Maree’s journey to drive social impact through nonprofit leadership

As CEO of Philanthropy Australia, Maree Sidey combines two decades of nonprofit leadership with an MBA in Social Impact, using both experience and education to help drive meaningful change and address key social challenges.

For Maree Sidey, education is a critical tool for creating change.

Raised in a family deeply committed to social justice—her mother a social worker and her father a Baptist minister—Maree was instilled with a profound sense of fairness from an early age.

“Growing up, I learned the importance of being an advocate for social change, a lesson that has shaped my time in the for purpose Sector in this country,” Maree shares. “My roots run deep in social justice.”

Prior to running a national foundation for nine years, Maree worked for 20 years as a not-for-profit sector leader in some of Australia's leading NGOs across family services, mental health, and drug and alcohol sectors.

“I’ve worked on the front line, and I’ve worked in prevention… I’ve sat in the room with people who needed immediate relief and support, and I’ve helped redesign systems that have changed the way we conceptualise and deliver services in this country. These experiences have shaped how I think about wealth, power, and privilege, and how we collaborate to tackle critical issues,” Maree explains.

With this rich background in the nonprofit sector, most recently as CEO of Australian Communities Foundation , and now Philanthropy Australia , Maree has amassed a wealth of experience and first-hand knowledge, but the urge to create a framework for leading in the Social Impact sector brought her to an MBA at the Centre for Social Impact at UNSW .

“The social impact modules were really rewarding and helped me consolidate my thinking about all of the work I’ve been doing for the last 20 years and then wrapping that up into the shifts I lead and am leading in philanthropy.

“It gave me a whole lot of tools to put in my toolkit, and the confidence to lead.”

A woman with fair hair and a big smile wears a green jacket and green top

Social impact education with flexibility to fit a busy life

The ambition to complete an MBA had been a long-held desire for Maree, but took a backseat as her career and work life balance took centre stage. Then opportunity came knocking through the shift to online learning.

“For me, having a Master’s was something that was just felt like a bit of unfinished business,” Maree reflects. “Holding demanding executive roles and having a young family, it had always just felt like not quite the right time to commit to going back to doing post-grad study.”

Juggling the demands of a full-time job while co-parenting three children, Maree enrolled in the MBA (Social Impact) at the Centre of Social Impact at UNSW .

This decision was not merely about advancing her education; it was about finding study that fit in with her life, not fitting her life around study.

“The shift to online learning was transformative, it’s fully flexible and I could do it in my own time,” Maree says. “I carved out some time on the weekends to read at my own pace and engage with the assignments, managing it around a full-time job and family commitments.”

Studying social impact for effective leadership

Through this educational journey, Maree has honed the language and concepts necessary for achieving change and engaging with players from across the nonprofit ecosystem.

Maree, who was awarded the MBA Social Impact Scholarship as she began her studies in 2017, says it supports nonprofit leaders with the knowledge and confidence needed to tackle complex challenges.

"The scholarship was crucial in making the program financially viable. My organisation covered part of the cost, and the scholarship took care of the remaining proportion.

Maree wears a white shirt and is holding a trophy. She is standing next to a woman in a black dress with orange earrings

“Thanks to the MBA, I feel more equipped than ever to lead discussions on leading and achieving social change, impact measurement and the role of philanthropy,” she shares.

“All of the postgraduate subjects enabled me to pull together a really coherent framework for thinking about leadership and social impact.”

One of Maree's most significant contributions to the nonprofit sector has been as CEO of the Australian Community Foundation , where she played a pivotal role in transitioning the organisation to a 100% responsible investing model. This landmark achievement positioned the foundation as a leader in ethical philanthropy and demonstrated her commitment to impactful investment practices.

A Passion for Philanthropy and Driving Change

As Chief Executive Officer of Philanthropy Australia , Maree continues to advocate for the role philanthropy plays in driving social change. During her recent speech at the 11th Philanthropy Australia Conference in South Australia, she spoke passionately about the sector’s immense potential and the challenges it faces.

"I believe in the power of philanthropy – and I also believe in the potential of philanthropy. This sector has been behind some of the most significant forces for positive change in this country.... from marriage equality, to gun control, from abortion rights, to welfare reform, to sustainable housing, to jobs on country, to protecting endangered species... I could go on."

Maree also emphasised the critical role philanthropy plays in addressing the pressing issues of our time.

"Our sector faces immense challenges, with widespread unmet social needs, environmental crisis… and a shrinking space for civil society. On top of that, we are at the crossroads of the biggest ever gap between the haves and have nots… and our sector sits right at the heart of this tension. If we don’t name that and we don’t own that, we have no language to reckon with it. Nor can we develop a clear and compelling vision for how we work together to bridge it."

For Maree, philanthropy is not just about financial generosity but also about responsibility and leadership. "The people in this room today have power, real power, and we also have a choice about how we use it."

A woman in a blue jacket with brown hair smiles next to a woman with fair hair and an orange jacket

Confidence to lead for a stronger nonprofit sector

Maree reflects that studying an MBA in Social Impact strengthened her ability to designing frameworks for social impact measurement and lead new strategy work.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Maree is a staunch advocate for women in leadership roles. By sharing her experiences, she hopes to inspire others to pursue their goals despite the challenges of balancing work and family life.

“The Centre for Social Impact has played an integral part in my career development as a NFP leader, and as a female leader specifically. I will always feel indebted to UNSW and the Centre for Social Impact for these opportunities.”

As Maree continues to play a leading role in Australia’s nonprofit sector, her story serves as a testament to the power of education, resilience, and the unwavering commitment to social impact.

Find out more about studying an MBA in Social Impact .