Tūao Aotearoa Volunteering New Zealand
Our team

Evelyn Tobin is Volunteering New Zealand’s Kaitiaki. She is a registered teacher with a current full (Pūmau) practising certificate who consults as an accredited provider and facilitator of professional learning development and training support for teachers, principals, boards of trustees, and community groups. She is a pioneer of kōhanga reo, kura kaupapa Māori, and Aotearoa Māori Netball Healthy Lifestyles initiatives and has educational expertise and networks in te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori particularly in Māori medium education. She has long term associations in the nation’s repositories of the National Library, Archives NZ and Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Evelyn is a creative, critical thinker and bilingual communicator who has extensive experiences and service on national governance boards, advisory, and ministerial groups.

Ave-Elise is our Office and Operations Administrator, who has had pervious experience in similar roles. Ave-Elise hails from the beautfiul Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Te Āti Haunui a Pāpārangi but has spent most of years in Lower Hutt, Wellington.

She has a background in youth development both volunteer and employment work, events management, ministry work and a range of other mahi. Ave-Elise believes deeply in the importance of mahi aroha and service and also has a strong passion for Te Ao Māori and Tangata Māori. 

Michelle Kitney is the Tumu Whakarae Chief Executive of Volunteering New Zealand, where she has been part of the senior leadership team since 2018. Michelle is passionate about working collaboratively and with impact in the for-purpose sector.

Throughout her career she has worked in a range of sectors including social enterprise, within the public sector and the publishing industry. She has a range of experience including regulatory and compliance, mar-coms and social marketing, engagement, and research. She has also volunteered extensively in community organisations that provide services and support to whānau and children, and is currently the Chair of Bellyful New Zealand.

Margaret McLachlan joined Volunteering New Zealand as Communications Manager in May 2021.

She has over 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications with local and central government and not-for-profit organisations, most recently with Activity and Nutrition Aotearoa and Zealandia ecosanctuary. She’s a volunteer matchmaker with the Community Comms Collective.

Margaret is passionate about using her communication skills to support volunteering and further the goals of Volunteering New Zealand.

Bryony started out as a volunteer policy analyst with Volunteering New Zealand, and is now our Research and Policy Co-ordinator. Bryony graduated with a degree in social policy and sociology at Victoria University, she has a real passion for research and analysis, with a particular interest in ensuring inclusivity and social equity are a key part of Volunteering New Zealands NZ’s. Bryony is in charge of dissecting a variety of policies and reports; creating comprehensive overviews and providing critique of where VNZ can strengthen their course of action.

Heidi has a real passion for volunteering. She brings a wealth of knowledge of volunteer management, including the deployment of national IT platforms to support volunteer activity. With solid experience in national volunteer management, Heidi brings expertise to her project based work at Volunteering New Zealand. In her free time, you’ll find Heidi…volunteering! Her current role is with the IHC.

Johann is Director of Research at Volunteering New Zealand, leading the organisation’s research agenda. Johann brings expertise in humanities and social science research, and translational research that links academia with policy. Johann has over a decade of experience in the community/voluntary sector and has been the principal researcher and author of several flagship VNZ publications, including the industry-leading State of Volunteering reports and the MBIE-funded Recent Migrant Volunteering Strategy. 

Johann is currently a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Oxford, where he is also a Rhodes Scholar and doctoral candidate pursuing a DPhil/PhD in political philosophy. He holds a BA (Philosophy and Politics) and BHSc (Population Health) from the University of Auckland, and an MPhil (Political Theory) with Distinction from the University of Oxford.

Taylor is the web developer for VNZ working on the VNZ website, InvolveMe, Student Volunteer Week, National Volunteer Week, the annual VNZ conference and many more projects. Taylor is a professional freelancer with a degree in Computer Science. Taylor’s website: www.taylorhamling.com

Alice has a passion for giving back to her community. As a disabled woman herself, she is particularly passionate about disability rights and justice. She was the founder and inaugural President of the National Disabled Students’ Association, representing disabled tertiary students at a national level. She has also written about disability issues on many platforms such as AllIsForAll, the SpinOff, and the Victoria University of Wellington student magazine Salient. She is currently in her final year of a conjoint Law (Honours) and Arts degree.