The first big step came last June when the Forrests handed over 220 million shares in Fortescue to the not-for-profit charity they founded and control.
The shares represented about a fifth of their total shareholding in the Andrew Forrest-led Fortescue and were worth about $5 billion at the time, making Minderoo one of the largest philanthropic organisations in the world.
Minderoo shed about 100 jobs last week – roughly a third of its workforce – in a major reset that Mr Hartman said was aimed at ensuring more of the money provided by the Forrests reached intended beneficiaries.
He has signalled Minderoo’s annual expenditure could more than double in the next few years, with more money directed into collaborations and partnerships as part of a focus on environmental protection and inequality.
“Minderoo’s capacity to affect meaningful change dramatically increased when the Forrests became the first Australians to sign The Giving Pledge, and generously donated an historic $5 billion to the foundation (last June),” Mr Hartman said.
“Such a generous flow of philanthropic capital alone does not guarantee results nor impact. We have made a tangible difference in the lives of countless Australians and people around the world in the past 23 years (and) we must continue to rigorously hold ourselves to account.”
In making their commitment to The Giving Pledge, the Forrests said: “As a family we agreed many years ago to give away the majority of our wealth. We felt that if our children (Grace, Sophia and Sydney) were to inherit considerable wealth, it would only get in the way of them striving for and achieving their best, and truly making a positive difference in other people’s lives.”
Last year’s share donation took Minderoo’s endowment to about $7.6 billion from $2.6 billion. The total endowment now stands at about $10 billion based on increases in the Fortescue share price, dividend payments and other investments.
Minderoo has in recent times focused its efforts on helping vulnerable communities, gender and equality, and protecting oceans. Last year, the biggest-ever grant – $US100 million over nine years – went to a gender fund run by US-registered public charity, Co-Impact, for work aimed at achieving a fairer world for women and girls.
Mr Hartman said Minderoo was going through a transformation as it tried to expose problems to the world and provide solutions.
“It is part of our DNA to hold those responsible to account and use our platform to enable agency for disempowered voices,” he said.
“It’s not enough for Minderoo to merely spotlight an issue. It’s what we then do about it and how we encourage others to carry on the movement that really matters.”
Mr Hartman said Minderoo’s big play in advocacy was systemic change by “shifting attitudes and behaviours and pursuing critical policy reforms”.
“And ultimately helping our partners to have the confidence, capacity and commitment to do the same,” he said.
The Financial Review Philanthropy 50 appears in the May issue of AFR Magazine, inside this Friday’s newspaper