About the Foundation
The Susan McKinnon Foundation was established in 2015 by Sophie Oh and Grant Rule to make a positive and enduring contribution to the Australian community. The Foundation is named after Grant’s mother, who instils the values of service and positive contribution in those around her.
Starting from nothing, Grant built Australia’s largest SMS technology business. Following the billion-dollar sale of that business in 2021, Sophie and Grant committed the majority of their wealth to philanthropy and expanded the Foundation.
Drawing upon their own experiences working in the public and private sectors, Sophie and Grant decided the best way to make a lasting difference to Australia was to help to enhance the capability and effectiveness of our democratic institutions and government.
Sophie and Grant believe that through smarter decision making, improved policy development and better service delivery, governments at all levels in Australia can create a society that is fairer, more prosperous, and has greater opportunity for all.
Reflecting Susan McKinnon’s attitude to life, the Foundation takes a positive, practical and patient approach to creating these long-term improvements. It acts as an incubator, funder and implementor of bold ideas and long-term transformational initiatives to improve our governments and democracy. Its work is driven by evidence, not ideology, data not rhetoric. The Foundation is non-partisan. It partners with people and organisations with good ideas driving positive results, regardless of political affiliation.
At present the Foundation’s major funding and partnering initiatives include The McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership, the McKinnon Prize in Political Leadership, and the e61 economic research institute amongst others.
Our People
Our Directors
“McKinnon’s work is dedicated to promoting effective political leadership and democratic processes. Our efforts are focused on elevating governance standards and cultivating political collaboration, both of which are critical to strengthening Australia’s democratic institutions.”
Sir Bill English
“Politicians need to understand how the political and policy system work, to get better results for their constituents. Effective politicians will also have the confidence needed for reforms that improve performance of the economy in the public service.”
Prof. Peter Shergold AC
“Australians are losing trust in the effectiveness and integrity of government. We need to significantly enhance the way parliamentarians, ministers, ministerial advisers and public servants operate and work together in the interests of their citizens.”
“The SMF aims to connect evidence about what works to promote better government with the people who make the decisions that matter.”
Our Founders and CEO
Sophie Oh
Co-founder
“At Susan McKinnon Foundation, we recognise the pivotal role that governments play in our lives. As such, we are committed to strengthening the capability, integrity, and decision-making of governments, while fostering a strong democratic society.”
Grant Rule
Co-founder
“Australia has benefited significantly from the courageous, long sighted policy decisions of political leaders. We have established McKinnon to support our governments to be highly effective, and to strengthen our precious democracy.”
Mike Baird
Chief Executive Officer
“The Susan McKinnon Foundation offers a wholly unique opportunity to contribute more widely to the future of political leadership and democracy in Australia. SMF’s vision helps our political leaders be equipped for senior roles, contribute to public policy, encourage mechanisms to support strong government and to inspire many to play a role in government during their careers.”
Our Ethos
Practical
We pursue improved governance through tangible change. Our approach is pragmatic and business-like. We are optimistic and realistic.
Rigorous
Our work is robust, evidence-based and expert-driven. We test, evaluate, adapt and then partner to scale. We act on facts, not ideology.
Transparent
We believe transparency matters – for government and for us.
Non-partisan
We are politically neutral, bringing together people from all sides of politics to cooperate for improvement.
Entrepreneurial
We innovate, apply business skills and hold ourselves accountable.
Bold
We are unafraid to take on difficult subjects and challenge conventional wisdom.
Long-term
We play the long game while breaking down our work into feasible incremental steps.
Financial Reports
Our Entities
Susan McKinnon Foundation
ABN 28 739 100 711
Susan McKinnon Research Centre
ABN 40 656 129 127
Susan McKinnon Charitable Foundation Ltd
ABN 12 653 756 597
Our Funding
The Susan McKinnon Foundation (SMF) is independently funded by Grant Rule and Sophie Oh. The SMF entities have a significant investment in Redbridge Capital Trust (RCT).
Redbridge Capital Pty Ltd (RedCap), a related party to SMF, is the investment manager of RCT.
The director of RedCap has pledged that all profits surplus to RedCap’s medium-term funding requirements will be donated.
Our founders Grant Rule and Sophie Oh donate their time to the running of the Foundation and receive no material benefit from the charitable entities.