The Oaktree Foundation

The Oaktree Foundation, commonly known as Oaktree, is an Australian non-government organisation focused on international youth development, youth participation, and social-justice advocacy. Founded in Melbourne in 2003 by Hugh Evans and Nicolas Mackay, the organisation emerged from Evans’s early exposure to international development programs and inequality in the Philippines, India, and South Africa. Oaktree was established around the idea that young people should not be treated only as beneficiaries of development work: they can also lead organisations, shape public debate, and influence institutions and policy. Oaktree’s purpose is expressed through the ambition of young people leading, demanding, and creating a more just world. Its work has combined three broad areas. First, it has supported international development and youth-leadership initiatives in the Asia-Pacific and other partner regions. These projects have included education, livelihoods, peacebuilding, vocational training, teacher development, and peer-led responses to HIV/AIDS. Rather than presenting itself primarily as a service provider, Oaktree has generally worked with local youth and community partners to strengthen their capacity and influence. Second, Oaktree has developed Australian programs intended to build the confidence, knowledge, and organising ability of young people. These programs have included peer education, school-based engagement, public campaigning, and experiences designed to connect individual action with wider structural issues such as poverty and unequal access to opportunity. Its Australian work has also promoted the importance of youth voices in public decision-making. Third, the organisation has used advocacy campaigns to influence policy and public attitudes, particularly on Australian aid, global poverty, child labour, and international responses to crises. The best-known example is Live Below the Line, a five-day awareness and fundraising campaign developed with the Global Poverty Project. Participants were asked to live on a food budget equivalent to the international extreme-poverty line, using the experience to create public discussion and raise funds for development work. Oaktree also participated in wider coalitions, including End Child Slavery and End COVID For All. Historically, Oaktree expanded its volunteer and supporter base across Australia and invested substantial sums in aid and development projects during its first decade. It launched a refreshed brand and website in October 2013 for its tenth anniversary. In 2022, it launched the Youth Solidarity Fund to support grassroots youth organisations in the Asia-Pacific region, reflecting a continued emphasis on locally led youth movements and solidarity between young people. Oaktree is run by young people, historically within a 16-to-26 age range, and overseen by an advisory board. Its brand positioning centres on youth leadership, participatory development, campaigning, and practical solidarity rather than commercial products. The organisation’s present activities and institutional structure may change over time; its website is the primary current reference for its programs and governance.

Oaktree was founded in Melbourne in 2003 by Hugh Evans and Nicolas Mackay. Evans’s interest in international development developed through early experiences connected with World Vision, including a visit to development programs in the Philippines, an exchange at Woodstock School in India, and volunteer work in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. These experiences exposed him to poverty and inequality and helped motivate the creation of a youth-led organisation when he returned to Melbourne. Mackay and other young people joined him in establishing Oaktree with the goal of engaging young Australians in the pursuit of a fairer world. From its early years, Oaktree combined fundraising with education, advocacy, and international development partnerships. Its overseas work supported projects intended to strengthen the capabilities of young people and communities rather than simply deliver short-term assistance. Examples documented during the organisation’s earlier period included school-environment improvements in Cambodia, youth livelihood and peacebuilding initiatives in Timor-Leste, HIV/AIDS peer mentoring in KwaZulu-Natal, vocational training in Papua New Guinea, and teacher training intended to support the reopening of a remote community school in Yangis. Oaktree also built a national volunteer and supporter network in Australia. By October 2013, it reported having an office in every Australian state and in the Australian Capital Territory. Its Australian programs sought to help young people become informed and effective participants in public life. Generate and Schools 4 Schools represented smaller initiatives in advocacy and peer-to-peer education, while broader campaigns connected youth participation to issues such as global poverty, Australian aid, and child labour. A major element of Oaktree’s public profile was Live Below the Line, a five-day awareness and fundraising campaign run in partnership with the Global Poverty Project. Participants limited their food spending to an amount linked to the international extreme-poverty threshold, using the exercise to understand and discuss the constraints faced by people living in extreme poverty. The campaign operated in Australia and also reached participants in New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Oaktree reported that the 2011 campaign involved 6,518 participants and generated A$1.4 million, figures that are retained here only as historical figures attributed to the organisation’s period reporting. Oaktree’s advocacy has also taken place through coalitions. In 2009, the organisation said that its work with World Vision and other groups on the End Child Slavery campaign contributed to Cadbury Australia announcing changes to its milk-chocolate sourcing. In 2020, Oaktree joined End COVID For All, which called for greater assistance to vulnerable countries during the pandemic. The organisation marked its tenth anniversary in October 2013 with a new brand and website. In the first decade, it stated that more than A$2.5 million had been invested in aid and development projects between 2003 and 2012. By 2018, its mission was described as young people leading, demanding, and creating a more just world. In 2022, Oaktree launched the Youth Solidarity Fund to support grassroots youth organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. Across these stages, the organisation’s identity has remained associated with youth-led governance, international partnership, public campaigning, and efforts to increase the influence of young people in decisions affecting justice and development.

• 2022

  Youth Solidarity Fund launches

  [1]Oaktree (foundation)en.wikipedia.org

  The organisation launches a fund for grassroots youth organisations in the Asia-Pacific region.

• 2020

  Participation in End COVID For All

  [1]Oaktree (foundation)en.wikipedia.org

  Oaktree joins a collective campaign supporting assistance for vulnerable nations and communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

• 2013

  Tenth-anniversary brand relaunch

  [1]Oaktree (foundation)en.wikipedia.org

  Oaktree launches a new brand and website in October to mark its tenth anniversary.

• 2009

  End Child Slavery advocacy

  [1]Oaktree (foundation)en.wikipedia.org

  Oaktree participates with World Vision and other advocacy groups in the End Child Slavery campaign.

• 2003

  Oaktree is founded in Melbourne

  [1]Oaktree (foundation)en.wikipedia.org

  Hugh Evans, Nicolas Mackay, and other young people establish Oaktree as a youth-led organisation addressing global inequality.

A youth-led Australian development and advocacy organisation that combines international partnerships, community capacity-building, public campaigning, and youth participation to pursue social justice.

• Awareness and fundraising campaign

  Live Below the Line

  A five-day campaign developed with the Global Poverty Project in which participants restrict their food spending to an amount connected to the international extreme-poverty line. The program uses personal participation, fundraising, and public storytelling to raise awareness of extreme poverty and generate support for development initiatives. It has operated across Australia and in other English-speaking markets, including New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

• Grant and solidarity program · 2022

  Youth Solidarity Fund

  A fund launched in 2022 to support grassroots youth organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. It reflects Oaktree’s emphasis on strengthening locally led youth movements and enabling young people to build organisational capacity and influence.

• International development program

  International youth development partnerships

  Partnership-based development work supporting education, youth livelihoods, peacebuilding, vocational training, teacher development, and peer-led health initiatives. Documented partner activities have included programs in Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa.

• 2020End COVID For All

  Australia · International

  Oaktree joined organisations calling for support for vulnerable countries and communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Source
• 2011Live Below the Line

  Australia · New Zealand · United States · United Kingdom

  Participants lived for five days on a food budget linked to the extreme-poverty threshold, combining public education with fundraising for poverty-focused development work.

  Outcome. Oaktree reported 6,518 participants and A$1.4 million in revenue from the 2011 campaign.

  Source
• 2009End Child Slavery

  Australia

  Oaktree worked with World Vision and other advocacy organisations to campaign against child slavery and promote more responsible supply chains.

  Outcome. Oaktree attributed a contribution to Cadbury Australia's announcement that its milk-chocolate range would move toward fair-trade sourcing.

  Source

• 2022

  Creation of the Youth Solidarity FundOther

  Background

  Oaktree identified a need to support grassroots youth organisations and movements in the Asia-Pacific region.

  Action taken

  It launched the Youth Solidarity Fund to support the growth of those organisations.

  Source

• 2013

  Brand and website relaunchStrategy

  Background

  Oaktree reached its tenth anniversary and sought to present its youth-led mission and activities through a refreshed public identity.

  Action taken

  The organisation launched a new brand and website in October 2013.

  Aftermath

  The relaunch marked a public milestone in the organisation's development, although the available reference does not provide further performance measures.

  Source

1. 1Oaktree (foundation)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Oaktree Foundation official websiteoaktree.org