#28 - Corinne Proske: Building for Forever in Nature, Leadership, and Impact

Corinne Proske is CEO of Trust for Nature and brings a rare combination of environmental science, commerce, social impact finance, and executive leadership to her work. In this conversation with Sam, she reflects on returning to her first love, nature, after years shaping financial inclusion initiatives, and on what it takes to build organisations that last.They explore private land conservation, the people drawn to caring for country, and why purpose-led work still needs commercial discipline. Corinne shares thoughtful perspectives on leadership, AI and workflows, giving people room to grow, family and flexible work, learning from failure, reading timing well, and protecting what matters for future generations.This episode explores:• returning to nature after years in financial inclusion and social impact work• what private land conservation looks like through Trust for Nature• why impact organisations still need commercial clarity and business discipline• how to use AI and systems thoughtfully without overcomplicating the work• trusting your gut, creating space to think, and resisting groupthink• hiring capable people, letting them grow, and leading with more range• family, flexibility, office culture, and supporting younger people at work• Budj Bim, First Nations knowledge, and caring for land and water for the long termGuest bio:Corinne Proske is the CEO of Trust for Nature, one of Australia’s oldest conservation organisations, working to permanently protect landscapes on private land. Corinne is passionate about ensuring non-financial value is understood and included in business and has a deep and long-standing commitment to protecting nature. Prior to that, she spent 13 years with NAB in business banking and social responsibility, where she was responsible for NAB’s $130 million financial inclusion programs focused on helping low-income Australians access financial services, in addition to helping the bank become carbon neutral.Guest links:• Corinne Proske: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinne-proske-7093122/• Trust for Nature: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trust-for-nature/about/• Australian Land Conservation Alliance: https://www.linkedin.com/company/australian-land-conservation-alliance/Chapters:00:00 Intro and Corinne’s return to nature02:44 Trust for Nature and caring for land forever05:37 Financial inclusion, Good Money, and designing programs that last09:19 Building a business for forever, revenue for impact, and AI14:24 Leadership, space to think, avoiding groupthink, and letting people grow25:58 Country, First Nations knowledge, and Budj Bim31:17 Family, flexible work, offices, and the next generation42:03 Timing, failure, and protecting land and water for the futureExplore further:Explore partnership or collaboration with Natural Genius: https://naturalgenius.com.auLearn more about Sam: https://samanthabell.com.auSubscribe to hear future episodesAbout Natural Genius:Natural Genius is a podcast hosted by Samantha Bell. Through thoughtful conversations with founders, leaders, creatives, and changemakers, it explores how people build meaningful work, live with greater signal, and create things that last.Credits:Hosted by Samantha (Sam) Bell in Violet Town and Melbourne, 11 March, 2026Produced at the Violet Town office, 11 - 31 March, 2026