Media Release
18 August 2011
Youthtown Appoints Two New General Managers
Youthtown has appointed Ginny Travers to the role of General Manager Marketing & Commercial and Dion Brown to the role of General Manager Operations. The appointments round out the newly restructured
management team at Youthtown.
Ginny has extensive experience in marketing and has previously worked in marketing and business management roles for
high profile organisations including Carter Holt Harvey, Kimberly Clark, Johnson & Johnson Pacific Ltd and Royal NZ Foundation of the Blind.
At Youthtown she is charged with fundraising, event management and growing brand awareness for the charity across New
Zealand. The role provides responsibility for developing new business opportunities for the organisation to meet the
needs of youth nationally and providing Youthtown with a balanced funding model.
Ginny will develop and implement both internal and external marketing and communications strategies that inform and
communicate the objectives of Youthtown.
Dion Brown was already part of the Youthtown team, managing the Taupo Branch for two years prior to taking up the new
role. As Branch Manager he developed and marketed 18 innovative after school programmes and established close, effective
working relationships with key stakeholders.
Dion is now responsible for managing 10 Youthtown branches nationwide, developing Youthtown signature programmes,
establishing new branches and building strategic relationships for the organisation.
Prior to Youthtown, Dion was Sales and Marketing Manager at Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre, Operations
Manager for Australia and NZ at Gateway PTY Ltd, a global computer manufacturing company, and was a shareholder and
director for New Zealand's largest dedicated snow sports group - Snow Centre Ltd, Powderhorn Ltd and Snow360 Ltd.
Youthtown CEO, Keith Thorpe, said; "We are extremely advantaged to be able to tap into Ginny and Dion's knowledge and
experience in their respective areas of expertise. We have some significant plans in the pipeline and I am delighted to
welcome them both to the team as we move ahead into a new and exciting phase of growth at Youthtown."
For more information or to learn more about Youthtown, visit www.youthtown.org.nz
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