Annabelle Chauncy OAM

Annabelle Chauncy OAM

Social Entrepreneur  |  Co-Founder & CEO of School For Life
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About Annabelle

“Annabelle Chauncy OAM is a force for good. She is an Australian social entrepreneur, lawyer, keynote speaker, and co-founder and CEO of the School for Life Foundation, a not-for-profit that ...”

Annabelle Chauncy OAM is a force for good. She is an Australian social entrepreneur, lawyer, keynote speaker, and co-founder and CEO of the School for Life Foundation, a not-for-profit that builds and operates schools in rural Uganda.

Annabelle is driven by vision and integrity, grounded in action, and relentless in her belief that education can transform the world. As the Co-Founder and CEO of School for Life Foundation, she has spent more than 15 years building what many only talk about: real, sustainable, generational change in some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities.

What began as a three-month volunteer trip to East Africa at age 21 has become a lifelong mission for Annabelle. Today, her foundation operates and supports 10 thriving schools across East Africa (primarily in rural Uganda), providing education to over 4,500 students – many of whom are the first in their families to attend school. Her impact goes far beyond classrooms. Through community outreach, vocational training, clean water programs, medical support, and employment, Annabelle and her team are building ecosystems that lift entire communities out of poverty.

Annabelle’s leadership spans three continents, a team of over 130, and partnerships with governments, global businesses, and generous individual donors who believe in her vision. Annabelle knows how to drive effective change which is locally-led and globally-supported, navigating fast growth (the foundation has seen 50-100% year on year since inception), and engaging thousands of supporters to raise more than $40 million capital in five years.

She has been recognized nationally for her impact in entrepreneurship, education and international development. Annabelle was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2015 for service to international development and education. At the ripe age of 27, Annabelle was one of the youngest recipients to receive the Medal. Additionally, she has been named in AFR and Westpac’s Top 100 Women of Influence, and awarded for innovation, business leadership, and service to humanity.

Raised on a sheep and cattle farm in rural NSW, Annabelle blends humility and hard-won wisdom with formidable intelligence and clarity of purpose. Whether she’s on the ground in Uganda or speaking to next generation of leaders on the topics of social entrepreneurship, purpose-driven leadership, and global development, she brings the same energy: bold, brave, passionate, and deeply human. Raised on a sheep and cattle farm in rural NSW, Annabelle blends humility and hard-won wisdom with formidable intelligence and clarity of purpose. Whether she’s on the ground in Uganda or speaking to next generation of leaders on the topics of social entrepreneurship, purpose-driven leadership, and global development, she brings the same energy: bold, brave, passionate, and deeply human.

What people say about Annabelle

Annabelle was early to her presentation and well prepared. She was delightful to work with and very friendly. Her presentation was engaging, funny, heartwarming and motivating which she also adapted to meet the interests of our delegate cohort. We were very impressed with her presentation and received a lot of positive feedback from our delegates. We would highly recommend her for any event.

– Tertiary Access Group

Annabelle was friendly, accommodating and professional. She was great to work with and delivered a presentation that resonated with our audience. She set the tone for the rest of our conference and energy, passion and enthusiasm was inspiring.

– Department of Education and Training

Annabelle was the keynote speaker for the 2018 AOA Emerging Leaders Forum. The Forum is aimed at surgical trainees, junior consultants and consultants within their first 10 years of practice who have demonstrated leadership skills within the community. Annabelle was an absolute pleasure and joy to deal with. Her presentation in combination with her warm, engaging and authentic nature, was well-received by our attendees. Annabelle’s personal and professional journey was such an inspiration to all those present and this was reinforced following the results of our post event evaluation.

 

– Australian Orthopaedic Association

One of the points that Annabelle Chauncy made during her address to the delegates to the 2018 Strata Community Association (NSW) annual convention was that it’s important to excite people. This is certainly what Annabelle does during her address. She excites, inspires and challenges her audience with the story of her experience establishing schools in Uganda. Annabelle also shows that with determination you can achieve anything and the results can be spectacular. She also recommended sharing your vision which is something she clearly practices. SCA (NSW) challenges others to find a reason not to hear from Annabelle because we believe she is impossible to resist.

– Strata Community Association