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BEHIND HOPELAND

The Founders

Nick Evans

Co-Founder, CEO

Nicholas Evans serves as CEO and Co-Founder of Hopeland, a young organization which advocates for vulnerable children around the world by testing and implementing innovative ways to prevent and solve the issue of family separation.

Prior to joining Hopeland in 2014, Nicholas spent ten years with Addaction, the largest organization for Drug and Alcohol treatment in the United Kingdom. His work has been cited by former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Nicholas is currently working on a number of exciting campaigns that demonstrate the benefit of a safe, loving family.

Deborra-lee Furness

Co-Founder

Deborra-lee Furness is an internationally acclaimed actress as well as a passionate advocate for vulnerable and abandoned children. Her humanitarian work for children is a driving force in her life. She is Patron of The Lighthouse Foundation for displaced children in Melbourne, Australia; a Global Ambassador for World Vision; Patron of the Bone Marrow Donor Institute for Children with Leukemia; Patron of International Adoption Families of Queensland. She founded National Adoption Awareness Week and Adopt Change in Australia, focusing on improving adoption programs, procedures and legislation, raising awareness and understanding of the issues of vulnerable children. In 2014 NAAW achieved the goal of new legislation being passed by the Australian government to greatly improve procedures surrounding adoption.

For her advocacy work she has been honored by The Joint Council USA and in 2013 was given the prestigious award of Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption in Washington DC. Harlem Village Academies honored Deborra-lee and her husband Hugh for their philanthropy work in 2012. She was presented with the 2014 International Humanitarian Award in Utah by Mentors International. Also in 2015, Deborra-lee was honored in Washington as Advocate of the Year by Kidsave. And was named NSW Australian of the year, 2015. In March 2017 Deborra-lee received the United Nations Women for Peace Leadership Award and is a regular mainstage speaker at Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York City.

Deborra-lee is the co-founder of Hopeland, a platform that has been established to raise awareness around vulnerable and abandoned children. The mission of Hopeland is to put this issue front and center on the political and human rights agendas, globally. Mobilizing and influencing leaders across government, business and civil society, to create innovative solutions and policies that will ensure children will belong in a safe loving home.

The Staff

Lauretta Hunt

Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development

Lauretta is Hopeland’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development. She is a strategic leader, with experience working for companies including BMW, Vodafone, Tennis Australia and Simulmedia. She has developed a well rounded perspective from working in a variety of positions including Operations, Revenue, Strategy, Human Resources and Recruitment. She’s always been passionate about justice for children and is excited to join Hopeland’s mission for a world where every child grows up in a safe and loving family. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, she moved to New York City in 2016. She loves traveling the world, geeks out on psychology and is a total espresso addict.

Andrew Stone

Campaign Director

Andrew is Hopeland’s Campaign Director working on the Home and Family campaigns. Prior to joining Hopeland Andrew was a senior advisor at the UK House of Commons as Chief of Staff to an influential Member of Parliament. His MP sat on the Home Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons and then subsequently became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP, the then Secretary of State for the Home Department. Andrew’s role involved briefing and giving advice on this wide ranging policy area which in addition to policing and national security also included drug policy, immigration, and care for vulnerable children in the UK.

Additionally during his time in the UK Parliament Andrew worked on successful campaigns to increase infrastructure spending in his Representative’s district and across the UK; to improve healthcare provision for all; to better the lives of senior citizens; and to make government more representative of local needs. Furthermore he aided the passage of a Private Members Bill on Medical Innovation through the House of Commons and worked closely with senior Parliamentary authorities regarding renovation of the Palace of Westminster to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II. He also played a senior role on two winning General Election campaigns in the UK in a key marginal district.

He recently emigrated to the United States and lives with his wife Lisa in New Jersey.

The Board of Directors

Dennis Stratton

Board Chair

Dennis Stratton is a dynamic facilitator, consultant, executive coach, and motivational speaker, with over 32 years’ experience in management consulting.

The primary purpose of Dennis' work is to assist individuals and organizations to achieve exceptional results in an environment of volatile and/or accelerating change. He believes solutions already reside within organizations and has developed high-impact methodologies for leaders, teams and organizations struggling with change yet in search for new ways to quickly respond.

Dennis’ reputation precedes him; getting underneath real problems, he is a proven catalyst for “stuck” organizations. He is an expert at interrupting business as usual and challenges ways of thinking, leading and designing an organization for successful change.

The genesis of Dennis’ interest in change leadership consulting came as Director of Information Resources for the Dun and Bradstreet Corporation. Faced with a daunting internal transformation project, Dennis chaired multiple task forces chartered with the fundamental redesign and implementation of new quality control systems, dynamic information systems, and recalibrated performance management systems.

Since 1989, as President of Stratton Consulting Group, LLC, Dennis has led comprehensive change interventions for organizations in diverse industries including healthcare, financial services, retail, technology, government and non-profit institutions.

Fiona Bassett

Board Treasurer

Fiona Bassett is a managing director currently leading strategic transformation at DWS (Deutsche Asset Management), responsible for helping to shape the strategic agenda, focusing on transformation of the commercial platform through organic and inorganic measures.

Fiona has extensive experience successfully building and transforming businesses in investment banking and asset management. Prior to her current role, she co-led the Global Index business, overseeing $140 billion in assets and was a key architect behind the growth and development of the award-winning X-trackers ETF franchise, building and delivering investment solutions to a broad range of clients including large global financial institutions, corporations, private banks, hedge funds and money managers.

Fiona is also a passionate advocate for corporate sustainability and community impact initiatives as well as being actively engaged in the firm’s pro-bono activities.

Fiona is widely recognized for her leadership and innovation in the financial services industry and has been recognized by American Banker, the Institute of International Finance, Mutual Fund Industry and Crain’s New York Business.

Fiona has a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Birmingham.

Raegan Moya-Jones

Board Secretary

Raegan Moya-Jones is the co-founder and CEO of aden + anais, the baby care brand globally recognized for its muslin swaddles and baby products. The brand continues to introduce an evolving assortment of family-friendly lifestyle items inspired by Australian traditions and Raegan’s personal life experiences as a mom of four girls.

In 2006, Raegan, along with a business partner, launched aden + anais’ inaugural product – her modernized version of an Aussie-inspired muslin swaddle blanket in style-driven colors and patterns. Instantaneously, the product resonated with American parents and the demand for the swaddles grew exponentially with Raegan securing triple-digit growth yearly since the businesses inception. In 2009, she left her position at The Economist to run aden + anais full-time as the brand’s sole owner.

Raegan was recently named as one of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurs of the Year, considered one of the most prestigious business awards in the world. aden + anais was named to SmartCEO’s 2015 Future 50 list, recognizing the nation’s fastest growing companies as well as by Crain’s New York Business in this year’s Fast 50 list at number 30.

Peta-Gay Clarke

Board Member

Peta-Gay is well-rounded professional with over 15 years of experience as a Business, Information Technology, and Community leader.

In 2015, Peta-Gay joined the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion division at Google Inc., where she is the Program Manager for Code Next -- Google’s first community-facing initiative that works to cultivate Black and Latinx tech leaders. Through the development of culturally responsive programs, events and the build-out of innovation labs, Code Next removes barriers, expands social capital, and provides unparalleled access to technology.

Peta-Gay is a member of the Board of Trustees at Pace University and is an Adjunct Professor at the University's Seidenberg School of Computer Science. Before joining Google, Peta-Gay was the Deputy Director of IT at the Columbia University School of Journalism. Earlier in her career, she worked as a Software Engineer building web-based applications for companies such as Federal Reserve Bank, NYC Department of Education, New York Magazine, and COACH Inc.

Peta-Gay holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Programming from Farmingdale State University of New York (SUNY) and has earned a Master's Degree from Pace University. Peta-Gay is a 1st generation Jamaican-American. She is a native New Yorker and resides in Long Island, NY.

Benjamin Rehberg

Board Member

Benjamin Rehberg is the global co-lead for Boston Consulting Group’s Agile at Scale work. He is also a member of the global leadership team for the Technology Advantage practice.

Benjamin works primarily in financial services, including banking, insurance, and payments on multiple digital, technology, and operational issues. He focuses on digital transformation, technology, agile organization, and governance. His clients include large global financial services institutions in North America, as well as select clients in other industries (automotive, consumer, and others). Benjamin also has co-authored numerous articles about agile transformation.

Prior to BCG, Benjamin worked as a consultant with IBM Global Services in Germany.

Kathleen Strottman

Board Member

Kathleen Strottman comes to her role having served as the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Children with 15-years experience as a policy advocate for vulnerable children. Kathleen was previously the Executive Director of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute where she was an expert in legislation related to children outside of family care. As Legislative Director for Senator Mary Landrieu, Kathleen played a principal role in the passage of legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act and other important legislation acts.

Kathleen has worked to increase the opportunity for positive dialogue and the exchange of best practice in child welfare. Kathleen regularly presents at national and international child welfare conferences and has appeared on CNN, FOX News, CBS, NBC, C-SPAN, PBS and numerous other media outlets.

Kathleen attended Whittier Law School’s Center for Children’s where she graduated with honors and received a state certified specialty in juvenile advocacy. She and her husband, Matt, are the proud parents of four children, Grace, Noah, Liam and Emerson.

Thad Hartmann

Board Member

Thad Hartmann is a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Thad advises public and private companies and private equity firms on mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, corporate governance, joint ventures, spin-offs and securities offerings. He advises companies in a variety of industries, with an emphasis on sports, media, entertainment and technology.

Thad has been recognized as a Power Player in Sports Law by SportsBusiness Journal and a Rising Star in Media & Entertainment by Law360. Thad is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

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