Corporate partnerships

John McKinney emigrated from Ireland to Australia, opening his first shop in Toowoomba, Queensland in 1884. Following in his pioneering footsteps, his descendants grew and expanded the family luxury goods business to become one of the most respected family businesses in Australia. The McKinney Family values their impeccable reputation for providing the finest merchandise and bespoke personal service.

With signature McKinney passion and creativity, Margot McKinney OAM has leveraged the relationships forged by her family over more than a century and a quarter, to establish her own reputation as a world-renowned jewellery designer. Fourth generation in the family business, Margot McKinney’s life’s passion is creating exceptional pieces of jewellery from the finest and rarest gems in the world. Starting her career at an early age in the 138-year-old McKinney family business, she has risen to global acclaim.

For the past 10 years, McKinneys has partnered with QBI to help raise funds for critical neuroscience research through the Ross Maclean Fellowship MND Race Day, Lexus Alzheimer’s Gala and other key events.

In 2023, Andrew McKinney-Welch, Margot McKinney and Pat Goldsworthy from Ray White New Farm, joined forces to create a sensational new event, to raise funds for dementia research at QBI, called 'Dining for Dementia'. On 26 October, over 300 guest attended the a heartwarming fundraising event dedicated to bringing hope and relief to countless lives and families by actively contributing to research aiding the search for a cure for dementia. Andrew and Pat have experienced firsthand the devastating effects of this disease on their own families and with this in mind bought together the community to raise $500 000 for research in one evening. 

Rotary Queensland, in their centenary year, have established the break through project to help raise $5 million by 2025 to benefit the Queensland Brain Institute. The aim of the project is to achieve an Endowed Chair, which will exist in perpetuity at QBI. 

Money raised will give a leading neuroscientist and their team the freedom to be brave and innovative and provide the opportunity to explore new horizons that have never been investigated before. Who knows, Rotary's support could be the catalyst that changes lives forever more.

The Morgans Foundation have partnered with the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) since 2016 as part of their remit to support local communities and raise funds for charities that are changing Australian lives. The Foundation encourages staff giving by matching all gifts from their branches, ensuring their giving is truly for the community, by the community. 

Because of this staff-driven approach to philanthropy, QBI have long been beneficiaries of the Morgans Foundation’s generosity. 

A judicious encounter with an elderly Japanese businessman steered leading Australian legal and advisory firm HopgoodGanim Lawyers towards QBI’s quest to find a cure for motor neuron disease.

In the buoyant Japanese investor market of the late 80s, law firm HopgoodGanim decided they needed a conduit between themselves and their Japanese-speaking clients. A contact referred them to an elderly gentleman in Japan, Joji (George) Noda, who had both paralegal and commerce experience.

Born in Canada, George was known as a Nisei – a second-generation Japanese living in a foreign land. His parents sent their son back to Japan, and unfortunately it was close to the eve of WWII. George was conscripted into the Japanese army and became a conscientious objector. He was shot at and bombed, but remarkably survived the war.  

With his Canadian accent and fluent Japanese, George was earmarked and became a valued staffer on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff and assisted with the work of rebuilding Japan. Estranged from his family in his late 60s, George arrived in Brisbane to join HopgoodGanim Lawyers and was an instant hit with his Japanese conversational skills. The staff quickly embraced him, and he worked with the firm for more than 10 years. Sadly he was diagnosed in his 80s with advanced motor neuron disease (MND).

According to Former Managing Partner and Consultant Bruce Humphrys, the team at HopgoodGanim’s Brisbane office became like George’s family. They supported George in sickness and in health, arranging home care and coordinating meal drops, home nursing visits and social outings for him later in his life.  Even his funeral arrangements were handled by the firm’s partners and team, and his ashes have a special place in HopgoodGanim’s Brisbane office today.

MND is a debilitating neurological disease for which there are currently no therapies that have a meaningful benefit for patients. In Australia, there is only one drug approved for MND treatment and it extends a person’s lifespan by a couple of months, but doesn’t improve a person’s quality of life. In the US, there are two drugs approved for use by the FDA; however, both have limited efficacy.

Not surprisingly, motor neuron research at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) became an obvious fit for HopgoodGanim’s philanthropic pursuits and they have proudly supported QBI’s fundraising initiatives for many years.

For many reasons, including in George’s memory, Bruce decided to join QBI’s advisory board after a meeting with QBI Director Professor Pankaj Sah and he continues to provide strategic advice on the commercialisation of the Institute’s research and engagement with the community.

QBI is currently overseeing the clinical trial of a drug for motor neuron disease that may protect motor neurons and delay progression of the disease.

Support of QBI through corporate philanthropy, such as by the team at HopgoodGanim Lawyers, not only helps research progress but is also raising awareness of the high-quality research taking place in Queensland that may have a global impact into the future.

Successful business and family man, Ross Maclean, had a tough fight on his hands. At 80, he was battling a debilitating disease, for which there is currently no adequate treatment or cure — Motor Neurone Disease.

True to his fighting spirit and to raise funds for the appointment of a research scientist dedicated to studying MND, Ross' company, the Index Group, underwrote fundraising for The Ross Maclean Fellowship, launched in early 2004. The Fellowship was created after Mr Maclean's meetings with Professor Perry Bartlett, Foundation Chair in Molecular Neuroscience and QBI inaugural Director.

Mr Maclean was diagnosed with MND around the year 2000 after experiencing numbness in some of his limbs, followed by a gradual deterioration in fine motor skills, such as using keys, writing, and turning on switches. When diagnosed with MND, Mr Maclean was Owner and Managing Director of the Index Group of Companies, one of Queensland's top 400 privately owned companies. 

The Index Group's  interests have been vast and diverse and have included designing and manufacturing commercial water filtration equipment, selling secondhand mining and quarrying equipment, exploring Tasmanian silica flour (sand) for LCD glass manufacture and previously built barges and tugs.

For the past 19 years, the Index Group has been a major supporter of QBI and continues to encourage the broader community to raise funds for the progression of motor neuron disease research. The Ross Maclean Fellowship is one of the few research positions in Australia dedicated to fundamental research of the underlying neurological factors behind motor neuron disease. 

New Zealand-born, Philip Johnson is one of Australia’s most celebrated chefs, honing his skills in Australia, London and New Zealand before settling in Brisbane which he now calls home. Philip opened his landmark bistro, e’cco, in 1995 and very quickly made a name for himself with his win of the 1997 Remy Martin Cognac/Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant of the Year award, a stunning achievement for Philip, but also a coup for Queensland. Philip And Mary Johnson’s partnership with QBI began in 2015 when Philip created a bespoke menu for QBI’s 15 Year anniversary celebration dinner. Since this time, they have contributed generously to helping raise funds for QBI’s research by donating beautiful bespoke dinners at fundraising events including the Ross Maclean MND Race Day.

White Label Noba CEO, Tracey Watkins, established the Vonnie Healy Research Fund in honour of her late mother, Vonnie Healy, who passed away from Alzheimer’s disease. Tracey understands the heartache of caring for a loved one with dementia. Tracey’s mother, Vonnie, had Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.

When her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Tracey dedicated her time to caring for her. Tracey felt the full impact of the disease on her family and those that loved her mother. Tracey vowed to find a way to make a difference for other families impacted by dementia. By helping to fund a PhD student each year at the UQ Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), Tracey supports much-needed research in this field and continues to honour her mother, Vonnie.

Ray White Paddington, has achieved great success in not only auctioning, sales and property management, but is also one of the largest teams in the Ray White network. Established over 30 years ago, the team has had outstanding success, in not only the surrounding suburbs of Paddington, Red Hill, Kelvin Grove, Ashgrove through to The Gap, but in fact throughout Brisbane.  A team of over 20 sales and marketing professionals strengthens the absolute result including Mathew Abboud and Luke Dawson, who have created a partnership between Ray White Paddington and QBI by generously donating their time at QBI fundraising events to run auctions and promote the events, helping the Institute raise critical funds for brain research. 

DNR Capital is a boutique Australian investment manager which provides client-focused, quality, long-term investment solutions to institutions, advisers and individual investors. DNR Capital was one of the first Australian investment managers to adopt a quality investment philosophy and an early leader in socially responsible investing. As an employee-owned business, DNR Capital supports organisations and causes that are important to its people.

Through the Nicol Family’s long-term support of QBI’s research, Jamie, DNR Capital’s Chief Investment Officer and Director, his wife Alison, and Judy Nicol, Jamie’s mother and Director of the Nicol Foundation, have formed a close partnership with the Institute. Since 2021, Alison has drawn on her 30 years of experience in marketing, promotions and fundraising to help support QBI through her position as a member of the QBI Discovery Advisory Board.

In 2024, DNR Capital is a proud sponsor of QBI’s Brain Research Endowment Fund dinner, which aims to raise funds and promote the important role this Fund plays in helping scientists explore new frontiers in advancing our understanding of the brain and development of new treatments for neurological disorders and diseases.

Carla Haddan, a leading real estate agent and Partner at PLACE Bulimba, is well-known and loved for her dedication to creating unforgettable fundraising events that support Queenslanders in need. In 2005, Carla lost her best friend Helen Hackett, a young mother, to breast cancer. To honor her, Carla helped establish the Helen Hackett Foundation, raising $600,000 to fund digital mammography units for Brisbane’s Wesley Breast Clinic. After her own battle with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2013, Carla, now in remission, became even more dedicated to giving back.

Carla, and her close friend, Tracey Watkins, CEO and founder of White Label Noba, united by theidedication to making a difference, organise an annual charity event which wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support of friends, family, sponsors and supporters. What began as a shared vision between Carla and Tracey has resulted in a powerful movement for change, lifting lives and making meaningful differences to many charities including UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute dementia research.