Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing

In 1999 Rosemary was invited to become an equity partner of what was then Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks, Australia’s leading professional services firm.  From 2000 – 2002 she was ranked by Chamber’s Global among the world’s leading lawyers

Led development of prospectus guide for inviting investment in social enterprise – supported by the RE Ross Trust, this was one of the first initiatives to put the spotlight on investing in purpose driven organisations to enable them to grow their impact. The Trust still supports this initiative with small grants to enable organisations to apply the guide.

Brought in by The Victorian Premier’s Department to lead major national social and economic policy reform agenda focused on productivity across all Australian jurisdictions. Strategy across complex agenda spanning financial arrangements between Commonwealth and States and policy areas from health and education to consumer affairs and deregulation which delivered billions in additional funding to States for core services and an outcomes focused platform for service delivery.

Appointed to NSW Government Social Investment Expert Advisory Group chaired by Professor Peter Shergold AC, to advise NSW Treasury and the cross-departmental steering group on social investment policy. Informed whole of government strategy 2015 including establishment of the Office of Social Impact Investment.

Led foundational submission from Government Departments to Senate Economics References Committee on impact investing

Invited to join the Social Impact Investment Taskforce established by then UK Prime Minister David Cameron during his presidency of the G8 and Chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen. Australia was the only country outside the G7 invited to participate and Rosemary led a sector based effort to enable Australia to take up this leadership position at the forefront of impact investment.

Led first broad-based public consultation and engagement and Australian field scan to set out a clear definition of impact investing, why it matters, what was happening globally and in Australia and what could and should happen in and from Australia.  Undertaken as a Departmental initiative, this field scan laid the groundwork to grow the field.

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As an active member of the G8 Taskforce, Rosemary contributed to its landmark report Impact Investing: The Invisible Heart of Markets and the 4 working group reports that accompanied it.

To ensure that the market-building work of the G8 Taskforce and Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing could be delivered as a public good in Australia, Impact Investing Australia was established to provide the operating platform and drive strategy and implementation.

Rosemary was a member of the expert group informing and was asked to review OECD research for its second impact investment initiative, Impact Investing: Building the Evidence Base, published January 2015

Impact Strategist has supported and informed the work of Impact Investing Australia, founding the organisation in 2014 to provide operations, strategy and implementation capability for the Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing.  Rosemary Addis’ services were provided as Executive Chair of the AAB and Impact Investing Australia until July 2019.  During that time, Rosemary was instrumental in developing and executing strategy to grow innovation and impact investing in and from Australia.  She continues as an Ambassador for the AAB and non-executive Chair of Impact Investing Australia.

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Chaired working group of leaders to design and document blueprint for Impact Capital Australia, a game-changer, specifically designed to accelerate development and achieve scale for impact investing in Australia.  Its mandate is mobilising more capital and transforming the way Australia deals with social and environmental challenges.

Founding Executive Board member of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, which took the baton for catalysing and scaling global markets for impact from the G8 Taskforce in August 2015

Foundational advice for the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade to anchor its understanding of impact investing , its application as a policy tool and options for action.

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Requested by Professor Alex Nicholls of the Skoll Centre at Said Business School, Oxford, to write chapter on role of Government and policy for first text on social finance

Co-authored report of first benchmarking of Australian impact investment activity and performance, Benchmarking Impact with the aim of establishing market-based data to understand impact activity and set early baselines to measure growth and development.  The methodology and branding has been transferred to the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia to carry forward.  They undertook the second benchmarking in 2017, which showed fourfold growth.

Oversaw delivery of initiative Chaired by Louise Sylvan AM and carried out by Deloitte Access Economics to deliver a practical guide to understanding social costs that could inform applied understanding of social costs and the costs of delivering better outcomes.

Collaboration with Social Finance UK for the FIA Foundation to demonstrate the investment case for investment in prevention of road trauma.  It is a companion report with Breaking the Deadlock

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In 2017, the Australian Advisory Board went to practitioners and stakeholders of the field in Australia to seek views on what had changed since 2014 and what was needed next.  Led by Rosemary Addis in collaboration with Regina Hill and the Impact Investing Australia team and funded by Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, the results of the scan were released publicly report and video form.

Rosemary was a finalist for Thought leader of the Year In the inaugural Women in Finance Awards in recognition of her contribution to finance through pioneering thinking in impact investment.

The Australian Advisory Board on Impact Investing blueprint for collective action, Scaling Impact, was launched in late 2018 following a market engagement and strategy development process which Rosemary led in collaboration with Fabienne Michaux, then head of the AAB Strategy Working Group.

Providing expert advice and review and Australian insights to

Rosemary was elected by member national advisory boards across 18 member countries and the EU as a Trustee of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen with a growing membership of 23 countries and the EU.  In 2019 she was asked to Chair a Board Committee on National Advisory Boards and Governance.

Impact Investing Australia, founded by Rosemary Addis was named Australian Impact Investing Market Builder of the Year at the inaugural Australian Impact Investing Awards for its work developing impact markets in and from Australia.

High level strategy and advice to SDG Impact team at the United Nations Development Programme to anchor engagement of its Steering Group, facilitate development and consultation on SDG Impact Practice Standards and provide a sounding board to the team leadership

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Rosemary was awarded membership of the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2020 for significant services to social innovation, impact investment and the law

In September 2020 Rosemary Addis AM was invited by the then Minister for Indigenous Affairs to take up an appointment to the Board of Indigenous Business Australia.

After finishing her term as an elected Trustee of the GSG, Rosemary was appointed by the GSG Board as Global Ambassador with a focus on impact governance – brining impact to the tables where decisions are made

Having been actively engaged in the spin out of Sweef Capital Management Pte Ltd, a women led investment firm based in Singapore, Rosemary took up the role of Chair of the Board of Advisors and actively guides the firm’s strategy and  partnerships.  She is also a member of the Investment Committee and Chairs the Sweef Capital Gender ROI™ Steering Committee

Rosemary Addis AM was invited to join the inaugural group of Global Impact Leaders of the Sorenson Impact Center, a diverse and inclusive network of impact practitioners and thought leaders working toward positive social and environmental impact around the world, formed to recognize, elevate and amplify the contributions of those working to solve the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems.