Meet The Team

Founder & CEO

Timi Barabas

Timi is extremely passionate about helping people and making the world a better place. Since she heard 'We Are The World', a song that changed her life at 15, Timi found she must use her life to help others. Over the last few years she has established and coordinated several non profit projects on a national and international level. She is the founder and director of Rise For Lives, the International Funding, Finances and Staff Manager at Climate Live International, and Climate Live's New Zealand founder: where she was in charge of managing 500K+ USD in funding and 20+ staff members around the globe.

She was the funding coordinator for the Activists in Risk Zones FFF Task Force, where she coordinated fundraising of over 200K+ Euros for evacuations from Afghanistan. She has won various awards and recognitions for her work including being the top 5 finalists for the New Zealand Impact Awards (Climate category) in 2021. Timi was a runner up for the Youth Volunteer of the Year Award- Volunteering Waikato- for doing 5000 volunteering hours in 2020/2021.

Dep. Executive Director

Beth Claire A

Beth is passionate about philosophy and human rights. She has been directing Rise For Lives since February 2021 as an adept director after volunteering alongside Timi for a proposal implementing peace education in schools around the United States & New Zealand. Over the past several years she has contributed significantly through volunteering with a range of peace NPO’s, art galleries, museums, Hospice, SVA, SPCA, and has held numerous prose writing roles. She analysed artefacts for her city museum for 600 pieces contributing to several exhibitions.

She also contributes to activist and party associations, as well as the arts. 
In recognition of her volunteering she's received countless awards, including the Hillary Award, CAO Scholarship (Crimson), SVA Top Volunteer Award out of 30K pupils, MoE Scholarships and bursaries in philosophy and theoretical physics. She’s also in the process of writing a paper on tragic dilemmas, alongside several other philosophy & peace essays which she hopes to be published in late September.

In her capacity as our Executive Director she hopes that Rise For Lives will have a lasting and genuine impact on the world. 

bethclaireaa@gmail.com/

contact@riseforlives.org​

Event Coordinator

Willow Noome

Willow is passionate about human rights, the environment and the well-being of those within her community. She has been an Amnesty International rapid response member for two years, and was also prefect at her ex high school where she was the leader of a dance club, Students Against Dangerous Driving Club and member of the environment club. It was here that she organised the World Vision 40 hour famine competitions which to raised thousands.

Willow also organised a fundraiser for a children's hospital where she encouraged staff and students to donate their old stuffed animals/ toys to children in need. In 2020 she was also on the Hawke's Bay Youth Environmental Council alongside the Napier Youth Council where she  was the voice for young people to instigate meaningful and positive change within her community.

She currently studies a Bachelor of Laws - LLB, Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Auckland.

Event Coordinator

Kimberly Sabmeethavorn

Kimberly is most passionate about helping people. Growing up, she developed strong ideas, clear communication and integrity through seeing and helping her community - with eventing charities, fundraisers and organising significant donations. She is originally from Thailand, and for years has led projects that collect and donate packs to help students in Thailand who don’t have enough food to eat. 

In 2021 she was one of the main coordinators of the Hawkes Bay Rise For Lives peace walk for Yemen which was attended by hundreds. She also ran Rise For Lives fundraisers in her high school that helped raise funds for Save the Children.

Event Coordinator

Keisya Gunawan

Keisya is passionate about helping others and bringing light to a range of social and global issues. She joined Rise For Lives in March of 2022 as a Student Coordinator, where has since organised a 500 person event at Stratford High School for Ukraine. She is a member of the Stratford Youth Council and Stratford High Schools Student Council, where she has been involved in the organisation of various charity events, including those from St. John, Taranaki Women's Refuge New Zealand, etc.

Keisya was also involved in The Aotearoa Youth Declaration (AYD), which gave her opportunities to solve the issues facing Aotearoa New Zealand’s education centre through research and debate. As SDYC chairperson and Stratford advisor of the Whanganui Youth MP, Keisya is planning to manage projects that will help youths in her electorate find academic and career-based opportunities. 

International Program Director and African Continent Coordinator

Tafadzwa Chando

Tafadzwa is the African continent coordinator for Rise For Lives where he is in the process of recruiting and onboarding Rise For Lives teams in over 7 conflict affected countries in Africa. He is a youth and climate activist based in Zimbabwe. Tafadzwa is the founder of Magna Youth Action (a youth-led environmental and youth empowerment movement) and former Communications Director of the International Youth Fellowship and is the youth President for Birdlife Zimbabwe.

He has volunteered for over 10 years and launched environmental awareness clubs in over 50 institutions in Southern Africa. Since early 2020 he has been coordinating Climate Live Zimbabwe and has also been helping to coordinate things internationally for Climate Live. In October 2021 he became one of its two international  full time coordinators where he has coordinated a large team of people running environmental events in over 20 countries in October 2021 and has also managed major funding for Climate Live in Africa.

Since early 2022 he has been in charge of onboarding more than 20 new MAPA countries joining Climate Live in 2022.

Event Coordinator

Rata Simperingham

Rata is passionate about social justice, our planet and people - building bonds of unity and love! Her skills are primarily in written communication; speech-writing, manifesto writing, formal communications.

She has experience in local government, for example writing Council submissions for the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity. She also has experience in critical-thinking, team-work and joining groups together to successfully work on projects, like bringing the community together for the first and second School Strike for Climate in Tairawhiti - Gisborne - the largest protests in Tairawhiti's history. She was a national semifinalist for the Race Unity Speech Awards in 2019,and has been a Prefect in her high school and a Hospice Youth Leader. She was also involved in both the Multiethnic Youth Leaders Network this year, and the Climate Clinic's efforts to track the accountability of public organisations to the Government's Carbon Neutral Pledge by 2025.

She currently volunteers for the Red Cross, and has taken papers at the Victoria University of Wellington on the History of the Middle East, NZ Political History, Religious Studies, as she believes empathy and compassion are the only way that we can move towards a more peaceful world.

Event Coordinator

Lexi Rutherford-Blyth

Lexi has been a Prefect and Class President at her school during 2021. Over the past years she has taken a leading role in her schools World Vision and Operation Christmas Child Fundraising teams. She has also been a Launchpad presenter, English tutor for year 9 and 10 students struggling with reading and was also a Peer support student at her school.

In 2019 at age 15 Lexi received a scholarship from Southern Cross-Cultural Exchange programme which allowed her to spend 3 months in Finland on exchange learning Finish and working on local projects. Lexi is passionate about helping people on any scale, but is particularly interested in doing this medicinally and politically and is studying Health Sciences First Year at University of Otago in 2022.

Social Media Officer

Beautienna Gamble

Beautienna is passionate about helping others and doing her part for the common good. She is apart of the Student Volunteer Army and Young Vinnies (youth of St Vincent De Paul Association) that are both dedicated to helping the wider community. She has done a range of volunteer work from care packages for the homeless, to administration work at COVID vaccination centres. She recently joined the New Zealand Peace Foundation as an ambassador, where they have begun plans for this year's Youth Peace week. Beautienna previously worked in the role as the Student Trustee on the Board of Trustees, and is now the Head of Service at her school (Marian College) where she is also an active member of the Student Executive Council, wellbeing team and other in school initiatives.

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She finds purpose in serving others and believes that human rights and social justice should be readily available for everyone. Beautienna wanted to join Rise For Lives to actively educate others and learn from everyone involved along the way. She hopes to be able to spark conversations and help bring light to the issues many people in the world face as result of conflict.

- PAID STAFF -

Personal Assistant

Luisa Dewar

Luisa Dewar (she/her) is a 19 year old activist based in Ōtautahi, Aotearoa. She assists Rise For Lives in a range of administration activities under the role of personal assistant. She became involved in Rise for Lives early April this year. Some of her passions include a deep love for women's history, supporting youth issues and baking.

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Other work of hers is with womenshistorynz.org, a non profit organisation for telling the stories of woman's history. As well as work within Young Labour. She is currently studying a BA in Cultural studies and political science at University of Canterbury.

Event Coordinator

Ishi Kakroo

Ishi is passionate about justice and equal rights. She joined Rise For Lives in March of 2022 as a student coordinator, having worked alongside our team members during the GirlBoss scholarship for young women excelling in the business and finance sector.

She is an avid volunteer for various charities, and works with the Salvation Army and the Queen Margaret College library while leading in-school Rise For Lives events. She plans to complete her Duke of Edinburgh award and move into dentistry in the future. 

Social Media Officer

Joanna Jiang

Joanna is passionate about social justice issues and wants to make a difference. She wanted to be a part of the social media team at Rise for Lives to help the amazing team advocate for the most urgent social justice issues of our time.

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She has been a peer mentor, and tutored students in English and Maths at her school. She has also volunteered at Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital, the Royal Oak school carnival, and UN Youth. She is currently a first year student at the University of Auckland.