Meet the team
Keeping the app and collaboration humming is our volunteer-powered team, based all over New Zealand and further afield.
AUCKLAND | WELLINGTON | CHRISTCHURCH | UK | Join the team
Abbey Lee
AUCKLAND REGIONAL LEAD
Abbey currently works full time as an account manager in fashion, alongside completing her studies in Human Resource Management. She is looking forward to the end of a five year study stint. Abbey is passionate about sustainability and living a minimalistic lifestyle.
Fathin Doray
CHIEF FUNDRAISING OFFICER
Fathin Doray is an expert fundraiser and community specialist. Working currently for the Starship Foundation as Corporate Relations Specialist she also brings a wealth of experience from other NGO's having previously been the National Funding Officer for Shakti, as well as volunteering for the UN Women Committee and Initiatives of Change. She is highly experienced at implementing operational sustainability and financial security in stressful and complex environments and has deep knowledge of working in some of New Zealand most vulnerable communities.
Te whanganui-a-tara | Wellington
CAMILLE WRIGHTSON
CHIEF OF COMMUNITY
Camille studied Law and Politics, and loved volunteering alongside her classes. After graduating and getting a "real job", it became clear how much more difficult volunteering can be. Enter Collaborate! She brings her legal, organisational and communication skills to promoting Collaborate in Aotearoa.
cEARA mCaULIFFE bICKERTON
CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING CONSULTANT
Ceara has a background in working with start-up companies in New York, Los Angeles and London and is currently working at CreativeHQ in Wellington. She has experience volunteering for both local and international NGO’s. She brings her knowledge of the start-up process and volunteering to inform her work at Collaborate.
Grace Wu
WELLINGTON REGIONAL LEAD
Grace is a curious and enthusiastic learner who is passionate about using her skills to engage with and uplift communities. Currently working as a technology consultant, she’s also had experience in finance and the public sector since moving back to Wellington after finishing her degree at Otago.
kERRY mCnULTY
CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING CONSULTANT
With an background in law and commerce, Kerry is passionate about connecting people with solutions that solve their problems. Now working in business development at a global IT company, she brings her sales skills to Collaborate, helping to plug organizations in to the corporate volunteering platform.
Holly Norton
CHIEF GOVERNANCE OFFICER
Holly’s mission in life is to facilitate the collective power of people to create social good. This journey has taken her from representing New Zealand in international peace delegations in the Korean Demilitarised Zone and Geneva to becoming a Future of Work and technology expert in the New Zealand Government, to founding Collaborate. She has been nominated for numerous awards including 2019 New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards Young Achiever, MYOB Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2019, Local Hero medalist at New Zealander of the Year Awards 2019 and named Wahine Whetu, Rising Women Star in the Public Sector this year alone.
Poppy Norton
CEO
Poppy has a background in Education and Psychology, Poppy’s work has a large focus on empowering young adults to discover and achieve their full potential. She has a great amount of experience volunteering in the community and brings this knowledge and passion to her role in Collaborate. Poppy's leadership and passion has been recognised and she has been named as one of New Zealand’s most influential young women in 2017 and 2018 and has been awarded a Kiwibank Local Hero Award 2018.
SOPHIE HARKER
BUSINESS AND LEGAL ADVISER
Coming from a background in law and psychology, Sophie is passionate about social enterprise and getting involved in her community. After working in a law firm in London she is now working at a large law firm in Wellington. She brings her legal knowledge and experience volunteering to her role at Collaborate.
Sophie Clement
CHIEF OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
Sophie wears many hats, working a nine to five as manager of a commercial architecture office, as well as producing international documentaries on the side, and is currently volunteering her time as Acting CEO of Collaborate. She is an enthusiastic problem solver who loves to think creatively about processes and community engagement.
Peretānia | uk
ASHVIN GOVIND
CHIEF PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Ash has been involved in volunteering and giving back to the community from a young age. Wanting to have a greater impact in the community, he joined Collaborate to connect more people with volunteering, connect with like-minded people, and enable a better society. He has extensive experience within the IT industry, spending 7 years within government at a leadership level and 3 years with an international IT service provider. Ash ensures Collaborate’s products and tech are fit for purpose, now and into the future.
JOIN THE TEAM
We are always looking for passionate, enthusiastic people to join our nationwide volunteer team. If you love our values and want to drive real change in your community, join our team!
Auckland Regional Lead
Join our Auckland team and work alongside, Abbey our other Auckland Regional lead to promote, support and encourage volunteering in you the Auckland Region. Regional Leads are Collaborate’s representatives on the ground. You will be the point of contact for organisations and volunteers in Tamaki Makaurau.
Ongoing regional lead tasks
Contacting at least 5 organisations in your region a month on a rotating basis to touch base, identify their needs and build relationships. Emails are fine, phone calls are good, in-person catch ups are best!
Internal Collaborate meetings (max 4 per month, usually 2-3)
Attending relevant events to promote Collaborate (e.g. tech meet-ups, careers days, speaking to groups)
Organising events to promote Collaborate and community engagement
Supporting the rest of the Collaborate team with other projects
What else?
We’ll work with you to figure out how the Regional Lead role will work best for both of us, to use your skills and talents effectively and to support your learning and growth.
Wellington Regional Lead
Join our Wellington team to promote, support and encourage volunteering in you the Wellington Region. Regional Leads are Collaborate’s representatives on the ground. You will be the point of contact for organisations and volunteers in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Ongoing regional lead tasks
Contacting at least 5 organisations in your region a month on a rotating basis to touch base, identify their needs and build relationships. Emails are fine, phone calls are good, in-person catch ups are best!
Internal Collaborate meetings (max 4 per month, usually 2-3)
Attending relevant events to promote Collaborate (e.g. tech meet-ups, careers days, speaking to groups)
Organising events to promote Collaborate and community engagement
Supporting the rest of the Collaborate team with other projects
What else?
We’ll work with you to figure out how the Regional Lead role will work best for both of us, to use your skills and talents effectively and to support your learning and growth.
Christchurch Regional Lead
Join our Christchurch team to promote, support and encourage volunteering in you the Canterbury Region. Regional Leads are Collaborate’s representatives on the ground. You will be the point of contact for organisations and volunteers in Otautahi.
Ongoing regional lead tasks
Contacting at least 5 organisations in your region a month on a rotating basis to touch base, identify their needs and build relationships. Emails are fine, phone calls are good, in-person catch ups are best!
Internal Collaborate meetings (max 4 per month, usually 2-3)
Attending relevant events to promote Collaborate (e.g. tech meet-ups, careers days, speaking to groups)
Organising events to promote Collaborate and community engagement
Supporting the rest of the Collaborate team with other projects
What else?
We’ll work with you to figure out how the Regional Lead role will work best for both of us, to use your skills and talents effectively and to support your learning and growth.
Regional Lead for your own region
Want to bring Collaborate to your community? Lead a launch and bring Collaborate to your region. This entails compiling a list of all the charities and social organisations that might need volunteers that you can find, along with their contact details, and start contacting them to introduce yourself and Collaborate. Then plan a launch event! After that, start attending events and promoting Collaborate to potential volunteers.
After the launch - ongoing regional lead tasks
Contacting at least 5 organisations in your region a month on a rotating basis to touch base, identify their needs and build relationships. Emails are fine, phone calls are good, in-person catch ups are best!
Internal Collaborate meetings (max 4 per month, usually 2-3)
Attending relevant events to promote Collaborate (e.g. tech meet-ups, careers days, speaking to groups)
Organising events to promote Collaborate and community engagement
Supporting the rest of the Collaborate team with other projects
What else?
We’ll work with you to figure out how the Regional Lead role will work best for both of us, to use your skills and talents effectively and to support your learning and growth.
Social media Content creator
At Collaborate we want to change the way people view volunteering. We want to get the message out there that volunteering is fun and you can find volunteering roles that really match your skills and interests. We have a variety of social media platforms and we need someone who can help us write and craft content for our many different audiences - current and potential volunteers, organisations and stakeholders. If you are creative, can think outside the box and want to promote and share the good that is happening in Aotearoa, then this role is for you.
Ongoing tasks
Create content for our variety of social media channels including facebook, instagram, linked-in and our blog.