As a product designer in Macquarie’s Corporate Operations Group, Lucy Zhao is used to solving complex operational challenges. Through skilled volunteering, she’s applying those same skills to help high school students reframe how they think about their futures.
During Foundation Week, Lucy helped deliver a mentoring workshop with her colleague Harry Kellick through the Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN). The workshop introduced students from underrepresented backgrounds to the fundamentals of design thinking, including interview techniques, problem scoping and sketching ideas.
“We taught the students how to apply creative thinking to real-life problems,” Lucy says. “Design thinking isn’t about making things look nice; it’s a mindset for solving challenges, whether that’s a school project or a life decision.”
Guided by Macquarie mentors, the students broke into small groups to cover topics ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability to school wellbeing and the future of learning. Each group was given hands-on instruction in structured collaboration, idea generation and sketch-noting exercises: a visual method of taking notes that encourages creativity and communication.
Lucy participating in ABCN mentoring with high school students at Macquarie’s Sydney office.
For Lucy, the impact of the day was captured by how one student in particular responded.
“She was really quiet and didn’t speak for the first part of the session,” Lucy recalls. “But she was drawing non-stop - these incredibly detailed, thoughtful diagrams.”
“When one of our senior design leads sat down and praised her work, something shifted. She lit up. That moment of validation unlocked her confidence.”
Lucy says the student began sharing ideas she'd previously kept to herself with the group more broadly.
“It reminded me why design can be so powerful,” Lucy says. “Because it gives people a voice.”
Lucy also took part in the Foundation’s SEND skilled volunteering program, which matches Macquarie employees with social enterprises seeking additional expertise. She joined a multidisciplinary team that assisted Seabin Foundation, a for-purpose environmental organisation, to build out a matrix on financial sustainability.
The company uses floating marine bins to capture microplastics in harbours. To better understand its work, Lucy and the Macquarie team visited Seabin Foundation's site at the Maritime Museum in Sydney.
Lucy says she was struck by the jars that lined the shelves, full of plastic waste collected from Sydney Harbour which included name tags, fireworks debris and even parking tickets.
“Seeing that waste firsthand was eye-opening,” she explains. “You realise how much plastic pollution exists, and how invisible it is in everyday life.”
Lucy’s team used human-centred design techniques to help Seabin Foundation improve its education programs and pricing model. They interviewed schoolteachers, analysed user journeys and made recommendations for improving engagement and financial consistency.
“We used our everyday skills - interviews, mapping, insight synthesis - and applied them to an environmental mission,” Lucy says. “That’s what made it powerful.”
We used our everyday skills - interviews, mapping, insight synthesis - and applied them to an environmental mission. That’s what made it powerful.”
Lucy Zhao,
Corporate Operations Group,
Macquarie Group
(Left to right) Macquarie staff, Lucy Zhao, Sabrina Singh, Dany Jabbour, Anna Le Masurier, with Dr Mahi Paquette from Seabin Foundation.
Cynthia Alberts, an Associate Director in Macquarie’s Risk Management Group in New York, was looking for a way to contribute locally when she discovered the BoardLead program through the Macquarie Group Foundation.
BoardLead connects professionals with non-profit organisations seeking new board members, based on mission fit and skill alignment. Cynthia was connected with the College and Community Fellowship (CCF), a New York non-profit that supports women impacted by the criminal justice system to earn college degrees.
I was the first in my family to go to university, so I deeply connect with the belief that education can change lives.
For many CCF students, a degree means stability for themselves and their families.”
Cynthia Alberts,
Risk Management Group,
Macquarie Group
Since joining the board, Cynthia has helped guide the organisation through key leadership transitions, provided legal oversight on contracts and supported strategic planning. She also submitted CCF for a People’s Choice Grant which is part of the Macquarie Group Foundation’s Opportunity Fund, successfully securing US$75,000 in grant funding.
“Macquarie’s backing was a game-changer for CCF,” Cynthia says. “It wasn’t just the funding, it was the credibility it brought.”
Cynthia helped coordinate a Macquarie ‘day of service’ where six colleagues with business, legal and marketing backgrounds volunteered their skills to help CCF solve key organisational challenges. She also hosted a fireside chat during Women’s History Month to raise awareness internally, bringing CCF’s story to a wider audience.
Cynthia (front row, right) with representatives from CCF at Macquarie’s New York office.
For both Cynthia and Lucy, skilled volunteering has deepened their sense of purpose and reminded them how transferable their day-to-day work can be.
“As a designer, I spend a lot of time trying to improve internal systems,” Lucy says. “Skilled volunteering reminded me that the same tools - research, empathy, collaboration - can have an impact in the real world.”
“I’m a lawyer by background,” Cynthia adds. “That comes in handy. But a lot of my work is about negotiation and stakeholder management, and I’ve definitely used those skills through CCF.”
Cynthia (right) with representatives from CCF at a fireside chat in Macquarie’s New York office for Women’s History Month.
While they worked in different cities, on very different causes, both Lucy and Cynthia credit Macquarie’s support for making it possible.
“The SEND program gave us the structure, time, and guidance to engage with Seabin Foundation meaningfully,” Lucy says. “And Foundation Week was an incredible platform for the ABCN program.”
“At Macquarie, volunteering is supported and normalised,” Cynthia agrees.
Both are also clear they’d do it again in a heartbeat.
“It reminded me why I became a designer,” Lucy says. “To make things better, not just at work, but in the world.”
“You think you’re there to help,” Cynthia adds. “And then you realise how much you’ve gained in return.”
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