Circle of Service

Mrs Marie Soghomonian’s immense contribution to the School began when she was enrolled as a Year 8 student in 1988. Stepping down from the role of Chair of the Wenona Foundation this year, she wants to highlight the ways Wenona empowered her to make a change in the world and sparked an invigorating career pivot.

A typical day for Mrs Marie Soghomonian involves the wearing of many hats as she juggles demanding executive roles in the diverse areas of the arts, international aid, the empowerment of teenage girls, and crisis support.

An in-demand business and not-for-profit consultant with a double master’s in Management and Not-For-Profit and Social Enterprise Management, Marie says she is thrilled with the direction that life is taking her. “It began for me as a student listening to then Principal Barbara Jackson in Assembly,” Marie says now. “I will never forget the impression she made on me in my graduating year when she told us, ‘Year 12, just know when you leave you can do anything, be anything - don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!’” Marie says. “It was such an important message back in 1992, and it had a huge influence on us all. I was lucky because my own family were equally encouraging, including my father, who was a successful entrepreneur and believed very strongly in the importance of girls’ education.”

After completing a business hospitality degree, Marie began crafting a career in her family business. The enrolment of her first daughter Sarine at Wenona in Year 3, 2008, was the prompt for Marie to throw herself into the School’s rich community life and bring her hospitality and events expertise and flair for nurturing and connecting people, to bear on roles in the Wenona Alumnae Association and the Wenona Parents’ Association.

“I was driven to enrich my girls’ educational experience and make them feel part of a strong, cohesive community. Georgia (2021) is currently completing a double degree in Law and Communications (Social and Political Science) at the University of Technology Sydney and giving back to the School as a Basketball coach. Sarine (2017) is completing post-graduate study in Public Policy and Governance at the University of New South Wales and working as an advisor to the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism, the Hon. Mark Coure MP. But I also wanted to give back to this amazing School,” Marie says. “Becoming Alumnae Association President represented the chance to provide a Wenona education to girls who otherwise would not have that opportunity. The Alumnae Association Scholarship Fund became a driving passion - I wanted as many girls as possible to experience what my daughters and I have had.”

Marie also initiated the now-famous Women of Spirit Breakfasts, which attract 230 guests to the Luna Park Crystal Ballroom for an impressive line-up of alumnae speakers. “My vision was to connect parents with the alumnae so they could witness the calibre of women the School produces and envision the potential for their own daughters. I also wanted to give both parents and alumnae the chance to hear Dr Scott’s message of living a life of substance and the empowerment of women, which resonates so strongly. As a concept, it was a no-brainer, and have listened to the most amazing alumnae speakers over the years. I was also proud to have been part of the talented team that established the Alumnae Art Fair, another wonderful avenue to foster and promote alumnae talent.”

Following these achievements, Marie put up her hand to lead the capital appeal for the Wenona Master Plan in the last year of her Alumnae Association Presidency. “With the support of Dr Scott and the Board, I set off with a dedicated committee and discovered a passion for philanthropy and working with people who shared a commitment to supporting young women’s education. I took much pride in utilising my network, meeting new people, and taking them on the journey,” she says. “We were tasked to raise five million dollars, and I am filled with gratitude that my daughters and their own children can now visit the School, see the Athenaeum and know their mother played a role.”

In fact, Marie felt so at home in philanthropy work that she decided to explore making it her life’s focus. Returning to university, she completed two related master’s degrees in three years to professionalise what she had learned. “It was Wenona that nurtured my love of community and the not-for-profit sector, while opening my eyes to further rewarding opportunities.”

Now Marie is a Director on the Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury

Sydney Board and chairs both their Gala and Fundraising, Marketing and Media Committees. She is also the Chair of the Sister2Sister Foundation, an organisation that empowers vulnerable teenage girls and the Executive Director of AusDance NSW - the state’s peak dance body.

But the organisation closest to her heart is the charity she founded herself - the Armenian Children’s Fund Australia, which supports preschool-aged children and their mothers in the village of Noyemberyan, in a volatile region bordering Azerbaijan. “The Fund is self-sustaining now, which is in part due to the wonderful work of the Wenona community and in particular, the members of School House and the amazing Dr Dianne Langan, who raise money every year,” Marie says. “They have enabled us to renovate classrooms and provide beds, educational materials, and stationery. They have also helped ensure the children have three hot meals a day, without which their diets would be very poor. Their 2022 donation is helping to rewire the preschool building so that every room will be heated against the minus 20-degree cold.

It makes me emotional to think about the support so many people have provided over the years and the generational impact that is being achieved,” she says.

“I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved in my 11 years on the Wenona Foundation Board and equally excited to see the next stage of philanthropic growth at the School.”