Our People

Our team come from different walks of life, with one thing in common: a passion to see children lifted out of poverty in Jesus’ name.

We have over 150 committed team members and many more volunteers who offer their time, energy and skills to help fulfill our mission.

Our team come from different walks of life, with one thing in common: a passion to see children lifted out of poverty in Jesus’ name.

We have over 150 committed team members and many more volunteers who offer their time, energy and skills to help fulfill our mission.

Jobs at Compassion include frontline positions that lead our engagement with churches, donors and supporters, plus a range of professional and support positions in areas such as customer service, marketing, finance, IT and HR.

Compassion Australia is managed by our CEO, Clare Steele, with the help of the executive directors.

Compassion Australia is based in Newcastle, NSW, and has regional offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Clare Steele - Chief Executive Officer

Following a successful business career, Clare has worked for over a decade in Christian ministry, focusing on strategic leadership that enables churches to better serve their communities. She studied Engineering in Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering at the University of Western Sydney as well as Master of Divinity through Sydney Missionary and Bible College.

As Compassion Australia CEO, she is excited to see churches and Christians around the world empowered to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Tony Broughton - Chief Operating Officer

Tony began his career in engineering and manufacturing management before moving into general operations leadership roles. He served for a significant part of his career in the pharmaceutical industry, where he headed operations for multi-national companies in Australia and the UK. He has also served as a board member with various not-for-profit organisations.

Inspired by practical acts of Christian faith, he is humbled to serve with Compassion. He loves working with teams to create high performance through innovation and entrepreneurship.

Steve Baird - Chief Marketing Officer

Steve is a highly regarded senior leader and marketing executive with a passion for justice and a heart for people. He has served as CEO of International Justice Mission Australia, Head of Marketing for Virgin Australia’s Velocity, and held senior marketing roles with Qantas.

Steve excels at building high performing teams to optimise marketing and fundraising efforts, including brand management, strategy, PR, digital marketing, acquisition and analytics.

Steve joined Compassion in 2024 and is humbled by the opportunity to steward our brand and help create lasting impact for the children we serve.

Natanya Full - Executive Director: Strategic Partnerships

Natanya joined Compassion in 2021 after working in professional services for 17 years in Australia and Southeast Asia. During this time, she partnered with for- and not-for profit organisations to optimise financial and operational performance.

She is an energetic and innovative thinker with a passion for co-creating solutions and a human-centred approach to leadership. Nat is humbled to work alongside a wonderful team and see the strategic vision of Compassion realised.

The Board

Compassion Australia is governed by a voluntary Board of Directors. The Board is made up of seven members, each bringing extensive experience and unique skills to Compassion's mission of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Compassion Australia is a company limited by guarantee with a Constitution that defines the organisation’s purpose, objectives and powers and how income is to be applied.

It is the role of the Board of Directors to ensure we operate in accordance with the principles and commitments stated in our Constitution.

Each of our Board members must abide by our Conflict of Interest policy.

Compassion Australia is a company limited by guarantee with a Constitution that defines the organisation’s purpose, objectives and powers and how income is to be applied.

It is the role of the Board of Directors to ensure we operate in accordance with the principles and commitments stated in our Constitution.

Each of our Board members must abide by our Conflict of Interest policy.

Isaac Moody - Chair of the Board

Chair of the Executive and CEO Governance Committee and the Executive Committee; Board member since 2008

Isaac has a group of businesses in hospitality, agriculture and property, which enables him to volunteer for ministries like Compassion and maintain strong community involvement in the Toowoomba region.

Isaac is married to Mel and together they have six young children.

Mike Jeffs

Member of the Finance Committee; Member of the Board of Directors of Compassion International; Australian Board member since 1995

Mike has extensive business knowledge, with 40 plus years’ experience in management and director roles. He is the Founder and Director of Network Communications Pty Ltd, Founder and CEO of Australian Christian Channel Pty Ltd, and Director of Southern Cross Institute Pty Ltd.

Mark McCrindle - Vice Chair of the Board

Member of the Risk Committee; Board member since 2015

Mark is a demographer, social researcher and founding principal of McCrindle Research. Along with his team of data analysts, he works to identify emerging trends and research insights that can inform strategy and effective engagement. Mark is regularly commissioned to deliver strategy and advice to some of Australia’s leading organisations.

Mabel Chua - Board Secretary

Chair of the Risk Committee; Member of CEO & Governance Committee; Board member since 2012

Mabel holds a Master of Laws, Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in accounting and finance. Prior to becoming the Managing Director of M 6:8 Legal in Perth, Mabel was a partner at a multi-disciplinary boutique legal practice. Mabel has served in various leadership capacities in her local church and in the Christian community.

Kent Medwin

Chair of the Finance Committee; Board member since 2010

Kent has been in business for over 25 years and is the Managing Director of Rock Property Australia and Pastor at Hillsong Church. Kent is passionate about seeing change, growth and empowering others to impact their sphere. Kent resides in Melbourne, Victoria with his wife and three children.

Irene Yu

Member of the Finance Committee; Member of the Risk Committee (FY24); Board member since 2023

Irene has over 20 years of experience in the accounting and banking industries. Prior to her current business leadership role with Westpac Group, she was a corporate banker with HSBC. Irene holds a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Mathematical Science and a postgraduate Diploma of Divinity. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow Certified Practising Accountants Australia, a Fellow Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a Chartered Banker.

Jonas Golze

Member of the CEO & Governance Committee; Member of the Strategy Committee (FY24); Board member since 2023

Jonas is Managing Partner of Corpus, a leading strategy and transformation consulting firm in Asia Pacific. He is a trusted advisor to senior executives, especially in retail, consumer product and distribution. He lives in Sydney with his wife and daughter and is passionate about championing the rights and wellbeing of children.

FAQs

What countries does Compassion Australia work in?

As part of a global network of more than 12 funding countries, Compassion Australia supports local churches to release children from poverty in over 25 developing countries in four regions worldwide:

Africa:

Burkina Faso

Ethiopia

Ghana

Kenya

Rwanda

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

Asia

Bangladesh

Indonesia

The Philippines

Sri Lanka

Thailand

Central America:

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

South America:

Bolivia

Brazil

Colombia

Ecuador

Peru

Currently Expanding Into:

Cambodia

Malawi

Myanmar

Zambia

You can:

Sponsor a child

Learn about our Child Sponsorship Program

What is the best way to donate to Compassion?

There are many ways you can make a donation or sponsorship contribution to Compassion, but by credit card or direct debit is usually the easiest. Recurring contributions can save a significant amount in fees and administration costs, meaning more of your gift can be directed to the program.

If you prefer to donate by cheques or money order, please make them payable to the Compassion Overseas Aid and Development Fund and consider giving three, six or even 12 months of donations at a time to help reduce administration costs.

For more information about our full terms and conditions for automatic payments, please read Compassion's Automatic Contribution Agreement.

You can:

Sponsor a child

Make a donation

Read Compassion's Terms and Conditions

What sort of development work does Compassion do?

Compassion’s holistic child development model is designed to help the most vulnerable and marginalised children on our planet grow up to become thriving followers of Jesus who are positively influencing their world. Poverty is complex and has a devastating impact on every area of life. Compassion seeks to address the different dimensions of a child's development simultaneously, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all solution. Holistic child development takes an individual child through a process of growth and fulfilment in all dimensions by seeking to address their physical, social, emotional, spiritual and economic needs. It sees each aspect of a person in an integrated way and resists the common practice of treating one area of life as independent of the others.

Therefore, our programs are tailored to meet the specific needs of individual children through all stages of their development. Compassion sees holistic child development as a contextualised, long-term approach that begins before a child is born and continues through to school age and beyond. Our Child Sponsorship Program and Critical Needs work in partnership to provide holistic development to children living in poverty.

Find out more about:

Our Child Sponsorship Program

Critical Needs

How Critical Needs works with Child Sponsorship

Why is Compassion Australia not listed with the Australian Council for International Development?

Compassion Australia is not a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) because of the church-based nature of our child development programs.

Relying on private funding rather than government grants allows for a primarily church-to-church model of development. We do place a priority on governance, accountability, stewardship and transparency and, as a result, consider the best fit for our organisation are Christian Ministry Association accreditation, Missions Interlink membership, and Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission financial reporting requirements.

However, this does not mean Compassion Australia could not obtain ACFID accreditation, which we would do if pursuing government grants.

Can Compassion fund me, my family or my organisation?

Unfortunately we cannot support individuals, families or organisations outside our program. Compassion's work in developing countries is led by a national office in partnership with local churches, and involves an in-depth process of determining the communities and individuals with the greatest needs that can be served through Compassion's program. All decisions as to which children receive support through Compassion's program are made locally.

You can:

Learn more about child sponsorship