About | The Mangrove Collective

ABOUT US

The Mangrove Collective is a women-founded and women-led entity. The Collective is led by a Core Team of women leaders who believe in the diversified, non-conventional expression of women's leadership in the social impact ecosystem. We therefore practise co-leadership, non-hierarchy and self-leadership.

We believe that the value and significance of leadership and influence in the sector should be dissociated from organisational titles, salary figures, full-time employment status and where, how often and how much one chooses to work. We believe in making 'work' work for us; not the other way around. We acknowledge the varying levels of time and effort women desire to contribute to the sector depending on their life-stages and circumstances, and are committed to creating a culture that focuses on the well-being of our Core Team.

Rather than making the organisation define us, we choose to evolve the purpose, focus and functions of The Mangrove Collective based on the passion and unique contributions each Core Team member brings to Mangrove, in each season.

OUR JOURNEY

Click on the links to hear and read about the stories based on our Collective journey, so far!

Women in Consulting Podcast Episode: Collegiate Thinking and Supportive Working

- with The Mangrove Collective (2022)

The Productive Woman Podcast: Lessons from a Multi-faceted Life, with Eunchim Choi (2019)

OUR VALUES

INTEGRITY

COURAGE

INCLUSIVITY

EXCELLENCE

COLLABORATION

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

OUR PEOPLE

EUNCHIM CHOI

Eunchim is Co-Founder and Strategy and Development Lead of The Mangrove Collective (TMC). Ever since starting up TMC in New Zealand in 2018, she has been leading business development, client and consultant engagement, organisational strategy/development and operations oversight. In 2022, she led the launch of TMC’s Asia Pacific office in Singapore and is accelerating its growth in the Asia region. In addition, Eunchim’s love of small and medium-sized local civil society actors culminated in the pioneering of TMC’s Pro Bono Partnerships initiative.

Eunchim brings close to 20 years of experience in the international humanitarian, development and social impact sector, and brings a valuable cross-sectoral perspective stemming from her experience with the United Nations system, International NGOs, local NGOs and consulting. Through TMC she has been conducting consultancies in the areas of strategy development, change management, organisational development, business development, cross-sectoral partnerships, resource mobilisation and grants acquisition, programme/project design and qualitative research and evaluation. She is fluent in Korean, English and has working level proficiency in Tetum (national language of Timor-Leste).

Eunchim is originally from South Korea and has lived and worked in the USA, Canada, Timor-Leste, New Zealand and Singapore. She is currently based in Singapore with her husband and three children who call Aotearoa New Zealand their family home.

SARAH BADJU TOLLESTRUP

Sarah is Principal Consultant at The Mangrove Collective. She has over 13 years of experience in the INGO and impact sector and brings a deep understanding of both the theory and practice that underpin efforts to address complex emergencies, inequality, and exclusion through sustainable interventions. She has recognised skills in business development, programme management, change management and developing strategic partnerships with key development and humanitarian actors, donors and governments. She also has a strong background in leading policy dialogue and providing thought leadership in a range of high-level, inter-agency forums and on partnership and coordination. Sarah is fluent in English and Swedish and has some proficiency in French.

Sarah is based in Auckland, New Zealand with her family. She is passionate about social justice and being outdoors, ideally hiking in the bush or swimming in the ocean.

KIMBERLEY TEILLET-MEUNIER

Kim is a Director and Principal Consultant at The Mangrove Collective. She has over eight years of experience in end-to-end project management within the INGO and impact sectors. Specializing in community-driven programming, project development, and adaptation, Kim has consistently demonstrated strong leadership in diverse and complex environments. A collaborative professional, she has a proven track record of building and nurturing strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels. Kim has lived and worked in remote regions of Australia and the Pacific, gaining extensive experience in challenging, cross-cultural settings.

Currently based in Queensland, Australia with her family, Kim is passionate about supporting locally led community transformation. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the environment, hiking and swimming, as well as sewing clothes.

GORETTI MAGUIRE-NGUYEN

Goretti is the Business Manager, joining The Mangrove Collective in 2024. She is a purpose-driven individual who’s volunteered or worked in the non-profit sector for almost 30 years. She’s had 14+ years of experience with World Vision, internationally and in Australia and The Pacific, holding varied roles including executive support, project management and in human resources and recruitment. As a highly effective office administration professional, her background and interest remain in international development. An enthusiastic and adaptable team member, she now brings her organisational skills to operations, business enhancement and to deliver excellent customer service.

Goretti is Vietnamese-Australian and lives in Melbourne. She loves the Aussie landscape and lifestyle and enjoys keeping active outdoors and time with family and friends around food.

ELIZABETH FITTON-HIGGINS

Elizabeth was a Non Executive Director, who provided strategic advisory support to The Mangrove Collective until September 2025. She previously served as The Mangrove Collective's Co-Director during 2018 - 2022 until she joined Habitat for Humanity New Zealand as their International Programmes Director.

Elizabeth is an experienced international development professional with proven ability to manage and build cross-cultural, local and international teams. She has an extensive background in high-level policy analysis and development, and has worked in international fora such as the G7 and the EU. Elizabeth also has outstanding research and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) skills. She has a wide range of public and community engagement experience, including co-design methodologies, facilitating workshops and survey design. She has International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) accreditation. She is fluent in English, Dutch and German.