Meet the Changemaker: Introducing Amanda McKenzie.

Join us for the first event of our new series – Meet the Changemaker.

In this inaugural event we will be chatting with Amanda McKenzie, CEO and Co-founder of the Climate Council, learning more about what drives her, how she ended up where she is and a little behind-the-scenes update on her team's work drumming up independent, authoritative information about climate change and all the great solutions available in Australia. 

This event for everyone, whether you're climate curious, a weekend warrior, or working in the thick of it. We'd love to see you there! This will be a casual networking and socialising opportunity. So grab a drink, maybe a bite, say hello to someone new and learn about the incredible humans scaling up climate advocacy in Australia! 

Ps: There is limited capacity, so please if you can longer make it, email xanthe@groundswellgiving.org to let us know. 

What does the Climate Council do?

The Climate Council is Australia’s leading climate change communications organisation, providing authoritative, expert advice to the Australian public on climate change and solutions based on the most up-to-date science available. The Climate Council is made up of some of the country’s leading climate scientists, health, renewable energy and policy experts, as well as a team of staff, and a huge community of volunteers and supporters. The Climate Council was founded in 2013 by tens of thousands of Australians to create a new, independent and community-funded organisation in response to the abolition of the Australian Climate Commission.

Why is this work important?

As an independent voice on climate change, the Climate Council get climate stories into the media, produce hard-hitting reports, call out misinformation, and promote climate solutions such as the transition to renewables.

How is Groundswell supporting this work?

In 2023 a Groundswell grant supported the Climate Media Centre, an independent program of the Climate Council, to provide media training to influential voices in regional communities. With these skills emergency services personnel, farmers, former coal/gas workers, clean energy experts, doctors, and many others gain the skills to effectively communicate and influence national energy transition conversations. 

Amanda McKenzie, CEO and co-founder of the Climate Council

Amanda is a prominent Australian environmental leader and one of the best known public commentators on the climate crisis in Australia.

Back in 2013, she worked with Professor Tim Flannery at the Climate Commission. With support from some of Australia’s leading scientists, she co-founded the 100% independent and people-backed Climate Council. It was Australia’s largest crowdfunding campaign at the time. Amanda has led the organisation as its CEO for the last 10 years. She also co-founded the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and has served on renewable energy expert panels for the Queensland and Northern Territory Governments. 

Amanda was the founding Chair of the Centre for Australian Progress and is a former Board Director at Plan International Australia and the Whitlam Institute. She holds an Honours degree in Law from Monash University and an Arts Degree from Melbourne University. 

Amanda has won numerous awards including being recognised as one of Westpac’s 100 Women of Influence and a finalist in the Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year Awards.

About Groundswell

Groundswell was co-founded in 2020 by three friends – Clare, Anna and Arielle – to accelerate climate action in Australia. We started Groundswell because while we could see no shortage of people deeply concerned about the climate crisis and wanting to be part of change, many were unsure about how to make the biggest impact. We could also see there was no shortage of brilliant climate action out there, ready to scale up and deliver important change, but that most organisations were restricted by a critical lack of funding. So, we created Groundswell to join the dots.

Since our launch, Groundswell has grown into a powerful community committed to funding and accelerating strategic climate action in Australia. In addition to grant making, Groundswell runs a renowned climate fellowship program for philanthropic, business and cultural leaders working to change the game on climate this decade.

www.groundswellgiving.org