Who We Are
Partners for Equity was established in 2015. We are backed by a consortium of Australian funders (including family, corporate and community foundations, and individuals) with deep experience in international giving.
With staff in Africa, and the Australian based team spending over 40 weeks a year travelling to visit partners overseas, our purpose is to provide aid to communities that are disadvantaged or living in poverty.
100 cents in our donor dollar are passed through to our partners. Partners For Equity’s costs are covered by the four family foundations who established Partners For Equity.
Our Directors
Marnie Rickards
Anubha Rawat
Mark Cubit
Marcus Fazio
Angus Grinham
Marnie Rickards
Marnie Rickards has been the Operations Director for DAK Foundation since 2010. DAK Foundation is an Australian Private Ancillary Fund which supports health programs in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa through Partners For Equity, with a focus on restorative eye surgery, birth injury repair surgery, maternal and primary health.
Marnie oversees the Biomedical and Medical Equipment programs for DAK, working with locally embedded health networks across Asia and Africa to help increase their efficiency and quality of service. Prior to joining DAK, Marnie spent 15 years working in administration and finance in the commercial and media sectors.
Marnie joined the board of Partners For Equity in 2021. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University and sits on the Board of Advisors for the Gould Family Foundation (USA). She is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Anubha Rawat
Anubha Rawat has over 20 years of experience working in the international development sector, in the areas of program and strategy development, project management and implementation, fundraising and communications, and grant making. She has worked in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with a focus on women’s health and MNCH (maternal, newborn and child health).
Growing up in India, it was through her experience of volunteering and working across a range of non-profit organisations, during the time the Indian economy was transforming, that Anubha recognised the powerful role philanthropy has to play in development.
Anubha is the Projects Director at the DAK Foundation, a private foundation based in Australia. DAK primarily focuses on sub-Saharan Africa and Asia in three areas – women’s health programmes, focussed on birth injury repair and family planning, restorative high volume cataract surgery and the distribution of medical equipment with a focus on oxygen and biomedical support systems. Anubha brings her experience and insights to a wide range of programmes supported by the DAK Foundation and is passionate about program development and initiatives that are championed at the local level.
Anubha also sits on the Board of Advisors for the Gould Family Foundation, USA to improve health outcomes for the poor and underserved in sub-Saharan Africa. She holds a Masters in Child Development from Delhi University and a Graduate Diploma in International Studies from the University of Sydney. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mark Cubit
Mark resigned as Managing Director, Australian Equities at Merrill Lynch Equities after 15 years’ service and entered the not-for-profit world in 2003. He volunteered at The Smith Family for three years and served on the boards of Good Beginnings Australia and Beacon Foundation. In 2005 he, and his wife Amanda, established Cubit Family Foundation, initially with a focus on support of the education sector but now more broadly focused on the majority world.
Today Mark has a role in the giving programs of Ripple Foundation, Planet Wheeler Foundation, Crap Foundation and is a co-founder of The Australian International Donors Network.
Since 2008 Mark has chaired The School of St Jude Australian board and is also a member of the school’s Tanzanian board. From 2014 to 2018 he was a member of Monash University Council, and he continues as Chair of its Investment Advisory Committee.
Mark believes in the importance of visiting partners on the ground and now spends four to six weeks a year on the road. He is passionate about international philanthropy, having seen over many years what can be achieved with long term financial resources committed to smart individuals who are solving problems in the majority world.
Marcus Fazio
Marcus Fazio is a business and strategic consultant with a background in investment banking in Australia and overseas. Since leaving investment banking Marcus has advised companies, organizations and individuals in respect of strategy, transactions, social impact and philanthropy.
Marcus has been a Trustee of the Planet Wheeler Foundation since its inception in 2008. As a trustee and advisor, he wants to maximise the benefits of donations in alleviating poverty in developing countries over the long term by supporting well targeted, sustainable projects. Marcus has visited Planet Wheeler projects in East and West Africa and South East Asia.
Marcus is also interested in social impact investment and provides advice to Small Giants, a company which has invested in local and international projects focused on creating a more socially equitable and environmentally sustainable world.
Marcus is a director of Fitted for Work, a not for profit committed to assisting disadvantaged women find work. He is a director of Text Publishing (book publisher), Chemical Media (independent TV production) and a medical equipment distributor in Japan. He is a graduate of the Australia Institute of Company Directors’ course.
Marcus volunteers a substantial amount of his time for the work of Partners For Equity.
Angus Grinham
Angus has been a Director of Boronia Capital for over 25 years. Boronia ran as a Hedge Fund until 2018 and as a Family Office since then. Together with his wife Catherine they established The Ripple Foundation in 2014. The foundation is focussed on the alleviation of poverty. Its name refers to the ripple effect whereby a small positive change can ripple out from the source resulting in a magnified effect. This reflects the significant impact they believe can be achieved through well considered funding to international projects.
The foundation directs over 95% of funding to organisations operating outside Australia, predominantly across Africa and South-East Asia. They support a diverse range of areas including health, education, community development and people trafficking. The foundation takes the view that the most important determinant in the success of an organisation is its people. For this reason the Ripple Foundation back people by generally providing multi-year untied funding, allowing the organisations they support to decide where the funds should be spent.
Angus has a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University and an MBA from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.
Our Staff
Linda Fox
Eve Omala
Emily Umbers
Lenah Gideon
James Fox
Eveline Shilwatso
Linda Fox
Chief Executive Officer
Linda worked with the Directors of Partners For Equity to establish the organisation, and she is now responsible for its governance and administration. At the same time, she was Grants Manager at the Planet Wheeler Foundation from 2015 to 2023 with responsibility for a portfolio of African grantees.
Prior to the establishment of Partners For Equity, Linda worked for 14 years (since its inception) for fund manager, Cooper Investors Pty Limited, as General Counsel and Company Secretary, with overall responsibility for legal, compliance and risk management functions. She also established the Cooper Investors Philanthropy Fund and was responsible for the administration of grants, as well as Chair of the grant-making committee.
Linda has also had over 12 years’ experience as a commercial and finance lawyer at Allens and Freehills, both in Sydney, and Herbert Smith in London. She has a BA/LLB from the University of New South Wales and a Diploma in International Law from the University of Vienna.
Linda is a Director of Igniting Change (based in Melbourne), a purposely small organisation that’s passionate about sparking big, positive change with people doing it tough in our communities.
Eve Omala
African Portfolio Manager
Eve brings over 13 years of experience in the nonprofit & philanthropic sectors, having managed private foundation operations but also worked as a program implementer at the grassroots level. Currently, Eve serves as the manager for the Africa Local Leaders Portfolio at Partners for Equity, where she passionately supports early-stage African-led organisations.
Throughout her career, Eve has been instrumental in supporting funders to localise their grant-making efforts. Notably, she made significant contributions at the Segal Family Foundation, directing over $15m annually in early-stage funding and providing thought partnership to over 150 locally-led organisations. Eve serves on the boards of Segal Family Foundation, Blood:Water Mission, Fundi Bots, Intrepid Foundation and the Africa Visionary Fund as well as the advisory board of the Australian International Development Network and Gould Family Foundation.
She holds an MBA from Griffith University Australia, a Bsc in Information Technology from Makerere University and is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Emily Umbers
Portfolio Marketing & Development Manager
Emily has over 15 years experience in marketing, communications and fundraising roles across the for-purpose space, including international development, education, welfare and disability.
Emily loves working with visionary leaders and their teams to hone their narrative, strengthen their brand and amplify their message.
In addition to her work at Partners for Equity, she is the Marketing & Operations Manager at the Australian International Development Network (AIDN). She has also co-designed and co-delivers and an annual professional development program in Melbourne for early stage organisations working towards social cohesion and is on the funding committee for a brand new arts precinct in regional New South Wales.
Emily has lived and worked in East Africa and travels there regularly. She holds a Bachelor of International Development and believes in the power of clear messaging, bold brands and developing meaningful relationships to create positive outcomes for the community.
Lenah Gideon
Program Manager
Lenah Gideon is based in Kenya and is a seasoned program management and development professional passionate about positive change and community improvement. With a passion for creating positive change and a commitment to improving communities, Lenah has significantly contributed to various initiatives throughout their career.
Before joining PFE, Lenah worked at Porticus as a Grant Manager managing programs and various partners across the East and Southern Africa Region. Before that, Lenah served in multiple capacities at the United Nations with the UN Women Regional Office for Africa (UN Women) and the United Nations Development Programme – Kenya (UNDP Kenya). These opportunities have driven Lenah to continuously seek opportunities to address pressing social issues and advocate for positive change within communities and beyond.
Lenah holds a Master’s Degree in Commerce from Strathmore University in Nairobi and is an Ashoka Fellow.
James Fox
Database Manager
James completed his Master’s degree in Climate Change at the University of Melbourne in 2020. Since then he has been working part time in data management and research for Igniting Change, FREO2, AIDN and Partners for Equity. On the side he is writing and editing his middle grade science fiction adventure novel, with the hope of getting it published.
Eveline Shilwatso
Eveline is an experienced Research Assistant with a demonstrated history of hands-on fieldwork, data collection, entry, and analysis. Her passion for research stems from a desire to create positive change within society, and is dedicated to using data to highlight pressing issues and influence policies for social betterment. A proactive team player, Eveline thrives in a dynamic environment and is driven by a genuine interest in societal progress hence contributing to impactful research that promotes equity and improves lives.
Prior to joining PFE, Eveline worked for Innovations for Poverty Action as a field officer, primarily involved in data collection and analysis. She has also served as a volunteer at Young Scientists Kenya, judging different projects for
high school students.
Eveline is a Medical Biochemistry graduate from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and is focused to enhancing her education, skills and knowledge.