We’re an organisation run entirely by passionate young volunteers under the age of 26. There are over 350 people around the country in roles – doing everything from running educational sessions for school students, to creating cutting edge communications, managing our finances or legal requirements or overseeing our corporate engagement. We wish we could list them all, but here are some of our core team!
CEO – Tom O’Connor
Tom is CEO of Oaktree, and there are few around who are as driven, passionate and single minded in their work to combat the injustice of extreme poverty. Tom was Young Victorian of the Year in 2007, and was also invited to participate in the Prime Ministers Australia 2020 Summit. In 2008 he co-edited the book “The Future By Us”, an anthology of essays on Australia’s future. Tom has been with Oaktree since 2006, moving through the ranks first in the Universities team, then as Assistant Victorian Director, Victorian Director, General Manager of Operations and now CEO. Oaktree has grown exponentially under Tom’s leadership.
General Manager (Campaigns) – Daniel Lewis-Toakley
At 21, Dan Lewis-Toakley is Oaktree’s General Manager of Campaigns, overseeing Live Below the Line, and all of Oaktree’s public-facing advoacacy and communications work. Since becoming involved with Oaktree in 2009, Dan has held senior roles within the campaigning and youth programs portfolios, including managing Oaktree’s university engagement nationally. Dan currently sits on the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Steering Committee. Prior to his involvement with Oaktree, he held a number of leadership roles at Melbourne High School, and senior roles within the Monash Law Students’ Society.
General Manager of Overseas Projects – Jess Jacobson
As General Manager of Overseas Projects Jess oversees and directs all of Oaktree’s international development work in East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia and South Africa. She is also responsible for selecting new development initiatives and all our monitoring and evaluation. Before stepping in to this role Jess founded Oaktree’s Tasmanian branch, and was an incredible State Director throughout 2010 and 2011. Jess was the winner of the Southern Cross Young Achiever of the Year Award for Community Service in 2009 and manages a School and Orphanage in India.
General Manager of Business Development – Kate Williams
As Oaktree’s General Manager of Business Development, Kate’s job is to ensure the sustainability of the organisation so that Oaktree can continue its innovative work overseas and in Australia. Kate is responsible for Oaktree’s corporate engagement and the development of a $3 million Future Fund. Kate graduated with simultaneous Honours in Psychology and postgraduate qualifications in Business Administration. Outside Oaktree, Kate is involved with various mentoring and community service organisations, and is also a qualified Divemaster.
Chief Financial Officer- Caroline English
As Oaktree’s CFO Caroline is responsible for the organisations financial management and risk management. Caroline has recently graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Commerce and has worked as an intern at accounting firm PwC in the summer of 2010-11. Caroline has volunteered as an english teacher in China in 2008 and in northern Thailand in 2010 as spent two years as the treasurer, then vice-president of UN Youth Victoria. She is passionate about social justice and development as well as the administrative side of working in the not-for-profit sector. Caroline is also the inaugural recipient of the Boston Consulting Group fellowship, awarded to one young women on the Oaktree executive team.
Chief Operations Officer- Claire Harman
As the Chief Operations Officer, Claire is responsible for managing state directors and other leaders within the organisation to ensure we are working towards our strategic vision. Claire is passionate about working with young volunteers, and has recently worked as Director of the University of Melbourne Summer School, a program that aims to provide affordable and equitable education access for students who are from schools that are disadvantaged or under-represented in the Victorian tertiary system. Claire was also President of University College and sits on the College Council.
ACT Director – Keyta Slattery
Keyta Slattery has been engaged with Oaktree since 2007 when the Schools 4 Schools program became available at her high school. Upon graduating she deepened involvement with Oaktree by taking part in the Generate Program, 2010 Make Poverty History Roadtrip, and mentoring with Schools 4 Schools in ACT. She is passionate about providing opportunities to connect youth with the challenge of extreme poverty and the chance to take action. Her belief in young people has led her to volunteer as a mentor at Rising Generation’s National Leadership Camp. Keyta is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Development Studies at the Australian National University. She is driven by her passion for youth empowerment and hopes to later work in education or human resources.
South Australian Director – Ben Trewren
Ben Trewren is currently the South Australian State Director of the Oaktree Foundation, a Law and International Studies student and an advocate for social change among young people. Ben loves people and it’s quite easy to see the enjoyment and satisfaction he gets from the incredible opportunity to lead young people on a movement to ensuring global poverty is ended. Ben is also the University and High School Coordinator for the Another Way to Love Festival, currently serves on the Encounter Youth Green Team and has been involved with the Salvation Army as a youth worker. Ben is passionate about Youth Engagement, Aid and Development Projects, Youth Mentoring and Networking. Ben’s dream is to one day represent those in the developing world who cannot speak up for themselves.
Western Australian Director – Kirsten Simpkins
Kirsten is the Western Australian State Director of the Oaktree Foundation. She has been involved with Oaktree since 2009 when she joined Oaktree WA’s Generate program. Kirsten is currently undertaking a Double Degree in Law and Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Majoring in Political Science and International Relations, Kirsten focussed her Honours dissertation on the distribution of Australia’s Foreign Aid budget. This year Kirsten has been selected to be part of the Australian Delegation to the World Model United Nations Conference in Singapore. She is passionate about global poverty and human rights and hopes one day to work in this field.
Victorian Director – Hugo Lamb
As the Victorian Director Hugo is responsible for a volunteer base of over 100 young volunteers. He believes passionately in the ability of young people to shape their futures and in doing so, shaping the future to end extreme poverty. Hugo has lived in Thailand, Burma, The United States, Former Yugoslavia and Switzerland and worked on projects in remote communities as far flung as Romania, Czech Republic and Morrocco. Hugo has recently graduated with a Masters in International Politics, and is also the founder and director of the Gilmore Society, a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank of dedicated young professionals.
Queensland Director – Nikki Bartlett
Nikki’s passion for humanitarian issues stems from her parent’s commitment to volunteer work, emphasis on travel and welcoming of all people into their home: regardless of race, culture or religion. As a result of this, and after receiving the ACT Board of Secondary Studies Social Justice Award in 2007, Nikki embarked on a gap year, volunteering in a small town in Tanzania. Working alongside community members who were empowering others through education, Nikki returned to Australia inspired to make a difference in a tangible and immediate way. Currently completing the final year of her Development studies degree, and leading the Oaktree branch in QLD, Nikki is aligning her passion with deliberate action on behalf of the world’s poor and inspiring a new generation to take up the fight.
Tasmanian Director – Robert Hortle
Rob has been involved in social justice and international development since he was 7, when his family volunteered on a remote island in Tonga for two and a half years. Rob has been with Oaktree Tasmania from the very early days, when founding Tasmanian State Director Jess Jacobson used packet-mix muffins to lure new volunteers to meetings on her lounge room floor. Rob’s first major role with Oaktree was Operations Manager for the Tassie leg of the 2010 Make Poverty History Roadtrip. In 2011, Rob was a facilitator for the first ever Tasmanian Generate program until taking on the role of Tasmanian Director in July. Rob is in the final semester of an Arts degree at UTAS, majoring in Indonesian and International Relations.
Follow us