Martha Mackenzie, Trustee, Oxfam GB

Martha Mackenzie is the Executive Director of the Civic Power Fund, a new pooled fund dedicated to community organising.

The Civic Power Fund aims to build the power of communities to win change that matters to them. It does this by raising resources from large foundations, trusts, and philanthropies and redistributing them to grassroots community organisers and activists. The Fund prioritises communities excluded from full participation in democracy because of their race, gender, disability, class, sexuality, or immigration status. It aims to break down barriers to funding for these communities and provides long-term support to build bottom-up social movements.

Martha brings a background in organising, campaigning, fundraising and charity leadership. Prior to joining the Civic Power Fund, she was Head of Global Humanitarian Advocacy at UNICEF headquarters in New York. Here she led UNICEF's Global Covid-19 Advocacy and helped to establish UNICEF's Advocacy Capacity Building Initiative; boosting the campaigning capacity of their country teams.

Before moving to the USA, she was Head of Government Relations and Director of UK Poverty Campaigns at Save the Children UK. Here she led a major sector-wide push to strengthen safeguarding and streamline criminal record background checks. She also helped to establish the Aid Alliance, a group of 46 international development who are still working together to build public and political support for UK Aid.

Martha has been an Oxfam supporter for as long as she can remember. From taking part in bakesales at primary school to joining the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh and volunteering in her local Oxfam shop. She is thrilled to be part of Oxfam's work to shift power to the communities they serve.