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.

A successful and experienced leader in people and organisational management, Michelle leads the staff and volunteers at Volunteering New Zealand to achieve its purpose, uphold its values, and advance its strategic priorities.

Building strong relationships and fostering collaboration are central to Michelle’s leadership, alongside ensuring the right resources are in place to support Volunteering New Zealand’s national work and its members. Under her leadership, the organisation has successfully expanded the delivery of accessible capability development for volunteer managers, amplified the voices of volunteers, and advocated for greater recognition of volunteers and volunteering.

Michelle’s background includes governance, marketing and communications for a social enterprise, legal publishing, and public sector experience in both New Zealand and the UK. She loves volunteering when she has time and serves as a trustee for Bellyful New Zealand.

Margaret has over 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications with local and central government and not-for-profit organisations. She’s a volunteer matchmaker with the Community Comms Collective.

Margaret oversees our communications strategy and much of the regular communication with our audiences, including newsletters, social media, and media liaison. She is passionate about using her communication skills to support volunteering and further the goals of Volunteering New Zealand.

Johann is Director of Research at Volunteering New Zealand, leading the
organisation’s research agenda.

Johann is an award-winning academic and community leader, bringing expertise in
humanities and social science research alongside 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 (2020, 2022) and the MBIE-funded Recent Migrant Volunteering
Strategy.

Johann completed his PhD (DPhil) in political philosophy at the University of Oxford,
where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He also 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. Alongside his work
for Volunteering New Zealand, Johann is a full-time academic in the United Kingdom, holding an appointment as a Lecturer/ Assistant Professor.

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