Express an Interest

Targeting:
Females, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander, LGBTQI

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST 

Founding-stage Board Director: 

Philanthropy, partnerships and catalytic funding

Win for Nature Foundation is looking for a new board director to join us in building a different kind of funding model for nature restoration.

Not a ceremonial director. Not a “turn up quarterly, nod wisely, leave quietly” director. We’re looking for someone who wants to help build.

ABOUT WIN FOR NATURE FOUNDATION

Win for Nature Foundation Ltd is an Australian charity dedicated to restoring degraded land and bringing ecosystems back to life.  Our purpose is to support the restoration, protection and enhancement of natural habitats, whether by owning, managing or collaborating on the restoration of land. 

Win for Nature Foundation exists to close the gap between current nature decline and the efforts to save it. We will move the sector from "managing decline" to a future where Australian nature thrives, scales, and wins.

Our mission is simple: Find it. Fund it. Restore it. Protect it.

We work alongside restoration partners, communities, Traditional Owners, funders and aligned organisations to support large-scale land restoration, biodiversity protection, healthier ecosystems and more wild places. 

Our point of difference is the dual model we’re building around the work. Win for Nature Foundation Ltd is the charity focused on restoration, protection, governance and long-term impact. It sits alongside Win for Nature Pty Ltd, a related social enterprise designed to help create recurring public participation and long-term funding through memberships, rewards, partnerships and storytelling.

Together, the two organisations are building a model for conservation that is scalable, transparent, long-term and designed to help nature win.

More information is available at our website, wfnf.org.au, and at our sister social enterprise’s website, winfornature.au.

THE BOARD MEMBER ROLE 

We’re seeking a founding-stage board director who can help shape the next phase of the Foundation’s growth and help us become a trusted, well-funded, well-governed, nationally significant organisation. 

You might be an established leader. You might be an emerging one. You might already sit on boards. Or this might be the first board role where your skills, networks and lived experience are exactly what Win for Nature Foundation needs. 

Experience and expertise 

The strongest candidate will bring experience, judgement or networks in one or more of the following areas:

• Philanthropy, major gifts, trusts, foundations or family offices
• Corporate partnerships, sponsorships or high-value relationship development
• Impact investment, blended finance or innovative funding models
• Social enterprise, start-up growth or building something from scratch
• Fundraising strategy, donor engagement or catalytic capital campaigns
• Senior advertising, marketing or media leadership, with deep industry networks.

We do not expect one person to bring everything (although definitely apply if you do!).

Personal qualities

We’re looking for the right combination of judgement, energy, relationships, generosity and values. We’re looking for someone who is: 

• Practical: willing to make introductions, join useful conversations and help move things forward 
• Connected: with networks that could support the Foundation’s funding, partnerships, or credibility
• Entrepreneurial rather than bureaucratic
• Commercially sharp, but deeply values-led
• Comfortable with ambiguity and early-stage building
• Direct, collaborative and low-ego.

If your instinct is to ask, “How can I help move this forward?” rather than “What is the committee process?”, you may be our kind of person.

What you’ll help with

As a director, you will help the Foundation:

• Shape strategy during its early growth phase
• Open doors to aligned funders, donors, partners and collaborators
• Strengthen our approach to philanthropy, partnerships and catalytic funding
• Strengthen the Foundation’s approach to scalable, long-term funding
• Support strong governance, financial discipline and transparency
• Challenge assumptions and help the organisation make better decisions
• Advocate for a model that can restore and protect land at a scale that matches the problem.

The board is practical, active and close to the work. We need directors who are willing to make introductions, ask useful questions, join the right conversations and help build momentum. 

Diversity and perspective

You do not need to look like a “traditional board candidate” to be the right person. We’re building something new, so we’re open to people who bring the judgement, relationships, energy and perspective needed to help shape it properly.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly encourage interest from women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally diverse leaders, younger or emerging leaders, and people with experience across philanthropy, enterprise, conservation, community leadership, caring for Country or cross-sector partnerships.

Why join?

Joining now means helping shape the Foundation’s strategy, culture, partnerships, funding model and governance from the ground up. Before there are major restoration sites, annual impact reports and large-scale funding partnerships, there is a small group of people willing to build the thing properly.

If we get this right, the work will outlast us. That is the point. 

ABOUT THE BOARD

How we work

Win for Nature Foundation is currently in start-up mode. During this phase, the board meets monthly, mostly online. Current directors are based in Sydney and Melbourne, and hybrid meetings are part of our approach. There may be occasional out-of-session input on strategic opportunities, funding conversations or governance decisions.

Board participation is currently voluntary. The Foundation’s constitution allows for director remuneration in the future, subject to the appropriate approvals and the financial capacity of the organisation.

We want builder energy. But we also want director discipline. The Foundation needs people who can help us move quickly without becoming loose, ambitious without becoming reckless, and bold without making promises we cannot back up.

Continuing board members

Michael Vyse (Executive Director, Board Chair & Co-Founder) 

Michael anchors the Foundation’s work in ecological reality. A restoration science specialist with over 20 years of experience, he previously served as Associate Director of Biodiversity at Greening Australia, where he led some of the country’s most ambitious landscape recovery programs. In his current role at Landcare Australia Michael bridges the gap between vision and on-ground execution, ensuring every project is scientifically rigorous, feasible, and designed to deliver permanent environmental outcomes rather than temporary fixes.

Josh Pilalis (Executive Director & Co-Founder)

Josh ensures the Foundation operates with the discipline and transparency required for long-term scale. With an MBA from Melbourne Business School and a background managing risk in complex energy, infrastructure and restoration portfolios, he translates the Foundation’s mission into robust operational systems. His focus is on stewardship and efficacy, ensuring that funding is managed responsibly and deployed efficiently to maximise the impact of every dollar. He is also the founder and operator of the Win for Nature social enterprise.

HOW TO APPLY

Your expression of interest does not need to be overly formal. Please tell us:

• Why this role interests you
• What experience, networks or perspective you would bring
• Where you think you could help most
• Anything we should understand about how you like to work.

If this sounds like the kind of thing you wish already existed, we would like to hear from you. 

Please send a brief expression of interest and a current CV to:

Michael Vyse

Board Chair, Win for Nature Foundation

michael@wfnf.org.au 

Duty Statement: NSW