GVN Foundation team

The GVN Foundation has a dedicated group of staff to answer all your questions and help ensure that your ESTC event is a huge success. We have all hosted ESTC events ourselves and so we know all about the challenges and excitements you will face! We are here to help, so please contact us at any time.

Courtney Montague - Founder

Courtney Co-Founded Eat So They Can and is dedicated to seeing it grow into an event that citizens around the world look forward to each year. Courtney believes in Eat So They Can and believes that it is much more than a fundraiser- it is a way to engage the global community in discussions about child poverty and a way to encourage community in countries around the world.

Courtney recently completed a Masters in Public Administration at New York University and is a fellow in the Catherine B. Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship. Courtney loves to eat… write, read, hike, relax with friends and family and watch movies.

Colin Salisbury - Founder

Colin has achieved a Masters in International Development and travelled worldwide. He has worked in a number of volunteer organisations locally before setting up Global Volunteer Network including work in Youth for Christ and World Vision which are both internationally recognised. From here Colin moved to Government department work for Internal Affairs in the area of Community development. Colin enjoys the outdoor life that New Zealand offers including all water sports but particularly sailing as well as tramping and skiing.

As well as having a direct overview of the programs that Global Volunteer Network offers internationally, Colin also overseas the development of the GVN Foundation based in Denver, Colorado.

Eliza Raymond - Executive Director

After 2 years in the GVN Peru office, Eliza decided she had eaten enough guinea pigs for a while and was ready to move back to New Zealand. She started with GVN Foundation in April 2009 as Grants Coordinator. Eliza is British/French by nationality but calls Motueka (New Zealand) home. After celebrating her 3rd birthday in Tibet, Eliza has never been very good at staying in one place. Her travels have taken her to Siberia to teach English, Germany to pack Frankfurters, the island of Chiloe to au-pair and of course to her favourite place of all, Peru. Eliza has a BA in geography and Spanish, and a Masters focused on international volunteering. When not in the GVN office, Eliza is riding her bike, playing tennis, lost, or planning her next trip.

Eliza is GVN Foundation's Executive Director and is the person to contact if you have any big picture questions or ideas for ESTC.

Lauren McMahon - Media and Communications Manager

Lauren landed in New Zealand mid March 2007 after a little hop-skip-jump from Melbourne, Australia, to take up a media internship with GVN. After falling in love with the magical country she decided to stay permanently and now calls NZ home. Lauren's background is in environmental communications and she is happiest when she is climbing mountains, chasing rainbows, and seeing people live a fulfilling life with a big smile on their face. Stick your head in the GVN office and you will most likely see Lauren either sliding across the room on her swivel chair, peeling a piece of exotic fruit at her desk, or debating the comparative linguistics of footwear with her Kiwi, American, and South African buddies. This Aussie firmly believes a comfortable, rubber, foot apparatus is called a thong – not a jandle, not a flip-flop, not a slophie! In 2008 Lauren bagged Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa as part of GVN’s Fundraising Trek and in 2009 she returned to Kenya and spent 5 month working on the ground as the GVN Rep. Right now she is back in NZ and busy planning her next adventure.

Fiona Millar - ESTC Ambassador Program Coordinator

Fiona moved to Wellington from her Christchurch home in 2009 to live the student life at Victoria University. Fiona is studying a BA in development studies, international relations and political science, and is particularly interested in the region of Southeast Asia. With the travel bug well and truly in her system, Fiona hopes to travel to all the places on her very long wishlist once she's done studying. When she isn't studying and interning at GVN, Fiona is learning to teach English as a foreign language, enjoying kiwi music and daydreaming about her future travels.

Fiona coordinates our Ambassador Program and is the person to contact if you have any questions about becoming an Ambassador.

Lydia Berlad - Host Mentor

Lydia Berlad is originally from Ukraine but moved to New Zealand when she was five. She is currently completing her Bachelor of Arts Honours in International Relations. She is passionate about food, going to markets and learning about other cultures. She also loves learning languages and spent a year and a half in Germany trying to maneuver her way around with the complex language. She loves to travel, but has mainly based herself in Europe so in the next few years she hopes to branch out and see other regions and of course experience their cuisine. Another love of Lydia's is hanging out with youth and helping out with the youth ministry at the church she attends.

Lydia is one of our wonderful ESTC Host Mentors and is the person to contact if you have any questions about how to host an event.

Luke Fitzmaurice - ESTC Host Mentor

Luke moved to Wellington in 2008 to study International Relations and Law at Victoria University. He is a passionate sports fan, and is particularly fanatical about the Wellington Phoenix, the local football team here in Wellington. He also loves music, movies, travel, and is a keen runner. Luke discovered a passion for international development through three short term aid trips he went on as a teenager; in East Timor, Thailand, and Peru. He went to Africa for the first time in November 2010, spending three months in Ghana volunteering in a human rights NGO. He has developed a strong interest in the region and would love to return in the near future.

Luke is one of our wonderful ESTC Host Mentors and is the person to contact if you have any questions about how to host an event.