In profile: Natalie Cooney

Natalie joined us in 2003 for Year 10, when girls were only admitted into the Senior College. As School Captain in 2005, she helped coin the now-famous phrase “Bake the Cake”, which has grown into the food analogy that continues to be shared by every incoming student Leadership Team at the School. 

The Leadership Team liken the ingredients of a particular food type to the diverse parts of our School community. Each ingredient is vitally important and illustrates the diversity of students, families and staff. They come together to form a unified, supportive and unbreakable School community. This year’s food analogy was an ice cream sundae. 

Today, Natalie is best known as the co-founder and Executive Director of the FSHD Global Research Foundation, which she established in 2007. This funds world-leading research into facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). Under her direction, the Foundation has achieved major breakthroughs including the world’s first saliva test for FSHD and the Cure FSHD app – helping fast-track access to clinical trials and therapies in Australia.

A passionate advocate for transparency and innovation in philanthropy, Natalie is also the driving force behind Sydney’s famous Chocolate Ball, a major annual fundraiser supporting FSHD Global’s mission.

Her commitment to health and science has led to her latest venture, Kurk – a wellness product using a pioneering method to make curcumin (the active compound in turmeric) genuinely bioavailable. Innovations like these embodies Natalie’s lifelong dedication to improving health through evidence-based research and technology.

“Life is more meaningful when you give back to society – big or small.”

“The SACS spirit stays with me and the leadership style I learned from Phillip Heath to this day continues to inspire me. Life is more meaningful when you give back to society – big or small,” she said.

Now a Junior School parent and the Director of the School Foundation at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, Natalie continues to personify the values of leadership, compassion and service that defined her time as a student.