Our Story
Snow Foundation is a family philanthropic foundation deeply committed to place, country and community. With trust and collaboration at the core, we take considered risks and embrace innovation — backing bold ideas, entrepreneurial solutions, and community-led approaches that create long-term, systemic change.
Origins 1991
The Snow Foundation was founded in Canberra by brothers Terry and George Snow in 1991.
Terry – “We started it to make a difference in people’s lives in the community of our origins. George and I had a pretty straightforward view; if you see someone struggling you give them a helping hand.
Our grandfather E.R. Snow came to Canberra in 1926 to establish the Capital’s first general store and the family has lived and worked hard to positively impact the community ever since.
Our commitment began by helping well-known community groups like St Vincent de Paul, Barnardos, The Smith Family, and St John’s Care. Our priority was to provide grants for disadvantaged youth, people with disabilities, food programs, and schools in need – and help the individuals and organisations whose needs were not covered by government assistance. Today, the Foundation still supports many of those early groups.”
Tom Snow, Georgina Byron, Terry Snow, Ginette Snow, Stephen Byron and Scarlett Gaffey
A New Era 2006
In 2006, the Foundation entered a new era with the whole family involved. Georgina became CEO, joined by siblings Scarlett, Tom, and Stephen and their partners on the Board.
We spent time listening, understanding gaps in the Canberra region, and building long-term relationships with local charities — many still partners today. We helped catalyse initiatives now part of Canberra’s fabric, like HOME in Queanbeyan, Common Ground, Project Independence, and Clare Holland House.
As the Foundation grew, we backed dynamic social entrepreneurs with bold national agendas: Sam Prince of One Disease, Alison Covington of Good360, Mandy Richards of Global Sisters, and Steven Persson of Homes for Homes — each tackling entrenched problems with humility and passion, and each going on to make significant impact.
We deepened our commitment to social justice, backing major collaborative change projects including Marriage Equality, Raise the Rate, and the elimination of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
More Recently
In 2021, to mark our 30th Anniversary, we launched the Snow Entrepreneurs — fellowships for social change, celebrating our own entrepreneurial beginnings and those of our founder, the late Terry Snow AM. The program backs inspiring leaders with innovative ideas to address social problems, and many have grown into significant change agents.
We also launched Lead the Way, a leadership program co-designed with Social Impact Hub for CEOs and senior leaders among our existing partners — helping them strengthen their organisations, connect with other purpose-driven leaders, and deepen their impact.
Today
The Snow Foundation continues to grow in scale and impact. Our corpus reached $218.2 million at June 2025, with donations growing significantly to $15.9 million.
We have also grown our impact investment portfolio to $26.2 million across 38 investments — representing 12% of our corpus, with a target to reach 20% — blending financial returns with measurable social outcomes across areas including housing, disability, mental health, First Nations, and gender equity.
In 2025, a strategic review reaffirmed our four pillars — Our Place, Our Country, Our Sector and Our Family — with five interconnected themes guiding our work: First Nations, Gender, Youth, LGBTIQ+ and Community, underpinned by an Ecosystem approach. We remain committed to long-term, engaged philanthropy — backing people, ideas and movements that build fairer systems.