Rachel is an experienced and passionate leader, having worked most recently in the educational leadership sector. She is dedicated to advocacy for children and believes that the vision for Birthright Canterbury is in perfect alignment with her personal beliefs. She is a born and raised Cantabrian, with two young adult sons. Post-Earthquake Rachel and her family lived abroad in Germany, China and Switzerland, as well as previously living in Wellington and Napier. Her interests include travelling, gardening, spending time with whanau and friends, and cooking. Rachel thrives in opportunities to build team culture, work with people and support the community through her work.

Desiree enjoys working for Birthright because of the variety of work, the people she comes across each day and the teamwork. She believes that all children should be given opportunities to succeed. Multi-tasking, a passion for children’s welfare and a sense of humour are all qualities that Desiree believes are essential for her role.

Gloria is a registered social worker, originally from Chile, South America. She has been living in New Zealand since 2003 and studied a Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Canterbury. Before starting at Birthright Canterbury Gloria spent almost two years working for Women's Refuge in Wellington. She enjoys working at Birthright Canterbury because she has the chance to walk alongside clients, supporting them to improve their lives. Gloria is also a Mum to a daughter. In her spare time her family enjoys going for walks with their dog, spending time with friends & family and travelling to discover new places.

Elaine is a registered social worker who studied at Ara Institute. Elaine worked at Caring for the Carers for four years and before that she worked for two years at Open Home Foundation. Elaine loves helping clients and their children to achieve, to grow and become independent people in their own right. Elaine is a mother of 4 grown up children and 8 grandchildren. Elaine loves to spend time painting, colouring-in and travelling.

Jo has worked as a registered Social Worker and registered Early Education Teacher since graduating from Otago University.
Jo loves supporting families and tamariki in the community setting and has previously worked as both in Christchurch, Ashburton and Timaru.
Jo loves line dancing, walks with her West Highland terrier Bailey, doing voluntary service with her local library and church.
Jo loves wearing bright colours and spending time with family and friends.
Jo is looking forward to working for Birthright Canterbury and keeping links with Ashburton.

Ruth has volunteered for Birthright since 1994. One of the reasons she joined was because she enjoys working with children. Family is very important to her and, as a mother and grandmother, she is always interested in what is happening for them and her Birthright families. Ruth has also trained as a budget adviser and worked as a kindergarten teacher.

Pat has been involved with Birthright for more than 25 years. She enjoys visiting families on a regular basis to see how they are. In her spare time, Pat likes to knit, garden, do craft, write letters to friends outside of Ashburton, travel, spend time with her family, volunteer for other organisations and learn about other people’s cultures.

Christine started as a Volunteer Family Visitor in 2003 and became a Field Worker in 2008. She has always worked with people and, having been a single parent for a short time, knew how difficult it could be without support, so she felt she could give something of herself to the role. She has studied social work at the University of Otago on a part-time basis. What she most enjoys about working for Birthright is the families. “They all bring something of themselves that warms your heart. I enjoy seeing people gain confidence and grow within themselves to achieve independence and goals.”

I have been volunteering with Birthright for 5 years now. Initially I gave the group talks on nutrition for example healthy affordable meals, healthy lunch boxes for school aged children etc. Now I am the facilitator of a Friday group of single parents. I organise speakers and educators from a range of disciplines to come and chat to our single parents. Sometimes we just do fun stuff like crafts such as jewellery making or scrapbooking.

I have an honours degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology and also recently completed my postgraduate diploma in Nutrition through the University of Otago and did a paper on Maori health at ARA. I moved to New Zealand with my husband and daughters from South Africa in 2000.

 I love the variety of people I meet through my volunteering work. The sense of accomplishment when we have a group of parents getting together and really connecting with each other and helping each other. It puts me on a high for the day.

Camila is a Brazilian system analyst currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science. She is happy to be part of the Birthright volunteers' group because she feels that, by doing that, she can give back to the community and support Birthright's vision.

Leandro comes from Brazil and has been living in New Zealand since 2018. Being raised by a single and hard-working mom, he understood some of the challenges faced by families led by one person, and was thrilled with the opportunity to volunteer for Birthright and help support its vision. Currently working as a Portuguese-English translator and having just finished his studies in Data Analysis, he enjoys playing card games in his spare time.