In this episode of Bridge Talks Business, Ryan Bridge chats with Lucy Doyle, General Manager of Milford Foundation, to explore how businesses can create meaningful impact beyond commercial success. Lucy shares the story behind Milford’s philanthropic journey, the Foundation’s achievements over its first five years, and why investing in young people is central to its next chapter. From education equity and financial capability to community resilience, this conversation looks at how purposeful giving can help build stronger futures for New Zealand.

Click here to download the MP3 file or listen to the podcast on your favourite platform:

Bridge talks Business: 11 Aug 2026
Episode Transcript

Ryan Bridge
Kia ora and welcome to episode 88 of Bridge talks Business with Milford. We all know about Milford and its investment funds, but you may not know about the Milford Foundation, which is basically the philanthropic arm of the business. Over five years, it’s committed more than $7 million, and grown in size to nearly $13 million for future giving. Today, we’re chatting to the Foundation’s Lucy Doyle. First, here’s your top five.

      1. US labour market data came in much softer than expected in the last week. Job gains subdued, reduced breadth of employment and negative revisions to prior months. The unemployment rate did fall, but this was driven by lower participation rather than any signal of strength. Wages were also weaker than expected, the upside being that when it comes to sources of inflation, the labour market ain’t one at present.
      2. Employment back home was a mixed bag. Employment growth beat expectations and wage growth showed some signs of life, but the unemployment rate rose. As is the case with the US, this was driven by changes in participation. There was something here for both bulls and bears, but the underlying detail held some encouraging signs.
      3. US earnings season is drawing to a close. Overall, numbers have proved extremely strong across most sectors. Robust capex from the hyperscalers is having a cascading effect across other industries, supporting broader earnings growth, with market positioning back to around neutral, and a large deleveraging event via the sale of Situational Awareness’s tech assets into Citadel, the market backdrop looks now a lot cleaner.
      4. US leadership returned to a close focus on long-end interest rates last week. Scott Bessent made a number of comments and commitments, allowing Japan the Federal Reserve facilities that would effectively let it borrow US dollars against its treasury holdings without needing to sell. This matters because any Japanese selling of US government bonds to free up capital for further yen intervention would add upward pressure on US rates. And second, the treasury signalled it would manage issuance at the long end of the curve, again, to limit upside pressure.
      5. US CPI is the major focus. Its inflation. Market pricing for Federal Reserve rate hikes has lowered since the last Fed meeting and the jobs data. We also have the RBA decision today.

Today, we’re talking about the Milford Foundation, what it does, what it is and where it’s going. The General Manager of the Milford Foundation, Lucy Doyle, is sitting with me in the hot seat today. Just a reminder, this segment is informational only and should not be considered financial advice. Lucy, welcome to the podcast.

Lucy Doyle
So nice to be here, thank you.

Ryan Bridge
Lovely to have you here. Your first time with me sitting in the hot seat.

Lucy Doyle
Sure is.

Ryan Bridge
So we’re talking about the Milford Foundation today, which is of course what you’re very involved with. So how did it start? How did the Milford Foundation begin?

Lucy Doyle
So Milford’s purpose, which you will definitely know, is to grow the wealth of our clients and make a positive contribution to the community. And when Milford was set up as a business, the founders were really keen to make sure that once we got to be commercially successful, that we did actually start to live that promise of giving back to community. So five years ago, the foundation was set up in 2021, and it’s very much part of honouring that part of our purpose of being able to give back to community.

Ryan Bridge
Why is it important for businesses like Milford – for corporates – to get involved with philanthropy?

Lucy Doyle
If you think about what businesses do, we don’t operate in isolation. We’re very dependent on the communities and the spaces around us, and we’re reliant on those. We’re reliant on strong communities, a healthy environment. We’re need good people, we need opportunities, we need trust. And business philanthropy, or any sort of corporate giving, is a way for businesses to move outside of their core purpose, which is really around generating income and success. And it’s actually an opportunity to give back in ways that are really meaningful to the communities that we rely on. And so for Milford in particular, it’s also around getting our people more engaged and living our purpose, and being able to give back in the communities that we live and work.

And it’s really interesting to me. I’ve had many conversations with Milford clients, and they also really connect with the Foundation because it’s a way that their involvement with the company actually directly contributes to giving back in the communities that we all rely on. So it’s a really good thing for businesses to do, to recognise that they’ve got a role that’s just beyond their core business activity, and that’s leaning into their expertise and their networks, and doing good back into society.

Ryan Bridge
It’s kind of a win-win, isn’t it?

Lucy Doyle
Without a doubt.

Ryan Bridge
Like, yes, you give, but then you also get back. And I’ve had the privilege of seeing up close and personal some of the stories that you’re talking about, some of the help that has been provided, like scholarships for students to go to university. Really cool stuff.

Lucy Doyle
Yeah, really neat. That programme is absolutely something that we are so proud of. So over the past four years, we’ve supported 55 students who would not otherwise have access to tertiary education, and we’ve been able to put them through university, through a financial scholarship, along with some wraparound and pastoral care support. And I have to say, it’s an incredible programme. It’s $10,000 a year. And this is really supporting young people who wouldn’t have that opportunity to get to university and supporting them through their entire duration of university. So we’ve actually had five of these young people who have since graduated. We’ve got 14 who are, fingers crossed, on track to pass at the end of this year. So it’s an incredible programme and something that we’re really invested in, not just the Foundation, but broader Milford as well. We’ve had lots of our people get involved with these young people, which has been fantastic. So it’s definitely a highlight.

Ryan Bridge
What are you most proud of? What do you think the Foundation’s most proud of?

Lucy Doyle
I’m six months into my role, so I can’t claim credit for some of the things that I’m actually really proud of, having been given this opportunity to steward the Foundation into the next phase. But the scholarship programme, absolutely. We’ve done some incredible work with some great organisations. We’ve got a partnership with Barnardos, which is the largest children’s charity in the country. And we’ve been supporting their mental health, What’s Up line, which has been really, really great to be part of. We’ve got a long standing partnership with MoneyTime, which is financial literacy in primary and secondary schools. My kids even use that program, which is fantastic. And we’ve got a recent partnership with Mitey. We’ve worked with Graham Dingle Foundation.

Ryan Bridge
So tell me about the $230,000 plus that was raised for cyclone relief, for Cyclone Gabrielle, that’s pretty special.

Lucy Doyle
Yeah, so it really was special. So this is the thing that is so interesting about the Foundation is that we can move really fast and we’ve got great connections. So that was actually, we created this, we put together a fundraiser, which brought a whole bunch of brilliant sports people together and we raised a huge amount of money, which went directly to the affected communities that were impacted by the cyclone.

But some of the things that I’m most proud of as somebody who watched the Milford Foundation from the outside is the way that the Foundation has responded in times of crisis. So during the Covid pandemic, the Foundation worked super quickly to be able to get money very quickly into food banks, and people who were on the front line working with families and young people doing it really tough. So that was wonderful. And then with the Cyclone Gabriel, for example, we’ve got some great stories of the work that we did in Tairāwhiti. For example, we actually funded a pump track in Tolaga Bay, where there was, you know, the whole community was decimated, as you will remember. And that pump track, we seed funded that. And the council actually had to put in a roundabout to actually enable the whole community to get to the pump track to use it. It was so popular. So there’s just been things like that, that the Foundation has been able to do and act really quickly when communities have needed that support.

And one of the things that I did wanna say is that there’s no admin costs. So Milford covers all of the administrative costs of the Foundation’s mahi. So every single dollar that is donated to us, either by Milford or from clients or shareholders or just members of the general public, gets directly to community. And that is actually something that is quite unique as well.

Ryan Bridge
Very unique. And also something that I think people who donate are very interested in too.

Lucy Doyle
Absolutely, absolutely.

Ryan Bridge
Tell me about the employee initiative. What’s this about?

Lucy Doyle
So earlier this year in recognition of Milford meeting a major milestone of funds under management, we had a chance – when I think about the origin story of Milford and the desire of our founders to, as Milford became more successful – it’s been part of our DNA to give back when the business achieves. So we developed an employee engagement initiative this year when we also recognise that times are tough out in community as well. And we wanted our staff to have a real say in agency and where the funds of the Foundation were given. So every team across Milford was given $10,000 and asked to nominate a charity that meant something to the team. I had to be connected to children and youth, it had to be in their local area and that personal connection was really, really important part of the programme. And so in the end, we donated $200,000 to 22 grassroots charities around the country where there was this connection between our staff.

And I’ll tell you, Ryan, it was the most beautiful thing to be involved in, seeing the stories that our people, the reasons why they chose these causes, it just brought the giving really alive. And it was one of those moments where you realise how powerful philanthropy can be for a business’s staff, but also the communities where people are living and working, so it’s been a terrific success. And we’re going to be doing more things like that as well. And we also do client giving at Christmas as well, where we ask clients to help us make the decisions about where they want to see Foundation funds go, and it’s incredibly impactful.

Ryan Bridge
Strategically, Lucy, I know you’re a strategic mind. You’ve come in here, you’ve got some ideas, you’ve got some plans. What do you see as – five years, successful years – where are you seeing the future growth for the Foundation?

Lucy Doyle
So I think some of the big learnings of the last five years –  we’ve built strong partnerships, we’ve had fantastic connections into community, and then with other funders, and done some really meaningful work and supported a lot of causes. But I guess the biggest learning over the past five years has been thinking about our impact and where we can have the greatest impact. And what we know is that if we’re really focused on where we can have impact and who we’re trying to help, and what outcomes we’re trying to achieve, then we can actually do more good work. And I guess it’s also important for me to say that, you know, the Foundation’s growth is directly tied to Milford’s success. So we are primarily funded by Milford and we’re also funded by some really generous clients and shareholders of Milford as well. And the ability for the Foundation to do important work in community is directly tied to Milford’s success. So as the business grows, our ability to do more grows. And so we’re at this point in time now where we’re thinking about, how do we have more impact and who is it that we’re trying to help? And we’ve realised that young people are the future of this country and if young people thrive, New Zealand will thrive.

And so we’re in this point now where we’re going to transition all of our funding towards helping youth thrive. And that’s a really great place to be. It looks at how do we take our scholarship programme that we’ve got that you just talked about. That’s a wonderful programme – but how do we put that on steroids and how do we help more kids get access to university? University is not for every kid as well. So how do we build pathways to employment? How do we help young kids become entrepreneurs and lean into the business community? How do we help kids build their financial literacy so they’ve got a strong future?

Ryan Bridge
Follow their dreams.

Lucy Doyle
Follow their dreams, exactly. And also how do we enable kids to have resilience and confidence for what we know is an uncertain future? So the trustees and I and Milford more broadly have thought a lot about, well, what are we here to do and how can we do more and who are we here to help? And we’ve landed on young people. So it’s an exciting place to be. So that’s what the next five years is going to look like. And it ties in really well with who Milford is. If we think about what Milford does as a business, we are investing and looking after our clients and creating the future – investing in the future of New Zealand. The Foundation is operating in direct parallel to that. We’re investing in young people that are gonna help the country thrive for the future. So it’s all coming together really well.

Ryan Bridge
Very cool. And so just like nuts and bolts, how big is the fund?

Lucy Doyle
So the fund itself, we’ve spent $7.3 million into communities over the last five years. Having spent the last 10 years working in corporate philanthropy, I can tell you that is a significant number. So it’s something that we all should be really proud of. We have a model of the money that comes to us, is donated to us. We’ve split it 50, 50. Fifty goes directly into communities and we’re building capital in order to invest in the future. So we’ve got just under $13 million that is invested for the future growth. And that will continue to increase. So the money, as I mentioned before, that we have available will increase as Milford grows. And so we’ll be able to do more good work into the community over the next couple of years.

Ryan Bridge
Fantastic. Lucy, it’s been lovely talking to you. Thank you so much for being on the podcast.

Lucy Doyle
Thank you very much.

Ryan Bridge
Come back anytime.

Lucy Doyle
Thank you.

Ryan Bridge
That was Lucy Doyle, General Manager at the Milford Foundation talking to us about some of the good that Milford is doing in the community. Just a reminder, you can like, follow and subscribe this podcast wherever you like to listen. Until next week, don’t forget to invest in yourselves.

Missed previous episode? Don’t worry! Click here to catch up now.