Jessica Macpherson

Jessica Macpherson is founder and CEO of St Kilda Mums, a volunteer-run charity established in 2009. Through her tireless work, St Kilda Mums has supported hundreds of social service agencies and rehomed new and pre-loved baby goods and nursery equipment to thousands of families in need.

After visiting the St Kilda Maternal and Child Health Centre on Chapel Street in 2009, Jessica discovered that social workers struggled to source baby goods for vulnerable families.

Jessica and a group of mums volunteered to sort, launder and package pre-loved goods for rehoming to families that needed them. Over the years, St Kilda Mums has harnessed the generosity and goodwill of the broader community, and today provides the connection between those families who have items to give and families who need help.

St Kilda Mums’ volunteers clean, sort, pack, repair and safety-check a large variety of essential nursery equipment, and as a result have saved more than 75,000 items from landfill.

Under Jessica’s leadership, the charity has expanded into regional Victoria with the establishment of ‘Geelong Mums’ and ‘Eureka Mums’ (in Ballarat). St Kilda Mums has also supported many other like-minded organisations such as ‘Olivia’s Place’ in Warragul, by sharing their expertise and technology.

Jessica inspires and enables others to volunteer. In addition to the 1,100 regular volunteers in St Kilda, Geelong and Ballarat, the organisation provides the business community of Victoria with a professional and rewarding workplace volunteering program. To date, 100 businesses have sent their employees for a day of community service at St Kilda Mums.