Interhealth

Paul Mason has committed his life to creating the social and political will necessary to end extreme poverty.

At 23 years of age Paul is the State Director of the Western Australian (WA) Branch of The Oaktree Foundation, an aid and development organization run entirely by volunteers under the age of 26. www.theoaktree.org

Paul and his fellow Oaktree volunteers are leading a movement of young people to work together, across the developed and developing world, to use education to break the poverty cycle.

Paul is a strong advocate for enabling young people to harness their passion, knowledge and skills to create change through tackling issues of poverty and injustice.

Inspired by the Oaktree Foundation's vision, Paul became involved in October 2005 and took the helm of the WA Branch in early 2006. Paul has successfully lead his team of volunteers to inspire and empower young people in Perth to take action through campaigns and programs such as Make Poverty History, End Child Slavery and Schools 4 Schools. His dedication earned him the Citizenship award at the 2007 WA Youth Awards and the 2008 Student Applied Anthropology Award from the WA Anthropological Society.

Paul's journey towards a deeper understanding of issues of poverty and injustice saw him travel to Rwanda and Malawi in 2007 and co-lead a team of 14 specially selected Oaktree leaders to India and Bangladesh in 2008. Paul alongside his fellow Oaktree leaders worked with the UN, international aid agencies and local NGO's in creating a global network of young leaders to work towards the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Paul has been covered in the media and is an inspirational speaker having presented at schools, universities, community groups, conferences and businesses. He is currently in his final year at UWA, completing a BA with a major in Anthropology.