhaps (pre Covid) a farewell lunch or company assembly. One of the more important aspects for both the employer and employee, and one that if it is done, is usually poorly done, is to undertake an exit interview.

Troy Varcoe 7/16/21 Troy Varcoe 7/16/21

FIA VIC Corporate Partnership SIG, a socially distanced event

The first of many successful FIA VIC Corporate Partnerships Special Interest Group (SIG) events was delivered yesterday bringing FIA members and Corporate Partnership specialists together for learning and networking, in a mask wearing and socially distanced way.

Troy Varcoe 3/8/21 Troy Varcoe 3/8/21

That’s a wrap: FIA Conference 2021

The 2021 FIA Conference was held at the end of February, and for the first time, was delivered via digital platform. It was an outstanding conference with an insightful, relevant and jam-packed program.

Troy Varcoe 12/8/20 Troy Varcoe 12/8/20

Brotherhood of St Laurence celebrates huge milestone - 90 years!

Brotherhood of St Laurence was founded in 1930. Congratulations on 90 years of impact!

Troy Varcoe 12/4/20 Troy Varcoe 12/4/20

FIA Victorian Awards

Congratulations to all FIA VIC Award Winners, Highly Commended, Finalists and Nominations!

Troy Varcoe 9/25/20 Troy Varcoe 9/25/20

Building a professional network

I’m not a natural networker. Don’t get me wrong – I love building meaningful connections and maintaining strong relationships, but it’s the new connections and striking up a conversation with a stranger that I’ve found daunting at times. Jenni D’Orival shares her experience and tips about networking.

Troy Varcoe 9/9/20 Troy Varcoe 9/9/20

R U OK? How do you respond if the answer is NO?

How do you respond if the answer to RUOK is no?

What do you say? How can you help?

Fearing the response to this little question being a big “NO” is common. Carli Phillips, Director of Corporate Wellbeing Hub focussed on these three little words in the workplace during our Webinar presented to leaders in the ‘for purpose' sector.

Troy Varcoe 8/27/20 Troy Varcoe 8/27/20

Enhancing employer brand

By focusing on and building employer brand, an organisation can shape the way they are perceived as an employer by past, current and prospective employees.

Troy Varcoe 8/14/20 Troy Varcoe 8/14/20

Wellbeing Series Initiative... it's a wrap! Check out the poll results...

Our third and final session of our Gembridge Wellbeing Webinar series was held this week with the important topic of Burnout & Exhaustion Watch Outs, very timely given the current environment.

Troy Varcoe 8/11/20 Troy Varcoe 8/11/20

The 2020 Fish Scholarship, an opportunity for small charities.

Gembridge is excited to share this generous initiative. Fish Community Solutions has been offering this special education initiative for small charities.

Troy Varcoe 8/7/20 Troy Varcoe 8/7/20

Wellbeing is so important... pandemic, or not

Gembridge hosted the 2nd Wellbeing Webinar Enhancing Mental Health in the New Normal with Carli Phillips from Corporate Wellbeing Hub. What is normal anyway?! Wellbeing is important, whether in a pandemic, or not.

Carli provided excellent insights, strategies and tips for building resilience, saying ‘no’ in order to prioritise high impact tasks and leading people through uncertainty.

Troy Varcoe 8/3/20 Troy Varcoe 8/3/20

Wellbeing is on the radar for NFP leaders.

Gembridge is so pleased that wellbeing is on the radar of leaders in the not-for-profit sector with 83 leaders attending the first Wellbeing Webinar Series. We are looking forward to the next 2 sessions on 5 and 12 August.

Troy Varcoe 7/27/20 Troy Varcoe 7/27/20

Gembridge Scholarship Announcement

Gembridge is very excited to announce the winners for the Gembridge Scholarship to attend the Partnerships Acquisition Skills course with Stellar Partnerships. Not just one, but TWO scholarships!

Troy Varcoe 7/8/20 Troy Varcoe 7/8/20

Gembridge Scholarship Opportunity with Stellar Partnerships

Gembridge is proud to partner with Stellar Partnerships to support one lucky scholarship recipient to attend this online Partnerships Acquisition Skills course.

Troy Varcoe 6/23/20 Troy Varcoe 6/23/20

Michelle Varcoe on the radio!

Michelle Varcoe appears on radio at 89.9 TheLight with Cam & Jo. There are a series of interviews around writing good resumes and Job Interviews (An interview about interviews!)