Our Executive Director, Mary Crooks AO, is set to pass the baton

I am writing to bring you some important news: Our Executive Director, Mary Crooks AO, will leave her role at the end of July this year, after twenty-eight years in the position.

Reflecting on almost three decades of dedicated feminist leadership

Mary became Executive Director in late 1996. The first major public initiative she brought to the Board was the Purple Sage Project, a first of its kind ‘kitchen table conversation’ process which has since become a significant model of civic engagement across the nation.

Mary has led a huge number of firsts for VWT

With Mary’s vision and enormous capacity, we broke new ground in working for gender equality. Purple Sage was quickly followed by Ordinary Women Extraordinary Lives, the first public exhibition attesting to vital women’s social contribution to society. Business Matrix was the first women’s business incubator in Australia. Her authorship of A Gender Lens for Philanthropic Giving was the first exposition of its type in the philanthropic sector.

Her authorship of A Switch in Time and Credit Where Credit is Due enabled VWT to boldly call out the sexism and misogyny swirling around the nation’s first female prime minister. Rosie was the first curated website in Australia to support girls as they navigated tricky situations through adolescence and early adulthood. The Paradox of Service was the first research anywhere to recognise the harm and injustice done by Orders toward former religious. Our two-day gender equality event, Breakthrough, was the largest feminist gathering of all time. The ten-episode The Trap podcast was the first such effort to dive deep into Australia’s problem with violence against women and children. And the list goes on.

Speaking truth to power

As Executive Director of VWT, Mary has spoken on hundreds of occasions and through the media with an authoritative voice on issues that matter – gender equality, civil society, democracy, violence and abuse of women, economic security, and women’s health and well-being.

Growing our capacity to give

Mary pioneered our Sub-Fund model of grantmaking. VWT now has seventeen Sub-Funds in perpetuity, making grants across Victoria which empower women and support their leadership for change at the community level. Throughout her tenure, Mary has built respectful and productive relationships with private donors, raising over $30 million to do the work of the Trust as a feminist agency. She has also secured the support of wonderful donors into the future.

Closing in on financial sustainability

Knowing there is still much to be done to achieve full gender equality and driven to ensure that VWT becomes a financially sustainable enterprise, Mary set her departure plan for when VWT reaches this stage. We are now close to achieving the goal of financial sustainability. From July 2025 our budgets will be based on known income, and fundraising will only be required to further grow grantmaking and bring on new initiatives and campaigns.

There are so few feminist advocacy bodies in our country. We owe enormous thanks to Mary Crooks for building VWT into a strong feminist organisation with its prized independence and capacity.

Giving in honour of Mary’s impact

As expected, Mary insists she wants no fuss about her departure. The Board, however, is committed to honouring her legacy and enabling people to pay tribute. Throughout April-May, we will be encouraging people to make a gift to our Equal Futures Endowment Fund which embeds the model of sustainability which Mary has forged. We will be back in touch with you when we begin this campaign.

Recruiting a new feminist leader

Our Board is now moving to find a new Executive Director, one who will bring the talent, values, vision and commitment to feminism and gender equality to take VWT into a new era.

We have started the recruitment process today. You can read more information about how to apply and download the Candidate Information pack below. We look forward to letting you know the recruitment outcome.

Warm regards,

Alana Johnson AM
Chair
Victorian Women’s Trust

Apply now

View the full advertisement:
LinkedIn | Pro Bono Australia | Ethical Jobs

Applications close Tuesday, 8 April (COB).

Download the Candidate Info Pack

How to apply:
Email your application to recruitment@vwt.org.au

Questions?
Contact our Chair, Alana Johnson AM at 0427 624 214.