The generous contribution to The Pinnacle Foundation will help LGBTQI students achieve their educational goals.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and his partner Shane Lloyd are the latest high profile supporters of The Pinnacle Foundation. They recently made a generous donation that places them as cornerstone investors contributing to marginalised LGBTQI students who might not otherwise achieve their educational ambitions.

The Pinnacle Foundation provides scholarships to young people who face a tough time coming out to their families and find themselves without the money and support they need to keep up their studies.

In commending the work Pinnacle does, Alan Joyce said, “Shane and I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the Pinnacle scholars and seeing how their lives have been transformed by the foundation was a revelation. Young people are often the most vulnerable to discrimination and we are deeply committed to helping LGBTIQ youth rise above these challenges and achieve their full potential. We feel The Pinnacle Foundation provides a perfect way for us to give back.”

The Pinnacle Foundation relies on the generosity of corporate sponsors as well as private donors like Shane and Alan to support the Foundation in its quest to empower 16-24 year old LGBTIQ students to complete their studies. Pinnacle Chairman, Sean Linkson, said, “These students are tomorrow’s leaders, and potentially the community’s greatest advocates. Having Shane and Alan as supporters will be an inspiration to all of them.”

Another cornerstone investor, Paul Zahra, Pinnacle Board Director and former CEO of David Jones, welcomed Shane and Alan’s contribution. “This is a perfect example of great role models giving back to their community and making a real difference to the next generation.”

In Pinnacle’s six years of granting scholarships, scholar alumni are working successfully in their careers of medicine, science, engineering, social work, teaching, not-for-profit, music, law and mining. One such example is law graduate and human rights advocate, Harriet Horsfall, who has recently been named the 2016 Queensland Rhodes scholar and will study at Oxford University in the UK next year.