Speeches
Oaktree Future Fund Launch 2008
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, The Rt' Rev'd Dr. Peter Hollingsworth, Minister Kate Ellis, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening.
Thank you Msisi for sharing such deep insights into the impact of World Changers and how the partnership with Oaktree is truly changing lives.
Ladies and Gentlemen, would you join with me as we give Msisi another round of applause.
What a wonderful- and indeed incredible- night we have had together.
And I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to the team who have made this evening possible.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is indeed with a heart filled with great joy that I stand here as we celebrate the journey Oaktree has been on since our founding some five and a half years ago.
It has been the greatest privilege imaginable to see Oaktree grow from a simple dream to a thriving organisation today, and we owe a tremendous dept of gratitude to all of our volunteers, board members, and supporters who have contributed so much of themselves.
Oaktree grew from a simple dream…which remains our vision and our mission:
To work towards a world where every young person in the world’s poorest communities has access to a good education, and where young Australians can contribute to shaping this world.
We dream of a day when our brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific have the same opportunities that we have as young people growing up.
Some two months after we started Oaktree I caught up with a friend of mine Olivia in Camberwell.
Olivia and I went to primary school together and at this stage in our lives…
I was working at the Juice Bar after returning from South Africa (as my dad insisted I needed to keep a “real job” until Oaktree had at least a thousand volunteers).
Olivia was working at the Chemist.
When Olivia and I caught up for lunch I shared with her the vision for Oaktree.
She was so excited that immediately she got involved and she started brainstorming ways she could support.
Olivia joined our media team and started writing press releases.
We did not have many hits at first, but gradually her work helped our build our national profile.
Later she joined the board of Oaktree and helped bring the Connections Zulu Choir from South Africa on a tour throughout Australia.
Late last year she resigned her highly paid career at a great PR firm in Melbourne to go to South Africa for a year to lead a team working to provide some 32,000 young people in the AIDS- stricken region of KZN with access to a life-saving education, young people like Pilani.
Only last week I received an email from Olivia saying that once she returns to Australia she is seriously considering returning to South Africa the following year to work for Oaktree’s partner GOLD in Cape Town.
Olivia has told me on a number of occasions how her work allows her to live out her dream.
Now, ladies and Gentlemen, tonight I have a confession to make.
But let me say it’s probably quite appropriate that I make this confession at my last formal event before I head overseas…
This confession is largely aimed at the volunteers in the room. It is that…
For about the first 2 years of running Oaktree, I’d come up with an idea or two, I’d put it out there…but I had absolutely NO IDEA how it was going to work.
Looking back now I see that it was through the power of great team work that made the vision possible.
As I look around the room, all of you have helped shape the vision and mission of Oaktree.
Some of you have been on the ground overseas helping provide educational opportunities with our partner organisations.
Others have helped Oaktree at home, in classrooms, in the office, in research, in advocacy, in raising money.
Your actions give life and hope to the poor.
It is the community of Oaktree supporters that breaths life into Oaktree’s Vision.
Oaktree’s future success depends not only on the number of volunteers we have and the strength of our advocacy, but on the depth of investment from supporters such as yourselves this evening.
I believe that we can tonight be confident in where Oaktree is headed-
I believe in Oaktree because it is driven by dedicated, visionary passionate and grounded young people.
I believe in Oaktree because it is changing the lives of young people in the developing world
I believe in Oaktree because we have the right foundation in place.
And now we have the opportunity to grow.
Tonight is a defining moment for Oaktree…
Given that our vision is for a world where every young person has access to a great education….then our response needs to be commensurate to that vision.
This is why the team at Oaktree, under David Toovey’s leadership, needs the full financial support of everyone here.
Oaktree volunteers have the passion, skill and enthusiasm to achieve this vision. The catalyst to ensure significant change continues to occur is your financial support.
And yes I acknowledge that we live in a complex world where times are troubling. Where conflict for food and resources provides for uncertainty.
And where the number of those living each day in grinding poverty is difficult to comprehend.
But to borrow the words of Saint Augustine-
“If the times are bad, then let us be better; then the times will be better, for we are the times.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Oaktree Future Fund is of critical importance to the future of Oaktree’s work.
For the Oaktree Future Fund will do two things-
- it will provide a lasting foundation for Oaktree on which to grow
- (the thing that excites me), it gives us here tonight the opportunity to lay the foundation for education for the worlds poor, and empowerment for young people, potentially on a world-wide scale.
It's only been 5 years. It's hard to imagine how much change we can create in another 5, 10, or 50 years.
Imagine if we reached the goal David stated of educating 100,000 people.
The Ask…
And so now, I would like to invite you to support the Oaktree Future Fund.
I would like to invite you to consider making a Leadership Gift of $10,000 or more right now.
- Ultimate goal is $3,000,000 over 3 years.
- Short-term (even tonight) $1,000,000 target.
- Leadership gifts are so important as they lead the way for others to give.
- I’d like to personally thank those who have pledged leadership gifts so far.
- If there are any other guests who would like to pledge a leadership gift, I would like to invite you to do so now.
1,000 $1,000 Campaign
- But I also recognize that not everyone here tonight will be in a position to make a leadership gift so I would like to invite you to be part of the 1,000 $1,000 Campaign.
- Lets do the maths…if each of us just gave $2000 then we’d raise a $1Million together.
- Call on Gina Olivieri
- University student.
- Gina was the first to pledge $1,000 as a founding gift.
- Ask Gina why?
- Someone else-
- Tree will start growing!!
Tonight we’ve set a goal, but if you can give $5,000 or $500 every single dollar counts.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In our world, one of our greatest challenges remains… global poverty.
Our greatest debt is the debt to our brothers and sisters - who are young people born into abject poverty in developing countries.
Our greatest hope is our common humanity and solidarity.
And our greatest strength is our commitment to work together.
I want you to know, that through your donation tonight, you are helping Oaktree do more than just provide education…You are helping us pay the poor a debt of justice!
To return to where I began, five years ago Oaktree was a dream: to empower developing communities through education in a way that is sustainable.
Together we have shown this dream is achievable.
We have armed ourselves with the right map and compass.
Now the task is before us all: to lead more young people along that road.
Thank you.
*PLEASE NOTE THIS SPEECH IS AN EDIT OF THE ORIGINAL SPEECH*
