Global Poverty Solutions in an initiative of World Relief Australia (www.wra.org.au) to efficiently link donors with innovative solutions to poverty.
Governance
Global Poverty Solutions is governed by a board of independent voluntary directors. The directors are:
Paul Madden (Chair)
Paul has an extensive history of making a major contribution to both Australian and overseas communities. His past appointments include: ED, Habitat for Humanity SA; EO, Child & Family Welfare Association SA; GM, Mission Australia - SA Region and ED, Baptist Community Services SA. He recently retired as Chief Executive of the Wyatt Trust (www.wyatt.org.au), a major Australian philanthropic institution. Past Board appointments include SA Housing Trust; Foodbank SA and Association of Major Community Organisations. Paul has also served as a Ministerial Advisor and on the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. He has undertaken major projects for Government in the areas of child protection and Indigenous substance abuse.
In 2005 Paul and his wife Barbara founded Bright Futures Child Aid and Development Fund, a Christian aid and development agency through which they are involved in community development projects in India, Kenya, Pakistan and Uganda. In retirement Paul continues to make a major contribution as the Bright Futures CEO (voluntary position).
In 2001 Paul was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to the community. More recently he was awarded a Member (AM) of the General Division of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours for significant service to the community of South Australia, particularly to social welfare and humanitarian organisations, and to philanthropy. His academic qualifications include a Master's Degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Deb Hosking (Deputy Chair)
Deb co-owns and manages the Austral Group of companies, which includes Austral Tree Services, Project Green - Environmental Management Services and, more recently, a social enterprise called Wood For Good. Over the past 20 years the business has grown to a sizable fleet and team of skilled staff who service South Australia and Victoria.
Deb possesses a strong background in strategic planning, business process engineering and operations management. She has an unyielding commitment to embedding good business practice to best service the needs of the broader community. As a trustee of the Hosking Foundation, Deb is a passionate advocate for philanthropy in Australia.
Philip Good (Treasurer & Secretary)
Philip operates his own Accounting practice on the Mornington Peninsula, south-east of Melbourne. His business has a mission to help small business owners 'value' and achieve their business and personal goals.
In the past, Philip has worked for the Weather Bureau in various observational, training and pilot briefing capacities in Sydney, Canberra, Richmond RAAF base and Melbourne (1978 - 1989). Along with his wife, he subsequently owned and operated a business in Tasmania (1989 - 1994). For seven years Philip worked as an Accountant for Kimberly Smith Partners, working with many not-for-profit organisations, and from 2004 - 2010 for Robbins & Co - both public practice accounting firms.
Since 2005 Philip has held the position of Treasurer for New Peninsular Baptist Church - a church of 1,000+ on the Mornington Peninsular. He is one of the founders of World Relief Australia and has now served as Treasurer of WRA for several years.
Philip is married with three children, only one of whom still lives at home. He has a passion for storm-chasing, a good John Grisham novel, the 'country', bushwalking and watching AFL...the only real football!
Carl Ginger
Carl Ginger's academic background is in Civil Engineering and Business Administration. He is currently the Business Development Manager for the NSW Land and Property Management Authority and has a diverse range of experience as a senior executive in Government, and in the commercial and Academic sectors.
Some major overseas projects completed have been in the areas of capacity building and legal and community infrastructure development in Indonesia, Laos, The Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Mauritius, Timor Leste and Trinidad. Funding for these projects has been secured through the World Bank, UNDP and AusAID.
Carl's passion for development and making a difference has seen him active in many countries and at all levels of society, from grass roots level to the highest level of government. Carl's voluntary humanitarian and community development projects include water supply, sanitation, schools, education, housing, medical infrastructure, adult literacy, micro enterprise development, environmental and capacity building. Projects have been undertaken in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Zambia and Sri Lanka.
Fred Chilton
Fred Chilton is a lawyer. After 29 years as a partner at the large regional law firm, Allens Arthur Robinson, Fred worked at Sydney firm Emil Ford & Co where he had a broad corporate and commercial practice for a decade before recently joining the team at Toomey Pegg Lawyers as their Special Counsel.
Fred has assisted in the establishment of a number of not-for-profit organisations including Worldwide Orphans Australia, Christian Surfers International, Centre for Public Christianity, HART Australasia and Cape York Digital Network (CYDN).
Aside from his role as Chairman of the Bush Church Aid Society, Fred is a Director of CYDN and serves on the Northern Region Council and other church and parish bodies.
Mark Fleming
Mark has over 25 years of work experience in the energy and environment sectors. He completed a PhD in Solar Energy in 1988 and worked for Siddons in heat pump R&D. This was followed by River Modelling work at the Murray Darling Basin Commission and Natural Gas Pipeling modelling at VENCorp.
Since 1998 he has been a self-employed Consulting Engineer with RenewableFuture, working on financial modelling, tariff development, pipeline modelling, energy auditing and installation of various solar systems.
Mark attends New Peninsula Baptist Church where he is involved in a Life Group and a Boys' Club in the local housing estate.
From 2002 - 2009, Mark was President of Mornington Environment Association.
Our Team
Global Poverty Solutions boasts a team of experienced development professionals.
Chief Executive Officer: Dr Donald Van Cooten PhD
Don's passion for alleviating the suffering of impoverished communities was ignited during a visit to West Timor some 30 years ago. Beginning his career as an agricultural scientist, he went on to spend 17 years in SE Indonesia working on a range of community development projects. Don's cross-cultural skills and commitment to helping the marginalised has enabled him to have a role in facilitating initiatives at a village, regional, national and international levels.
Don's research interests have resulted in the publication of reviewed papers in numerous international journals, as well as village farmer guides in local languages. Don's international experience includes his appointment as Australian Consul in West Timor, involving him in Australian-Indonesian ministerial forums and the promotion of bilateral joint ventures. In recent years, Don has managed hundreds of community development initiatives in over 45 countries. He has also been instrumental in developing a Code of Conduct for small Australian NGOs involved in overseas relief and development.
Manager, Consulting: Belinda Pratten
Belinda has worked in international development for 13 years. Her most recent role was with World Vision Australia, where she worked for five years as the Program Advisor for Latin America. Prior to this, Belinda worked for the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) both in Australia as a Policy Officer, and in Papua New Guinea as a Civilian Peace Monitor. Belinda has also implemented programs for International Medical Corps in Kosovo and East Timor. Belinda has a Master of Business and Administration (MBA), a Master in Public Health, and a Bachelor in Psychology (Honours).
World Relief Australia
Global Poverty Solutions is an initiative of World Relief Australia (WRA). WRA partners with over 50 Australian non-governmental organisations, which implement their international projects through in-country partners. For a small percentage of the donations, the Australian organisations benefit from WRA’s tax-deductibility, fundraising permits, development expertise, financial auditing, networking events, best practice toolkits, and online donation accounts. This enables all of the charities to benefit from pooled administrative and developmental resources, so that they can spend their time helping those in need.
