Fostering Children
Martin speaks about the work of OzChild, a child welfare agency that supports children and young people in out-of-home care (kinship and foster care), and those children at risk of entering out-of-home care in the first place. What are the factors that place children at risk, how do we best support them, support families on the brink of fracturing, and what should be doing differently than was done in the past. Martin will speak about how we provide brighter tomorrows for children who have experienced vulnerabilities, and how can best support the volunteer carers who can make all the difference. Word of mouth about OzChild’s work is the greatest gift of all.
An educator at heart, with over 30 years experience in the education and not-for-profit sectors, Martin is committed to building productive partnerships that have kindness and generosity at their core, by pairing philanthropic intent with social purpose that tackles disadvantage.
Father of three and husband of one, Martin has worked in the NFP sector since 2012 in youth homelessness prevention and most recently supporting vulnerable children and young people in out-of-home situations with child welfare agency OzChild.
Prior to his jump into the NFP space, Martin spent 25 years working in the education sector, teaching, marketing, career counselling, project managing, tendering, business developing and managing high-performing teams. He spent four years broadcasting in community radio in Ballarat and volunteers regularly as an MC/stage manager at the Caloundra Music Festival. He’s even had fruit thrown at him while performing at the Myer Music Bowl! Living overseas in the 80’s, Martin delivered mail in the Australian High Commission, wrapped garden tools for the famous at Harrods, provided relaxation massage in Rhode Island and taught outdoor education in the forests of upstate New York.