Our Board

Our board (management committee) consists of five permanent members. There is also a consultant who works closely with the board in an advisory capacity.

Alan Murphy

President / Founder

Alan worked as a freelance travel writer in Africa from the late 1990s. When he saw the African wildlife he fell in love, but when he began to understand the impact of poverty in local communities, he felt compelled to give back. In 2011, he began supporting people in Sri Lanka and Southern Africa through establishing projects that focused mainly on the homeless, disadvantaged children and women. In 2013, Alan founded Friends 4 Life – the forerunner to RoundTrip Foundation. Alan holds a Masters of International Relations and practices wealth redistribution, giving away large portions of his income to those who need it more. When his head is not deeply buried in RoundTrip matters, Alan works for SafariBookings as their Director of Content.

Justine Vaisutis

Secretary

Justine is an accomplished change agent with extensive experience leading human rights, diversity and inclusion and ethical conduct and compliance programs across the public, private and community sectors. She brings astute business, governance, and legal acumen alongside an aptitude for human-centred design and systems thinking. Justine’s passion for social justice commenced at a young age, shaped by an early childhood in Africa and Asia. She spent 10 years writing for Lonely Planet and producing content and articles for Amnesty International before moving on to senior positions at Monash University, the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission, and KPMG. Justine holds a Bachelor of Arts (Development Studies), a Master of Human Rights Law and an Executive MBA.

Alison Barber

Treasurer

Alison has spent many years in agricultural media, rural communication and project management. Travel is a natural extension of her passion to ‘get the facts’ first-hand by seeking out those best placed to know, and to get their perspective. Alison has also had a long running, forensic interest in numbers, and keeps the books balanced for the family business. Her interest in international development was sparked while undertaking a Masters in International Journalism in London in the 1990s. She believes sustainable development is best driven by local communities, supported to build empowerment through better health, education and economic means. Alison is inspired by the amazing people driving the grassroot projects RoundTrip Foundation works with, and the real potential for lives to be changed for the better.

Kate Neely

Director of International Programs

Kate has worked as an educator, manager and research professional in both science and international development. Kate is passionate about access to clean water as a keystone to international development and her research currently centres around ways to work with small communities in Timor Leste to ensure ongoing water supply and behaviour change for sanitation and hygiene. Kate has been involved with refugee and indigenous associations in Australia and has been a volunteer teacher in the Kingdom of Tonga. Kate’s approach to development is based on respecting the voices and choices of residents in development focused communities.

Dave Gorvett

Director of Communications

David’s career began in public service at the Ministry of Justice in the UK before he moved to Australia in 2010. He spent around a decade working for Lonely Planet, where he chaired their staff fundraising committee for several years. Travels to far-flung places brought home to David the inequality in living standards and opportunities in different communities, and he became a firm believer in the need to harness the power of travel for good. He is passionate about social entrepreneurship and enabling impoverished communities to develop sustainable means of improving levels of education, health and poverty. Such changes he believes are best made through supporting local talent to address issues in their local community. David sees RoundTrip Foundation’s approach as a practical extension of this belief and hopes to continue to grow RoundTrip’s impact around the world.