AMA VICDOC Autumn 2024 - Magazine - Page 61
The simple act of giving brings Laurie much joy,
and her big heart and open hands are inspiring
to others to aim high and follow their dreams.
—
up on a sheep property in
G rowing
rural NSW during the Depression,
Laurie Cowled aspired to become a
ballerina, an actor, or an artist.
Opportunities were limited in the
country, and further education for girls
was commonly viewed as unnecessary.
Despite the challenges of her rural
upbringing in a time when women were not
always supported to achieve their potential,
Laurie enjoyed a long and successful career
in the banking industry. Yet her childhood
ambitions were unfulfilled.
Laurie’s career was interspersed with
much travel overseas. In her youth she
travelled with her sister Ruth, who was
building a promising career in costume
and set design. The sisters based
themselves in London and travelled
around parts of Europe, later joined
by their parents. Sadly, Ruth died
at the age of 25 from an aneurism.
Ruth’s tragic death affected Laurie
profoundly, with Laurie describing it
as a nightmare that ended her youth.
Laurie met her husband Ron, later in life
— in her forties. The pair courted for more
than ten years before eventually marrying
and did not have any children. They did
well financially separately and together
from property in Sydney and later in Noosa,
where they moved to. Ron sadly died in
2005. Prior to his death, the couple had
made the decision to donate everything
to charity when they had both died.
Following Ron’s death, Laurie decided
there was no time like the present and
embarked on a new career as a
philanthropist, under the strong ethos
of ‘Give while you live’. Her gifting
reflects her personal interests and
values, and those of the people she loved.
Advised that her giving was best done
in a structured way, Laurie decided to
establish a Foundation in perpetuity.
One of her early gifts was donating the
proceeds of a block of land in Noosa Waters
to Queensland University of Technology
(QUT), with QUT agreeing to match the
donation dollar for dollar. The gift set up a
series of scholarships that support young
female recipients from rural backgrounds
experiencing socio-economic hardship to
continue their studies.
One, the Ron Macnamara Rural Nursing
Scholarship, was established in the name of
her late husband. It honours his interest in
medicine and fosters further education of
female advanced practice nurses above the
Tropic of Capricorn in northern Australia.
Laurie also established a Women in
Leadership scholarship, for a female
graduate of QUT’s Business School to
attend an international leadership event
of experience — with the recipient again
required to have a rural background.
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