What it’s like for work for an NGO – Ashley Beard

Landing her job straight out of high school, Ashley is one of the longest standing members of the ChildFund Australia family. She fondly recalls, “my friend told me there was a job opportunity at ChildFund and asked if I was interested€¦I tried out for it, and got it!”

In all her years working for ChildFund, Ashley says she has “never looked back. I love it. I couldn`t imagine working anywhere else.”

Ashley spends much of her day speaking with and helping ChildFund supporters. At any given time, she could be emailing our Kenya National Office to find out how a sponsored child living in the Great Rift Valley (more than 12,000 kilometres from Sydney) is going with their education, or making sure our sponsors` Birthday Cards are sent out to children all around the world, from Ecuador to the Philippines, or organising a visit for an Aussie sponsor to meet their sponsored child in Cambodia.

During her time at ChildFund, Ashley has visited communities in Vietnam, Thailand and more recently, India. “It has been great to be able to see our programs firsthand,” she says. “It reminds you of all the wonderful things children are getting out of the work we do every day.”

Despite having organised hundreds of sponsor child visits over the years, it wasn`t until November 2013 that Ashley attended one for the first time. During this time, she accompanied our ChildFund Australia Trip of a Lifetime competition winners.

“It was the most unbelievable experience I have ever had. The community went above and beyond what we were expecting,” she fondly recalls. “You could truly see just how much they appreciated the help.”

Working in Supporter Relations, it was very special for Ashley to “spend time with supporters who are really passionate about what we do and are so keen to keep helping us”.

Apart from being inspired by ChildFund`s passionate supporters, Ashley believes that a key reason she has stayed with ChildFund Australia for so many years is due to the “hard-working” ethic of all staff members, and the “fun environment”. Ultimately for Ashley, “it`s the people you work with who make it special!”