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Meet the team, June 2011

Oxfam New Zealand's staff come from all over the world and share a wealth of experience and expertise. Meet a selection of our current colleagues and see what their jobs involve...

Jason Garman, Communications and Media Manager.

Jason Garman: Communications and Media Manager

I moved to New Zealand from America about six years ago. Back in the US I worked for an environmental NGO. I was looking to get into more of a human rights focused job, and I was thrilled when I was given the opportunity to work for Oxfam.

When I first joined, I was the Operations Coordinator for Oxfam Trailwalker. Then when a position arose, I moved to the communications team and I now help tell the stories of the people that Oxfam works with in the developing world

What I like about Oxfam

I love coming to work in the morning because my job aligns perfectly with my ideals, and I love knowing that I’m making a difference to the planet and the people on it.

I also love the opportunities you get working here. One of which was my recent trip to Bougainville in Papua New Guinea to shoot video of our water and sanitation programme work. It was so inspiring to be out in the villages hearing about the difference that clean water and toilets make to families who never had them before.

What I hope to achieve here

On a personal level, I’d like to get more stories out so we can see a day when more people are aware of the scale and depth of poverty around the world and know what we can be doing to help overcome it.

As far as the organisation, I’d like us to continue to be one of the world’s leading international development agencies. The need is great – there’s so much more work to do.

Inspiring words

I have a strong belief that you should never be put off by how big the problems are on this planet. Don’t think they’re too big and there’s nothing you can do about it, because there is something you can do about it, whether it be a little something or a lot of something.

Jane Foster, Programme Director.

Jane Foster: Programme Director

I started out working with young people as a youth development worker in the UK. I saw a job advertised in Fiji training youth workers in the south Pacific region and I believed I could do it, and working for an international youth development organisation set me on the path of working in mainstream international development.

For me, Oxfam is an organisation which has combined the best of both worlds. It is an organisation that practices good solid development, with good sound rights based approaches. But Oxfam also has a strong, authentic voice of advocacy in terms of campaigns, and it also enables our partners’ voices to be heard.

I also like the people and the variety at Oxfam. I don’t think any two days here are ever the same.

What I hope to achieve at Oxfam

Oxfam Programme Directors in general hope to achieve the highest possible standards in programming. We hope to work with our partners and their communities in a way that is truly an equal partnership and we strive for an egalitarian approach to long term development that truly involves partners in communities making decisions about what their needs are and how we can support them to do that.

As an organisation, I’d like Oxfam to achieve really significant growth. Not just monetary, but growth in our voice, our influence, and growth in the quality and range of our partnerships, and I think we still have a long way to go.

Jac Ma, Accounts and Organisation Service Coordinator.

Jac Ma: Accounts and Organisation Service Coordinator

I’m from China and I’ve been in New Zealand for almost ten years. I have a Bachelor of Business and have worked in other companies as an accounting assistant. I joined Oxfam in 2008 as a finance assistant and am now the Accounts and Organisation Service Coordinator, so I do basic accounting and administration jobs.

I really like the casual environment and the people at Oxfam. I also enjoy the fact that as an organisation we help lots of people overseas so while I’m doing my job I feel like I’m helping them indirectly.

What I hope to achieve here

Looking at the big picture, I hope that one day Oxfam can be everyone’s favourite NGO in the world.

On a more personal level, I’ve learned a lot at Oxfam and there have been many great opportunities for me here. I’m lucky that Oxfam has helped me complete my studies and work experience to become qualified as an Associate Chartered Accountant.

Grant Bayldon, Marketing Director.

Grant Bayldon: Marketing Director (outgoing)

When I was at university I wanted to save the world, but when I got out I realised the brutal reality that the best I could do was to become an accountant. Through a number of steps, including being a CEO of a large law firm, I ended up here.

Being a marketing director makes me a professional beggar, but it’s also about inspiring people to want to be involved and then as a consequence want to give money.

What I hope to achieve

I’d like to achieve a really good base of support of people who are committed to Oxfam and of the sort of size of funding that lets us do big things. Lets us really dream, and turns those dreams into reality to make a big difference.

Looking at Oxfam as a whole, I’d like to see us join up the advocacy work we’re doing, with the big programmes we’re doing on the ground so that it’s all moving towards the same ends.

Most inspiring opportunity

I’ve just returned from my first programme visit to Bougainville, a province in Papua New Guinea and the most inspiring moment for me was meeting a group of people who had to walk 3kms a day for water. They’d heard that Oxfam was coming through town and they wanted to make sure that their village programme was lined up for their water and their toilets. Seeing their enthusiasm and what a difference it makes for people was so inspiring.

Inspiring words

I think there are ways to get involved in organisations like Oxfam, not just by working as staff, but also by supporting them, by volunteering, by getting involved and I’d encourage people to do that.

Take a look at current vacancies with Oxfam New Zealand

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