Telling the untellable story

The story is real. It’s daunting. It’s not soft on the eye. It’s confronting. There hasn’t been anything ‘new’ about it in years. Action is needed now.

Maureen Collins is the Development Manager at Australia for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. She was responsible for setting up their major donor program two and a half years ago and is also responsible for corporations, trusts, foundations and bequests. She was last year’s winner of the Fundraising Institute of Australia’s Most Outstanding Fundraising Project 2009 for her work with Pricewaterhouse Cooper’s (PWC) ‘Power of 10 Campaign, which globally raised over US$4 million in just ten working days.

In her joint session with a surprising and moving co-story teller, Maureen will share her experience in telling the untellable and methods to get an emotional response that inspire action.

You will hear and discuss:

• How a communicator can deliver intense information in a way that inspires action.
• Three key facts and the emotional response to them
• The role of the media in maintaining focus on major world events including the tsunami, bushfires and the recent tragedy in Haiti.
• Who inspires and delivers best practice
• Insights from a recent trip to Chad

The power of a personal story and how the story becomes real.

About Maureen Collins

Maureen Collins is the Development Manager at Australia for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. She was responsible for setting up their major donor program two and a half years ago and is also responsible for corporations, trusts, foundations and bequests. She was last year’s winner of the Fundraising Institute of Australia’s Most Outstanding Fundraising Project 2009 for her work with PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PWC) 'Power of 10' Campaign, which globally raised over US$4 million in just ten working days.

The funds were used to help educate 30,000 children from Darfur in four refugee camps based near the Chad/Sudan border where over 270,000 refugees have been hosted in twelve camps since the Darfur conflict began in 2003. Maureen visited the camps in late 2009 with two directors from PWC to see how the funds had been spent and the impact on the lives of refugees there.

Maureen is an award winning photographer and is passionate about helping refugees and improving economic inequality. Through her images she aims to tell individual stories and help marginalized people maintain their dignity whilst creating awareness and raising funds for UNHCR’s life-saving work.

Prior to joining Australia for UNHCR Maureen came from a background in Business Development including many start-up roles and always for brand leaders or iconic brands such as Rank Xerox, Horse and Hound Magazine and Driza-Bone. She has also been a sports manager to two Olympic Equestrian Riders and a Pakistani Cricketer.

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