True Leaders 2016: Di and Craig Winkler are ‘not your traditional power couple’
Di Winkler senses she is on the verge of a breakthrough with her Summer Foundation, which was set up to find accommodation for younger people with disabilities, many of whom are being housed in aged-care facilities.
Winkler is married to BRW Rich List member and MYOB founder and Xero investor Craig Winkler, whose wealth was quoted at $363 million in the 2016 Rich List. The judging panel chose the Winklers as BOSS True Leaders 2016 for their philanthropy. Di Winkler is a former occupational therapist for people with severe brain injuries. Craig Winkler declined to be interviewed but Di Winkler was eager to talk about the foundation she started in 2006.
“I was often frustrated by the lack of housing and support for the people I worked with,” Winkler says. She began researching a doctorate on how young people with brain and other injuries were being housed in nursing homes due to a lack of alternative accommodation options.
“But as I was going along I realised a thesis alone wasn’t enough. So I started the foundation because in order to change policy you need to do more than the research. You actually need to engage with government, identify potential solutions and engage with the public and so on.”
Source: The Australian Financial Review