The Roadtrip is massive, and there are a whole bunch of amazing people working behind the scenes to make it a success. This project is run entirely by volunteers under the age of 26. Here is just a snapshot of who is behind the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Roadtrip!

The National Team

Viv Benjamin: Roadtrip Director
Viv is coordinating the whole MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Roadtrip nationally. Viv is a small but feisty leader in the movement to end extreme poverty. At 21 years old she has an energy and vibrancy which even manages to overshadow a truly extraordinary history of activism. In her work with the Oaktree Foundation, Viv has coordinated the ZEROSEVEN Roadtrip in 2007, created the End Child Slavery and Stand Up For Change campaigns, and worked on the historic 2006 MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Concert with Bono and Pearl Jam. Viv loves people and justice.


Nick Allardice: General Manager, The Oaktree Foundation
Nick is the General Manager of The Oaktree Foundation. A driven advocate against global poverty and climate change, and immensely passionate about social change, Nick spends a lot of time thinking about how to make the movement bigger and better! At 23 Nick coordinates all Oaktree's communications and campaigns. He is also a Non-Executive Director at OzGREEN, a facilitator for the Frank Team and recently spent time creating an Asia-Pacific youth mobilisation strategy for the United Nations focused on the Millennium Development Goals.


Tom O'Connor: CEO, The Oaktree Foundation
Tom leads Australia's largest entirely youth-run aid and development agency the Oaktree Foundation. With over 300 staff-level volunteers, 7 offices around the country and over 30,000 members, the Oaktree Foundation has provided education for over 50,000 young people living in poverty around the world and has been at the forefront of the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY movement. Tom was named Young Victorian of the Year for 2007, and was selected to attend both the Australia 2020 Youth Summit and Australia 2020 Summit in April 2008.

Lewis Best: Production Manager
Lewis has been involved with Oaktree for what seems like eons, having been to the 2006 MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY Concert (getting to Melbourne by sailing from Sydney on the MPH Yacht - yes, there was a yacht, but thats another story) and involved with two previous Roadtrips, one in 2005 and the ZEROSEVEN Roadtrip in 2007. He is coordinating all production needs for the Roadtrip, including the website, video's and anything creative. Outside of the Roadtrip, he is about to complete his BA (Government and International Relations) and plans to study a Masters in Development Studies when he decides to get around to it.

Louise McNeil: Canberra Summit Coordinator
Lou is an amazing 20 year old woman who has a long history of social action. She is coordinating the Summit and Festival at the end of the Roadtrip. In her day job, Lou is the Volunteer Coordinator for the Melbourne City Romp, and has previously taught in Cambodia, served the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, volunteered for SecondBite, and founded her own online ethical consumers group.

Mick Sheldrick: Political Advocacy Strategist
Mick is an Oaktree veteran. He been involved in Oaktree since mid 2006 and served as WA Campaigns Manager for over two years. Mick's has visited Oaktree projects in East Timor, and went on the 2008 OGC to India and Bangladesh. Mick is starting 5th year of a Law/Arts degree at UWA where he is also a tutor in International Relations. He is a political junkie, and has worked on the 2008 WA State Election, followed by work with a WA Shadow Minister. One of Mick's greatest moments was meeting Bill Clinton last year when he was a delegate to the Clinton Global Initiative. In his distinctly "Federation Australian" accent, Mick says: "What am I passionate about? I believe in the power of democracy and am passionate about the ability of the roadtrip, and hundreds of young people around Australia, to influence the political process on a nationwide scale and ensure a fair outcome for millions of people living in extreme poverty."

Robbie Tilleard: National Engagement Strategist
His passion for international development began in 2005 when he spent 2 months in Guyana in South America conducting family health workshops. This experience inspired him to study Development, Economics and Political Science at Melbourne University where he is now in his 5th year. Robbie has volunteered with Youth Challenge Australia, Make Poverty History, and Oxfam Australia. He and his brother Matt founded ripple.org, an innovative social enterprise that raises money for Oaktree and other NGOs with just a click. Robbie has worked in high-level research and strategic policy at the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, Vietnam's Prosperity Initiative, Trinity College and Professor Doris Schroeder. He currently works at the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet. Impressed? So you should be.

Mike Burnside: National Logistics & Operations Manager
Mike solidified his passion for aid and development while doing a Bachelor of Environmental Science/Arts at UNSW in Sydney. Since, he has spent time in Indonesia in 2008 & 2009 where he ate a lot of nasi goreng and worked in food security & education. Mike regards poverty as simply unacceptable, so in an effort to learn how he can best make a difference in this world he’s gone back to the books to do a Masters of International Development at Melbourne Uni. Mike does his best thinking while kicking a soccer ball around the office and spends most of his spare change on Caramello Koalas from fundraising chocolate boxes.

Ryan Hopping: Shared Services Manager
Ryan's excitement and passion for ending world poverty stems from his desire to one day see global equality. He has worked with Oaktree since the beginning of 2009 and has enjoyed every moment and challenge that it has brought. He has since experienced the awesome potential of young people and their drive, passion, ability and dedication. He was successful in attaining a full scholarship to study a Bachelor of Business Management at RMIT through a Cadetship with the Australian Taxation Office. In his role, Ryan coordinates nationally all of the Legal, Finance, Administrative and Information Communications Technology requirements.

The National team also includes Glen Berman, Patsy Niklas, Andy Zingler, Neela Haryani, Christy Yip, Savita Kapoor, Jane Leong, Renae Leeson, Alicia Tan, Amina Toullea, Andrew Asten, Roshelle Fong and many more.

New South Wales

Amritha Thiyagarajan: NSW Roadtrip Manager
Amritha is the NSW Road Trip Manager. Starting at Oaktree as a Generator in 2009, she co-ordinated the massively successful "Swap Til You Drop" fundraiser, before moving on to help co-ordinate Oaktree's Stand Up for Change campaign in NSW. When’s she not dying under the weight of her law readings you’ll find her writing lists of things she’s already done in an effort to feel productive. Get her started on Australia’s contribution to ending extreme poverty, though, and she might never get off her soapbox.

The NSW team also includes Jess McAlpine, Ivan Kwong, Edward Salib, Samara Barchet and many more.

Victoria

Peter Willis: VIC Roadtrip Manager
Pete has been quoted as saying that he won't leave Parliament House until Australia achieves 0.7% GNI in foreign aid. Committed is an understatement! Peter is an all round over-achiever. Aside from graduating in 2007 with a perfect 99.95 TER score, as well as being school captain of Xavier College, Peter is currently Assistant to the Convenor of the 63rd Annual United Nations NGO conference to be held in Melbourne in September. He does a great job managing not one but three road trips from Victoria and is an all round star!

The VIC team also includes Andrew Raphael, Berny Cho, Steph Millar, Steph Moroney, Al Green, Lara Fitzgerald, Fresh and many more.

South Australia

Adam Pulford: SA Roadtrip Manager
A Northern Territorian by birth Adam brings some pretty incredible dedication, some 'krazy' ideas and flair for being different to the South Australian road trip. When he's not running the roadtrip in South Australia Adam also happens to be National Education Officer for the United Nations Youth Association. He likes to stay busy.

The SA team also includes Ninja O'Connor, Larry Burke, Mo Al-K, Chloe Truehl, Tamara Megaw, Dan Spencer and many more.

Western Australia

Steph Arrowsmith: WA Roadtrip Manager
Steph was born in Indonesia and moved to Perth where she is now studying Health Science (Public Health, Anthropology) and Languages. She first got involved with Oaktree when she was an Ambassador on the ZEROSEVEN Roadtrip in 2007 and has since never underestimated the power of young people to create change. She was previously a Summer Intern with Oaktree before joining the Schools4Schools program as a Seed Group Mentor and has worked on development projects in Indonesia, India and Vietnam. In her spare time she makes origami dragons, visits the planetarium and eats nutella off a spoon. She has also never been to the U.S despite her strange pseudo-American accent!

The WA team also includes Jody Lightfoot, Freya Shearer, Kirsten Simpkins, and many more.

Queensland

Jenna Nunn: QLD Roadtrip Manager
Originally from W.A, Jenna is now in her second year of a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, with the aim of studying medicine. With only 7 years to go, she is super excited about being a doctor and potentially working for Doctors Without Borders! Born in Malawi, Africa, inequality and develpment has always been an important part of her life, but never really took the form of action until the ZEROSEVEN roadtrip in 2007. She is passionate about the role of today's youth in ending global poverty. When she's not in the Oaktree office or trying to memorise anatomy and physiology textbooks, she enjoys a good cup of tea and a nice stroll outside.

The QLD team also includes Phoebe Baldwin, Emma Betts and more.

Australian Capital Territory

Ryan Turner: ACT Roadtrip Manager
Originally from Newcastle, Ryan is now in his third year of an Arts/Law degree at the Australian National University. After working with homeless and disadvantaged individuals with the Red Cross, Ryan joined Oaktree in 2009 as the ACT Campaigns Manager. He strongly believes in the power of young people to effect real change in their communities, and reshape the narrative of Australian society. When he's not working to end extreme poverty, Ryan works in a local law firm and in a parliamentary office, as well as mentoring first-year law students, writing for the ANU student newspaper, Woroni, and holding a number of positions in student organisations.

The ACT team also includes Harry Aitken, Hsu-Ann Lee, Keyta Slattery, Elle Brodie, and many more.

Tasmania

Jess Jacobson: TAS Roadtrip Manager
Jess became involved with Oaktree through the ZEROSEVEN Roadtrip back in 2007, even though Tasmania wasn't officially a part of this campaign. When she heard another Road Trip was being run in 2010, she jumped at the opportunity to represent her state and give young Tasmanians the amazing opportunity the Road Trip presents. Jess has always been involved in community groups and events, earning her the Southern Cross Young Achiever of the Year Award for Community Service in 2009.

The TAS team also includes Maddi Charles, Laura McIllhenny, Rob Hortle, Bharat Visa, Henry Fowkes, Alphonse Toussaint, and many more.