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The Oaktree Foundation

Welcome Pack

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Welcome.

Hello, and welcome to the Oaktree Foundation.

Oaktree is Australia’s first and largest youth run development agency. In 2012, you join a dynamic

team of over 350 volunteers, each dedicated to the eradication of extreme poverty.

Working at Oaktree is a unique experience. You’ll be given an immense amount of responsibility, and

very quickly see the impact you’re making. At Oaktree, we like to throw you in the deep end, because

we prioritise your development. We challenge ourselves to become and remain inquisitive, and hungry

for knowledge.

The year so far, has seen extraordinary growth; a year in which we pushed and challenged boundaries.

In the following pages, you’ll read about our achievements in the Live below the Line campaign, and

our new development projects in East Timor and PNG.

2013 is set to be even bigger. Through the Roadtrip, we’ll work to change public narratives and

political perceptions, and Live below the Line will be back – bigger and better than ever before, raising

critical funds for our development work overseas. As an Oaktree Volunteer, you’ll have the ability to

create social change, through highly informed action.

Throughout this year, there’ll be opportunities to increase your understanding of the aid and

development sector. There’s our development education program, our overseas project tours, and a

range of workshops, conferences and seminars.

You’ll also develop important skills in your area of work. You’ll network, and establish valuable

relationships, inside and outside the organisation. You’ll receive training, and have meaningful

opportunities to pursue personal development.

Welcome. We’re excited to have you on board.

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Contents

Welcome 2

The Oaktree Story 5

Mission Statement 6

What we do 6

Our Values 7

Who we are

Oaktree Senior Leadership 8

Overseas Projects

Partnership with community organisations 9

Where we work 9

Cambodia 10

Papua New Guinea 10

East Timor 12

South Africa 13

Our Generations Challenge 13

Youth Engagement

Generate 14

Schools for Schools 14

Campaigns

It Starts At Home 15

The Roadtrip 15

Live Below the Line 16

People and Culture

Communities of Excellence 17

Corporate Engagement 19

Administration 20

Finance

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Reimbursements 21

Donations 21

Legal 22

Communications

Resources and Guidelines 23

A note on Online Communications 23

Enforcement 24

An Oaktree Acronym Survival Guide 25

Online Tools 26

Contacts 27

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 28

Further reading 29

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The Oaktree Story

The Oaktree Foundation was founded in 2003, by Hugh Evans and Nic Mackay. Their goal was to

harness the unique potential of young people, and direct it towards fighting poverty. They believed first

and foremost in education – that it’s what enables communities to break the cycle of poverty.

Hugh lived and worked in the rural valley communities of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. And with his

work came an important understanding. To this day, Oaktree believes in the spirit of partnership, and

works through local partners in each community we support.

Since its humble beginnings in living rooms, cafés, school classrooms, and church halls across

Melbourne, Oaktree has emerged as one of the most dynamic aid and development organisations in

Australia.

We’ve grown rapidly since inception, with state branches formed in NSW and QLD in 2004, ACT and

WA in 2005, SA in 2007, and Tasmania in 2010.

We now have more than 98,000 members and have spoken directly to well over 500,000 people.

We’ve achieved an incredible media reach of over 100 million and, most importantly, our 350+

volunteers are bold, dedicated, and determined.

Young People Working Together to End Global Poverty

- Mission statement

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What We Do

Mobilise, educate, and act.

Oaktree runs dynamic, high impact campaigns, to ensure our government does its fair share. To

ensure aid is on the political agenda, and a part of public conversation. Working towards the end of

poverty should always be seen as relevant, and important.

We inspire, and we equip. In everything we do we build young leaders. In particular, our youth

engagement programs provide clear avenues for impact.

Oaktree fundraises incredible amounts of money. We invest this money overseas, in educational

projects that help break the poverty cycle.

Creating a culture of success and sustainability is also a key part of what we do. It’s our organisation’s

attitude, and it’s reflected in our people, as much as it is our work.

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Our Values

Each and every member of the Oaktree community is governed by the following values. In everything

you do, you should strive to:

Think Big. Be Unafraid,

Embrace Change and Make it Your Own,

Be Relentless,

Build a Passion and Unique Community with a Spirit of Fun,

Be Humble, and

Be Inquisitive and Hungry for Knowledge.

Success and sustainability is… our organisation’s attitude…reflected in

our people, as much as it is our

work.

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Who We Are

We’re young, passionate. Hopelessly idealistic and ruthlessly pragmatic.

We’re dedicated to changing the circumstances of the world’s most marginalised, oppressed and

disadvantaged.

The Oaktree Foundation is run entirely by young, passionate volunteers under the age of 26. There are

over 350 of us around the country. We’re running educational sessions for school students and

creating cutting edge communications. We’re managing finances or drafting legal documents or

negotiating sponsorship deals. Insert your new Oaktree role. We’re now proud to say that we’re doing

that too.

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Overseas Projects

We believe young people are invaluable. If anyone can drive a community, a country forwards, it’s

youth. That’s why we primarily work with young people aged 12 to 30. Our focus: their education.

More specifically, we focus on three pillars of their development – quality formal education (both

secondary and tertiary), skills based training (focused on creating sustainable livelihoods) and

leadership training.

And we prioritise equality (gender and disability inclusiveness) and life skills as cross cutting themes of

work for all our overseas projects to encompass.

Partnerships with community organisations

We believe that our place in development is to enable local, community-owned organisations through

the funds that we raise in Australia. We are primarily a funding partner, but do provide technical

assistance where appropriate.

Local people on the ground have far greater knowledge, expertise and context in order to deliver the

development work. This is why we work in partnership. We recognise that the implementing

organisations that we work with are much better placed than us in being able to carry out meaningful

development specific to the needs of the local community.

We therefore choose to assist local, in-country organisations. We’re financial partners who provide

technical support, if there is a clear opportunity to do so.

Working with local partners means we support community ownership, and can be confident in project

sustainability. We help get things off the ground, before projects can be run independently by

communities.

Where we work

We focus our work on the Asia-Pacific region. We have a history of work in Africa, and in fact we do

have one current project in the region, which is finishing in December 2012. Having an Asia-Pacific

regional focus enables more frequent and cost-effective monitoring and evaluation of projects.

Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region are amongst some of the poorest in the world, including East

Timor, our closest neighbour, in which over 37.4% live in extreme poverty.

We’re now also able to run field and study trips to our projects. These are invaluable opportunities for

our volunteers and donors.

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Cambodia

The Beacon Schools Initiative – Kampong Cham

Cambodia has an extremely large youth population, with 70% of Cambodians under the age of 25.

Lack of quality education and teacher shortages means the country has one of the lowest literacy

levels in the region.

In Cambodia, we partner with an organisation called Kampuchean Action for Primary Education (KAPE).

KAPE aspires to a new generation of Cambodian public schools. Schools that exemplify good

governance, have outstanding professional standards, and provide high quality learning experiences.

KAPE’s educational development models are the tools for realising this vision. Their ‘new gen’

curriculum is enhanced with practical life skills.

Partnering with KAPE, we’ve taken three of the poorest performing schools in the Kampong Cham

region, and are working to renovate school buildings, as well as train and motivate teachers.

Our investment in the Beacon Schools Initiative: $566, 800 over three years and nine months.

Papua New Guinea

Men and Women’s Vocational Training – Port Moresby

85% of PNG’s population lives in isolated rural areas, yet many young people migrate to larger cities in

search of employment. The result is urban over-population. A lack of education and training means

that these relocated young people are unable to find employment, and are often forced to turn to

gangs and crime for survival.

City Mission aims to reduce poverty and violence in Port Moresby by providing unemployed youth with

shelter, support, and vocational training. The current program helps men aged 18 to 24 break their

dependency on gang crime, gain a basic education, and learn skills for employment.

Together with City Mission, Oaktree has developed an education and vocational training program for

women, to run parallel to the existing men’s program.

Our investment in City Mission Vocational Training: $550, 000, over three years.

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Schools Building Project – Yangis & Kumbareta

In the community of Yangis, the Baptist Union PNG and Oaktree have identified the need for increased

sustainability since the reopening of the Yangis Community School. This is being addressed through a

focus on improving school infrastructure, new strategies for teacher and student retention and

improving the capacity of the School Management Board.

BUPNG is also working to address Yangis Community School’s

relationship with the PNG Government through the appointment of

a Field Officer who will be responsible for engaging government

support.

Additionally, Oaktree is supporting BUPNG in building a lower

secondary school in Kumbareta. This new school will be the only

high school in the Kumbareta area with four existing primary

schools which has until now meant limited options for students to

extend their education to a secondary level.

Each of these two schools will help to improve employment options

for students, teaching them practical vocational and life-skils.

Access for students will be additionally improved through a large

number of scholarships which will be given to disadvantaged

students who would otherwise have limited access to education.

With over 1,000 direct beneficiaries our investment in the BUPNG Building Schools Project: $1,095,000

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East Timor

Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development, Aileu

Oaktree partners with Plan in the district of Aileu, Timor-Leste, on a programme called Youth

Empowerment for Sustainable Development (YE4SD). Commencing in 2012 YE4SD is a holistic and

integrated development programme that addresses economic, social, cultural and political aspects of

life. Oaktree is partnering with Plan specifically in the economic security aspect of the programme.

The project aims to improve employment outcomes and business profitability for young men and

women by enabling linkages between youth in Aileu and existing vocational training, employment and

business development services in Timor-Leste. Importantly young people are involved in every step of

the programme from design and implementation right through to monitoring and evaluation. Working

alongside the youth of Aileu, Plan staff support, mentor and facilitate opportunities for these young

people to gain a steady and sufficient income.

Our investment in YE4SD: $90 000, over three years

Youth Empowerment and Peace Building Project, Dili

Oaktree supports a new Peace Building project with local organisation, Ba Futuru. Ba Futuru aims to

build youth’s capacity to prevent, manage and resolve violent situations peacefully and nonviolently.

This will be achieved by decreasing the rates of youth instigated violence, building advocates for

peaceful and human rights-orientated practices. This is particularly important in a country like Timor-

Leste where there is a large youth bulge and a history of national violence.

Since its independence ten years ago, East Timor continues to look forwards, but suffers many sever

development challenges. 90,000 youth are involved in martial arts groups and gangs, and half of the

population is unemployed.

The Youth Empowerment Peace Building Project with Ba Faturu worked to address gang violence by

conducting 20 training sessions for 600 ‘conflict prone’ youth in four communities in Dili. This makes

possible short-term mitigation of violence, as well as long-term conflict transformation and prevention

within communities.

Our investment in Ba Futuru: $150, 000, over one year.

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South Africa

Peer Education Program – KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga

The spread of HIV/AIDS has become so prevalent in South Africa that approximately 11.6% of the

population are suffering with the disease and almost 600 000 people have died due to the epidemic

between the years of 1997 and 2008.

Since 2007, Oaktree has been working with Generations of Leaders Discovered (GoLD) in 19 local state

schools. The program identifies natural leaders within a school community, and teaches them to

educate their peers about sexual health, drug use, and gang and domestic violence.

In developing young leaders, GoLD alleviates the impact of HIV/AIDS. It’s about peer education, and

prevention.

Our investment in GoLD: $272, 424, over two years

Our Generation’s Challenge

Twice a year, we offer 10 high performing volunteers the chance to visit one of our project sites. These

field trips are designed to enhance personal and professional development. They also strengthen and

forge NGO, civil society and other relationships in developing communities.

Volunteer education includes the history, culture and development challenges of the country being

visited. We meet with individuals and organisations at all levels of development and information

exchange is an important goal.

Our Generation’s Challenge is an invaluable opportunity for volunteers to gain some inspiration, and

challenge their level of knowledge and understanding. It’s a rare opportunity to see our achievements

firsthand, and to learn from a whole network of in-country organisations.

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Youth Engagement

Schools 4 Schools

Schools4Schools gives secondary school students the chance to involve themselves in the anti-poverty

movement.

Australian Schools are partnered with schools in either South Africa or Cambodia. Oaktree provides

each school with a mentor to educate students about the issues their partner school faces. S4S

mentors are young people; they’re Oaktree volunteers. They bring their experience and their insight,

and share it with other young people. It’s grassroots, built on relationships, and student ideas.

Schools4School runs in over 50 schools nationwide, across 6 states and territories.

Generate

Generate is Oaktree’s program for university students. Just like Schools4Schools, it’s run by our

volunteers. It’s about shared learning, practical experience and entrepreneurship.

Generate is volunteering 101, with a focus on social good. It’s development theory, aid policy, and

business-mindedness.

Specific training areas include public speaking, project management, communications, and advocacy.

Through fundraising and active campaigning, Generators make a significant contribution to Oaktree’s

efforts in the fight against poverty.

The program runs for seven months of the year and is exclusive to first and second year university

students. Each year we accept roughly 300 participants, from thousands of applicants Australia wide.

We run one program in every state, with program sizes varying between 25 and 40.

In 2012, we’ll be accepting 260 young people into the Generate program.

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Campaigns

Oaktree’s campaigns are run according to the following criteria:

1. Strong theory of change First we identify what we need to change

We then create a strategy, outlining what we will do

We then identify tactics to achieve the strategy

2. Considerate of the political climate

3. Must be decision-maker focused

4. Builds the movement to end extreme poverty.

The Roadtrip (2013)

In March 2013, over 1000 young people from all across Australia will travel from capital cities, through

local communities, campaigning and engaging the public around foreign aid. We’ll meet in Canberra for

a politically based event, then finish the week in Sydney directly engaging thousands of Australians to

party for change.

After the 2012-2013 Budget commitment, we decided that the Roadtrip was one of our last chances to

show the government just how important foreign aid is to Australians before the next election. So our

policy ask is for a multi-partisan commitment to 0.7% GNI to Foreign Aid by 2020.

Don’t Cut Aid

Just before the 2013-2013 Budget, Oaktree got inside word that the government was considering

cutting aid. We didn’t have a lot of time so we needed to act fast. Pulling capacity from wherever we

could, we banded together with other organisations (like MICAH Challenge and Vision Generation) to

launch our campaign to hold the government to its word.

With the amount of calls, letters and e-mails going through to our target politicians (Wayne Swan, Bob

Carr, Penny Wong and Julia Guilard), we had staff members asking, “Are you from the Oaktree

Foundation?” before we even mentioned it. The result? The government postponed their promise by

one year, but we had politicians contacting saying it was because of this campaign that the Foreign Aid

budget wasn’t cut further.

It Starts At Home

Launched in October 2011, It Starts At Home challenges the notion that only

a certain type of person is passionate about ending global poverty.

The campaign encourages anyone doing their bit to end global poverty, to

share their story with local MPs. By showing decision makers our

commitment to the cause, as well as the depth and breadth of support on

the issue, we strengthen our policy platform. We demonstrate its relevance

and importance, increasing our chances of seeing government action.

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The MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Roadtrip (2010)

From the 8th-15th May 2010, 1000 young people travelled across

Australia, spreading the MakePovertyHistory message. Once again, we

sought a commitment to 0.7% (70 cents in every $100) to foreign aid.

It was an election year, and the year progress on the Millennium

Development Goals was reviewed. In the 7 days of the campaign, 17

million people heard our message through the media, and 47, 091

people signed our petition, the Act to End Poverty. In just 45 minutes

we met with 143 political leaders. And the Act to End Poverty was

passed as a motion in both houses of federal Parliament.

Live Below the Line

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the size of the problem, but Live Below the Line is a straightforward

way to make a clear impact.

Our signature fundraising campaign, Live Below the Line is about changing the way Australia thinks

about extreme poverty. The campaign challenges participants to feed themselves with just $2 a day for

5 days – the equivalent of the International Extreme Poverty Line. 5 days is all it takes to start

transforming perspectives on poverty. It’s a campaign built on experiences and conversations, and it

makes a big difference to our development work.

Live Below the Line began in 2010. In 2011 alone, we raised over 1.4 million dollars for our initiatives

in Timor, PNG and Cambodia. In 2012 we reached a total of over 1.9 million dollars and 2013 is we are

setting ourselves an even more ambitious target…

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People & Culture Through fostering the Oaktree Way and providing meaningful development, the volunteer experience

at Oaktree empowers a generational force of young leaders to drive social change on ending global

poverty.

This is the mission and purpose of People and Culture.

People and Culture at Oaktree is guided by three core areas of work:

- Creating a positive and nurturing volunteering experience

- Facilitating world class professional and personal development for all our volunteers - And most importantly, ensuring that who we are, who we want to be and everything we do at

Oaktree, is in line with our organisational values – the Oaktree Way

This includes:

A focus on Growing Leaders

Oaktree offers a range of leadership development opportunities, both in-house and with partner

organisations, including The Leaders Project and the Boston Consulting Group.

- Changemaker

Offered exclusively for 10 high-performing ELT-level volunteers, Changemaker comprises of two

intensive 2-day retreats, ongoing mentoring with industry professional and access to regular support from the People and Culture team. This program has been a successful pipeline in

building the next generation of senior Oaktree leaders

- Slingshot 20 emerging and high potential leaders apply and are chosen across Oaktree to attend an

annual 2-day intensive retreat, and have access to shadowing opportunities with in-house

senior leaders of the organisation and other training camps.

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Communities of Excellence

We all love being a part of a community. In communities we feel a part of something bigger than

ourselves. Oaktree communities exist in states, operational teams, and sometimes across whole

programs.

People and Culture create communities that unite people by the type of work they do, and what they

have in common. Communities have and will continue to be formed around crucial skills areas, such as

facilitation and campaigning.

Communities are excellent platforms for innovation, and for forging relationships. Communities extend

our capacity of to more fully realise our collective impact.

In early 2012, we were thrilled to launch the Facilitation community and Campaigns community.

The communities take shape as a series of training opportunities, and community building events

throughout the year.

National Conference

Whether you’ve been volunteering with us for 3 years, 3 months or 3 days, the

Oaktree National Conference is your

chance to connect, vision, and celebrate.

Held over a weekend in early December, National Conference is an opportunity to

experience some brilliant training

(sessions are run by experienced

professionals), and amp up your development literacy. It’s also a chance to

catch up with your Oaktree buddies, make

some new ones, and stock up on

inspiration for the year ahead.

This is a great way to improve your volunteer experience, so we encourage you to get involved.

Through fostering the Oaktree Way and providing meaningful

development, the volunteer

journey at Oaktree empowers a generational force of young

leaders to drive social change on ending global poverty.

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Corporate Engagement

The Corporate Engagement vision:

Embrace our young, relentless, inquisitive and fresh qualities, and portray this in our own abilities, perfectly,

Place relationships as priority #1 in all settings,

Work with the corporate sector in ending global poverty, through partnerships of support (both

financial and in-kind).

Specially, corporate engagement:

Engages with external stakeholders in order to increase the quantity and quality of partners in

our network,

Connects the work we do at Oaktree with the wider corporate and business community,

Builds many levels of mid-long term interaction that do not always include financial

partnerships,

Develops partnerships with businesses, companies, community groups, city councils and state

government, volunteers & alumni, and other individuals through innovative, youthful and

engaging meetings/events,

Seeks out opportunities for in-kind giving, sponsorship, donations, and on-going financial and

logistical support,

Works with states to provide in-kind resource s and support (including venues, stationary, catering etc),

Directs individual philanthropists to Oaktree’s Future Fund, and manages these relationships as

appropriate.

Key features of corporate engagement at Oaktree:

High standards of warm, professional and youthful engagement with corporate sponsors and donors,

Increased support and resources available to state business development volunteers,

Developing the strong communication and interpersonal skills of volunteers required to

professionally manage corporate relationships (according to ‘warmth and wealth’ of potential

donor/sponsor).

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Administration

The administration team is based in the National Office (Melbourne) and handles general enquiries. The

team is also responsible for coordinating our National Conference, held annually in Victoria.

Other Admin functions:

Setting up email accounts and maintaining mailing lists

To request an Oaktree email account, please fill out the Volunteer Registration Form (available at

theoaktree.org/people-processes).

To add or remove an email address from a mailing list, please fill out the Mailing List - Join or Exit

form, on the same page.

Managing external speaker requests

Know of someone who needs an Oaktree speaker? Let the Admin team know and they’ll organise

for an appropriate person to attend.

Opportunities

Admin promotes relevant external opportunities to the volunteer base – anything from essay

competitions to overseas internships to interesting public lectures. Look out for the Opportunities

update in your inbox, and get in touch if you know of any opportunities we can share.

Office maintenance

Although the admin team is responsible for the general cleanliness of the office, please make sure

you tidy up after yourself if you happen to be using the space.

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Finance

The Finance Team supports all of our operations, in terms of any financial obligations that might arise.

Reimbursements

All volunteers need to be familiar with the reimbursement process, for expenses are incurred from

Oaktree related work.

Fill out the reimbursement form If you have spent money yourself and want it reimbursed,

or an invoice form if you want us to pay someone external directly.

Make sure you get authorisation. This must be obtained from your relevant budget holder

before spending money. This is usually your state or project manager.

Always keep a copy of your receipt when you spend money. This doesn't mean the one

from the ATM terminal if you pay by credit card. It means the one from the company, with a

breakdown of what items you bought, how much each of them cost, and how much GST you

paid in the transaction.

Donations

Giving is easy and secure.

All donations are managed automatically by PayPal. All you need is a credit card or PayPal account. You

can give $10, $20, $30, $50, $100 or $400.

All donations are tax deductible.

Check out: theoaktree.org/donate/

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Legal

The Legal Team supports all of our operations, in terms of any legal obligations that might arise.

The types of matters can range considerably, but typically involve:

Insurance

Making sure that any Oaktree events and/or projects are covered by our insurance policies in case something goes wrong.

Contracts

Providing advice and drafting assistance on any agreements made with third parties, especially

of a commercial nature.

Working with Children

Making sure all volunteers are legally able to work with children and are properly trained in their

obligations.

Risk Assessment and Management

Identifying any hazards or potential problems that could occur with an event/project.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

Making sure we provide a safe work environment and are providing training.

Trademarks and Intellectual Property

Making sure our logos, media and any ideas of Oaktree are protected.

Internal Oaktree Policies

Ensuring that all volunteers abide by a uniform standard of conduct throughout Oaktree in areas

such as privacy, workplace behaviour, child safety, dispute resolution etc.

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Communications

Philosophy

The Oaktree Foundation is committed to truth-based communications. We believe in connecting

audiences to the truth of what we do. We carry out our work, not with the objective of selling or

convincing, but of changing public perceptions and behaviours. We use fact, truth and logic - and

present it in broadly appealing ways.

When it comes to our programs, we communicate strengths. When it comes to campaigns, we

communicate the need for change. And when it comes to our projects, we communicate real stories.

We challenge ourselves to present the realities of extreme poverty in clear, strong, targeted and

creative ways.

Within the organisation, we work to encourage collaboration between all teams and open

communication. Shared knowledge and opinions always bring the highest quality output, and fresh

minds always bring fresh ideas. It’s best to involve people from the beginning of a project, rather than

surprising them halfway through.

We’re here to help where ever possible, and always eager to help ensure your success.

Resources and Guidelines:

Brand Style Guide

Details the uniform style requirements (text, colours etc) expected in all internal and external

communications.

The Brand Style Guide comes with:

The Oaktree logo, in four different file formats: JPG, EPS, AI and PDF. Any of these formats can be

used on standard Microsoft Office files.

Two branded document templates: Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. The Oaktree Foundation letterhead

must be used on all internal publications. All external publications must include a cover page

(supplied).

Writing Style Guide

Details the uniform style requirements (language, tone etc) expected in all external communications.

The Writing Style Guide provides information on achieving the Oaktree ‘Voice’, across a range of

media.

Social Media Guide

Guidelines for interacting with supporters though various social media pages. Includes procedures for

the creation and management of social media accounts. As an organisation, we want our social media

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impact to be as big as possible - so we always recommend chatting to the Communications team first

before embarking on any new Social Media ventures.

Additional Support Services and Mechanisms

Since the 10st of February 2012, all state and program communications have been managed centrally,

through the Communications Request Form (CRF). This is so that we, as an organisation, can maintain

a unified voice as well as the highest-quality outputs in all of our communications.

The CRF gives you access to all of Oaktree’s communications tools. This includes the website, social

media - even our video and design team.

The CRF is available as an easy-to-use online form. You tell us what you want to promote and choose

how. Communications will contact you no later than 4 days after receiving your submission - we’ll chat

to you about what we can achieve, and sometimes even bring new ideas to help your project be as

successful as possible.

For more information, please visit theoaktree.org/crf

The CRF is a requisite, rather than optional service.

A note on Online Communications

Communications experiences a lot of demand for online services. This is indicative of the strength and

effectiveness of the medium. However, website and social media communications are highly sensitive,

and almost entirely uncontrollable. They therefore pose a significant risk, if not appropriately managed.

Please use the Oaktree Communications Request Form to lodge any online communications activity. If

you’re not sure exactly what you’re looking for, please contact the Communications team directly using

the contact details below.

Admin access to our website or main social media accounts (including content and data management

systems e.g. Salsa, Google Analytics etc) will generally not be granted. In exceptional circumstances,

Communications may grant access to an inter-functional volunteer or team. This is entirely at the

discretion of the Communication Leadership Team. Access may be revoked at any time.

Enforcement

Communication strictly enforces all guidelines and mechanisms. Instances of non-compliance will be

dealt with on an individual basis, and can be kept confidential (on request).

In extreme cases, where a significant risk to brand is posed, Communications will look at shutting the

campaign/initiative/program down, or suspending operations until the risk has been eliminated.

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An Oaktree Acronym Survival Guide

ELT – Extended Leadership Team

SD – State Director

ASD – Assistant State Director

SM – State Manager

SMT – State Management Team

S4S – Schools 4 Schools

GM – General Manager

P&C – People and Culture

OGC – Our Generation’s Challenge

LBL – Live Below the Line

ISAH – It Starts At Home

WTM – Whole Team Meeting

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Online Tools

Oaktree You (theoaktree.org/you) – your one-stop shop for all things Oaktree!

G-Mail (gmail.com) – used to send and receive e-mail messages through an Oaktree user account

Dropbox (dropbox.com) – used to share photos, documents, and videos with other Oaktree

volunteers

Doodle – used to schedule meeting times with other volunteers

Google Docs (via gmail.com) – used to edit and share documents with other Oaktree volunteers

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Contacts

Cambodia Country Director s.moroney@theoaktree.org (Steph)

East Timor Country Director c.merry@theoaktree.org (Chelsea)

PNG Country Director e.mcinerney@theoaktree.org (Elyse)

Development Education Director t.norris@theoaktree.org (Tori)

Overseas Projects j.jacobson@theoaktree.org (Jess)

TAS Director r.hortle@theoaktree.org (Rob)

VIC Director h.lamb@theoaktree.org (Hugo)

NSW Director e.webster@theoaktree.org (Ellie)

ACT Director k.slattery@theoaktree.org (Keyta)

QLD Director n.bartlett@theoaktree.org (Nikki)

WA Director (Acting) h.pan@theoaktree.org (Hayley)

SA Director h.bush@theoaktree.org (Helen)

Generate l.rhodes@theoaktree.org (Liz)

Communications s.bourke@theoaktree.org (Sarah)

S4S t.nice@theoaktree.org (Tom)

q.lau@theoaktree.org (Quan)

Administration s.limbrick@theoaktree.org (Scott)

Legal a.frawley@theoaktree.org (Andrew)

Finance e.toulmin@theoaktree.org (Ele)

e.watson@theoaktree.org (Eloise)

Live Below the Line d.lewistoakley@theoaktree.org (Dan)

e.mackinley@theoaktree.org (Eva)

Roadtrip n.oconnor@theoaktree.org (Nina)

People and Culture m.felix@theoaktree.org (Minto)

Corporate Engagement c.english@theoaktree.org (Caroline)

Organisational Development c.harman@theoaktree.org (Claire)

The above list of contacts is subject to change. Contact your State Director/Assistant State Director or email info@theoaktree.org for relevant updates for this information.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the minimum expectations of me as an Oaktree volunteer?

We pride ourselves on having fun at work, but equally value professionalism and accountability.

Minimum expectations will be clearly communicated during a formal induction, and should include the

following:

Replying to e-mails within three business days,

Treating other Oaktree volunteers with respect and maturity,

Maintaining a clean working environment at the Oaktree office.

If there are any concerns or further queries to the above, contact your manager.

What percentage of funds raised go towards our projects?

80% of the money we raise goes towards our overseas projects, and the programs we run in Australia.

This is in keeping with the majority of NGOs in the Aid and Development sector.

Why doesn’t Oaktree work in indigenous communities?

There is appalling poverty in some indigenous communities, and it’s an absolute disgrace that those conditions are able to exist in Australia. Everyone at Oaktree is passionate about making Indigenous

poverty history, but we don’t do development work in pursuit of this. There are a few reasons for this:

There’s an enormous amount of money being poured into indigenous communities by the Federal

Government. As an organisation that only provides financial support (see page), our impact in indigenous communities would be small, compared to what we achieve overseas.

The Federal Government has the resources necessary to end this injustice – and it should be doing

more to do so. We think our resources should go to communities and countries that have no ability to provide for their most basic needs.

We focus first and foremost on those

who need it most – no matter where they are. This means we focus on

extreme poverty (defined as those living

on less that AUD$2 a day), and whilst

the poverty in some indigenous communities is appalling, it is not

extreme poverty as defined by

organisations like the World Bank.

At Oaktree, we like to throw you in

the deep end, because we prioritise

your development.

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Why do we focus on the Asia/Pacific?

Focusing our development work in the Asia-Pacific gives us the opportunity to significantly maximize

our impact.

Of the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty, 900 million of them are in Asia. It’s an area of

incredible need.

Due to lower project management and operational costs, our funds will go further in the Asia-Pacific.

This allows us to spend more money directly on projects and the people who benefit from them.

We’re closer, so can visit more often. This means we’ll have a better understanding of the communities and partners we’re supporting, allowing greater expertise and focus.

We challenge ourselves to present the

realities of extreme poverty in clear,

strong, targeted and creative ways.

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Further Reading

theoaktree.org

livebelowtheline.com.au

itstartsathome.com.au

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. Jeffrey D. Sacchs (author), Bono

(foreword)

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. Paul

Collier (author)

un.org/en/development/ - United Nations: Development

un.org/millenniumgoals/ - United Nations: Millennium Development Goals

ausaid.gov.au/ - Australian Government: AusAID

hdr.undp.org/en/ - Human Development Report

makepovertyhistory.org/takeaction/ - Make Poverty History

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Young People Working Together to End Global Poverty

For feedback and further information, please contact:

Minto Felix – Director of People and Culture

m.felix@theoaktree.org

0433 228 497