My husband Simon and I have both cared about social and environment justice since we were kids. I grew up in a farming family and when I was fourteen the millennium drought shook me to the core, leading me to get involved in climate change activism. My first campaign was against a proposed new BHP mine, and by the time I was 18, we’d won. That taught me that we live in a country where change can come from the bottom up, not just the top down.

Simon grew up in a tough public housing estate and was a carer for his Mum who experiences severe mental ill-health. He has always been passionate about systemic change to overcome poverty and disadvantage. We met through co-founding the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, with a small a group of us, when we were both at University. Since then we’ve been involved in organisations that rely on philanthropy, including GetUp!, WWF, Solar Citizens, and Farmers for Climate Action.

Now that Simon works in the financial services industry – as co-founder and CEO of Future Super – we have enough to give 20% of our income to climate advocacy. We were considering getting a second car earlier this year and instead decided to use the money to seed a sub-fund.

We chose Australian Communities Foundation because they’ve divested from fossil fuels, and because we love their progressive ethos and wonderful team. It was a no-brainer. Now, Simon just rides to work instead and our son Robbie loves his seat on the back of the bike!