Leadership
is reaching
new heights.

The Azure Summit Australia

30 and 31 March 2025
Melbourne 

The Azure Summit Australia is an intensive two-day series of interactive presentations and workshops that are designed specifically for Heads of Schools and Colleges who may be entering or are thinking of undertaking a major fundraising campaign.

Sunday 30 March

10.00am Registration for a 10.30am start
5.00pm Conclusion of Day 1, followed by networking drinks

Monday 31 March

8.15am Meet for an 8.30am start
3.30pm Close of Summit

 

 

About our Leadership Initiative

Missions are advanced and visions realised when the passions and talents of individuals are engaged in a common goal. This requires exceptional leadership as well as generous donors.

Though there are many experienced fundraising professionals working each day to engage new donors and steward existing ones, the magnitude and pace of philanthropic giving are amplified when the institution’s top leader becomes its top philanthropy champion.

Marts&Lundy created The Azure Summit so that leaders of mission-driven organisations can experience the highest-quality teaching on the critical role they can play in developing a deep and broad culture of philanthropy. The Summit’s leadership curriculum is tailored to high-performing professionals who expect to gain significant knowledge that drives their expertise and action to new heights.

Summit Venue

Map showing the location of the RACV City Club in Melbourne, Australia

RACV City Club

501 Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

The Azure Summit will be held at the RACV City Club in Melbourne’s CBD.

If you require accommodation during the summit you will need to book directly with the RACV City Club.

Please call the City Club’s main accommodation line on (03) 9944 8888 followed by option 1 and reference booking discount code: 2406POAACC.

Faculty

Marts&Lundy Faculty

Ann Badger

About Ann Badger

Ann is an experienced educator and advancement professional who has worked in both schools and higher education, and she brings a deep insight of the needs and opportunities at play in community engagement and successful strategic fundraising. Ann was the director of college advancement at Ormond College at the University of Melbourne for eight years. Prior to this, she was director of community relations at Melbourne Grammar School for more than 10 years. In both positions, she was responsible for all advancement areas including fundraising, marketing, communications, and alumni relations. She led three successful campaigns during that time. Before beginning her career in development, Ann spent 17 years working as a secondary and higher education teacher, curriculum director, lecturer in education. and, finally, as a communications director for leading educational institutions in Melbourne.

Ann Badger

badger@martsandlundy.com

Clare Pullar

About Clare Pullar

Clare is a well-known and trusted advisor in development circles, providing counsel to both public and private institutions in Australia and Asia. She joined Marts&Lundy following six years as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Advancement), for the University of Queensland. Before joining the University of Queensland, Clare was Director of Advancement at Trinity College, University of Melbourne, where she led the inaugural comprehensive campaign for Trinity. Her career in educational philanthropy began with the establishment of the Goulburn Valley Grammar School in Shepparton, Victoria – built almost entirely with philanthropy. Clare has led the Australian sector through chairing the Go8 Chief Advancement Officers group. Through the Council for Support of Education (CASE) and EducatePlus, she has helped shape training courses to strengthen the talent pool for Australia and the region. Clare is a CASE Laureate. Clare is a Fellow of Trinity College and chairs Janet Clarke Hall University of Melbourne. She holds a Distinguished Alumni Award from La Trobe University and the Trevor Wigney and Peter Crook Awards for outstanding contributions to development in Australia.

Clare Pullar

pullar@martsandlundy.com

About Dan Martin

Dan has dedicated his career to advancing philanthropy and fostering community engagement within esteemed educational and non-profit institutions, bringing a wealth of experience in strategic leadership and fundraising excellence. He most recently served as the Director of Foundation (Chief Advancement Officer) at St Aloysius’ College in Sydney, where he orchestrated transformative initiatives that propelled the institution to new heights of philanthropic success. He is committed to driving substantial philanthropic growth and fostering strategic partnerships. During his tenure at prominent universities, including the University of NSW (UNSW Sydney) and the University of Sydney, Dan leveraged innovative fundraising strategies to achieve record-breaking results. Prior to his university roles, Dan honed his expertise in major gifts fundraising with charitable organisations, including The Fred Hollows Foundation and Children’s Cancer Institute, where he developed and implemented both organisation’s first major gifts strategies. Dan served on the CASE Asia Pacific Advancement Conference planning committee in 2024 and is a recognized leader in the field as a CASE Laureate.

Dan Martin

martin@martsandlundy.com

Alan Watkinson

About Alan Watkinson

Alan has worked in education for his entire career and was Head of the English Faculty at Scotch College in Melbourne for 17 years. He has been Director of Development and Advancement at Scotch College, Trinity College at the University of Melbourne and at the Melbourne Business School. In 2013, he was appointed as Director of Alumni and Advancement at La Trobe University and became Chief Advancement Officer in June 2016. Alan is a former Chairman of Educate Plus and has presented widely on advancement issues throughout Australia and internationally. He has been a regular presenter at CASE conferences and has taught at the CASE Institute for educational fundraisers in Australia. Alan is a Fellow of Educate Plus, and in 2010 was the recipient of both the Trevor Wigney Award and the Peter Crook Award for services to educational advancement in Australasia.

Alan Watkinson

watkinson@martsandlundy.com

About Doug Diefenbach

A key leader within Foster Avenue (Marts&Lundy’s philanthropic communications partner agency), Doug has spent nearly 40 years helping a wide range of American nonprofit institutions articulate and exceed their goals for strategic alignment, brand visibility, constituent engagement, and philanthropic revenue. He brings a deep specialization in philanthropic communications, earned as a consultant and foundation staff member serving higher education, healthcare and human services institutions. Doug joined Foster Avenue after running his own philanthropic communications consultancy for six years; before that he served as vice president of campaign strategy and communications for Advocate Aurora Health, one of the nation’s top 20 integrated health systems.  He now serves as Foster Avenue’s chief message strategist, overseeing all editorial services and designing and delivering most of the firm’s campaign fluency training sessions for client staff and volunteers.

Doug Diefenbach

doug.diefenbach@fosteravenue.com

Testimonials

The Azure Summit was a great chance to learn from people with real experience and expertise in shaping philanthropic campaigns.  The insights to planning and structuring a campaign were invaluable, as was the chance to share ideas with colleagues from different contexts, all striving to give opportunities through philanthropy to their students and communities. 

  • Justin Garrick, Head of School
  • Canberra Grammar School

Attending Marts&Lundy’s Azure Summit was the most outstanding learning experience I have had in this area. The Summit brings Heads of schools together with experienced and expert fundraising consultants and professionals for a small-scale conference focussed specifically on fundraising campaigns and culture. Sharing this two-day conference experience with my newly-appointed Director of Development gave us a common language, a common framework and a sense of direction that has been invaluable and that has begun to bear fruit.

  • Tim Bowden, Head Master
  • Trinity Grammar School

Was the best 2 days of learnings I have ever had from a conference. The presenters were spot on and the topics very well chosen.

  • Peter Wilson, Director of Development
  • Trinity Grammar School

Each presentation got me thinking about what I need to do as Head of School to prepare my community for a campaign. I walked away with many ideas and direction that I would have never thought about without the Summit.

  • Jim Detora, Head of School
  • Avon Old Farms School

Presenters were fantastic, and it was wonderful to learn several new things. I really enjoyed the size of the group and look forward to staying connected with everyone!

  • Beth Giese, Director of Development & Community Engagement
  • Visitation School

The Marts&Lundy staff have been a wonderful resource to our school throughout our campaign process – and this conference continued to show what a great partner and first-rate organization they are.

  • Chris Webb, Director of Institutional Advancement
  • Avon Old Farms School

The benefit my Advancement Director and I received from attending The Azure Summit was far greater than I had imagined! I’ve been to many local, state and national conferences focused on the topic of building a philanthropic culture and capital campaign and this was by far more helpful and personalized. We both walked away feeling more knowledgeable, empowered, and prepared to create and lead the way in advancing my school! It was superb! Thank you!

  • Arvi Balseiro, Head of School
  • The Cushman School

As we are entering a campaign and have done a feasibility study with Marts&Lundy, this felt tailored to where we are in the process, and it laid out a great roadmap for the next steps. I would recommend that Heads attend after their first year in the role. I just finished my fifth and I absolute wish I had attended 3-4 years earlier.

  • Jennifer Galambos, Head of School
  • Kent Place School

My experience with the Azure Summit was nothing but positive. I felt that it was designed to help someone like me who has spent her career on the academic side of the program. It gave me the opportunity to learn from the experts, who have been in the trenches with schools across the country during their strategic planning and all stages of their capital campaigns in all cycles of the economy. The shared anecdotes, the role play with potential donors, and the opportunity to ask questions and dig in were invaluable.

  • Jess Hill, Head of School
  • Harpeth Hall

Many takeaways. I loved connecting with my peers. The program covered what I wanted to learn.

  • Sebastian Robert, Head of School
  • Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley

The most useful part of the summit was hearing about the campaign planning metrics and the information on gaining support of internal stakeholders.

  • Felicia Smith, Director of Institutional Advancement
  • Saint Andrew's School

As a new head of school, the Azure Summit proved an invaluable professional development opportunity. The Marts & Lundy team took the time to prepare a program that met the individualized needs of each of us in the room, and I left the Summit feeling prepared and more confident in my ability to lead my school’s upcoming campaign.

  • Noni Thomas López, Ed.D, Head of School
  • Gordon School

The Azure Summit provided myriad opportunities for me as Head of School to think strategically about inspiring meaningful gifts, strengthening my partnership with my Director of Advancement, and creating a vibrant culture of philanthropy in my school community. Most importantly, it developed my confidence as a fundraising leader who inspires donors’ generous support of my vision and my school’s mission.

  • Laura Konigsberg, Head of School
  • Turning Point School

I thought many of the sessions were engaging and helpful. I especially liked the session on strategic thinking. I appreciated the opportunities to brainstorm around challenges or scenarios.

  • Theresa Smith, Associate Head of School/Head Elect
  • The Webb Schools

Contact Us

If you’d like more information on our curriculum and presenters, please contact Alan Watkinson at watkinson@martsandlundy.com.

 

For questions or assistance with your registration or lodging, please contact Katie Armitage at armitage@martsandlundy.com.