Our Story
Second Tree is a community-led, volunteer-run, grassroots NGO working with refugees in Northern Greece. Our name is inspired by the proverb:
“THE BEST TIME TO PLANT A TREE WAS 20 YEARS AGO;
THE SECOND BEST TIME IS NOW.”
We believe that it’s never too late to take action and make a positive difference in the world.
Our Story
Our founders met as volunteers in one of the worst camps in Greece in 2016 (Katsikas Refugee Camp) and decided to leave their old lives to build an organisation that first and foremost tackles the stereotype of treating refugees as villains, struggling heroes or hopeless victims and instead treats them as people.
Their vision resonated with many others and Second Tree has had over 120 team members from all over the world who have donated their time, skills and energy to spread the message that refugees are people.
Our Mission
We work to change the way that society perceives refugees and that refugees perceive society and themselves, through an approach to community engagement that sees refugees as agents of their change and integration.
Our Vision
Team on the ground
Second Tree was founded by volunteers, and volunteers remain the backbone of our organisation.
JULIETTE CAPOULADE-MURPHY
Programmes Manager from Glasgow, UK
“We are what we do, especially what we do to change what we are.” – Eduardo Galeano
CAMERON CAVE
Fundraising Coordinator from Folkestone, UK
“When you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothin’ like a campfire, and a can of beans!” – Tom Waits
GIUSEPPE CIRILLO
Administration Officer from Avellino, Italy
“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known.” – Chuck Palahniuk
MATTIA SCORZINI
Partnerships Coordinator from Rome, Italy
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”
– Bob Dylan
LINDA DE MASI
Finance & Governance Manager from Lecce, Italy
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world!” – Dead Poets Society
GIOVANNI FONTANA
Co-Founder, President from Florence, Italy
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
NEUS FORTUNY
Youth & Community Engagement Officer from Barcelona Spain
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis
CELIA ROBLEDO MANSO
Youth Coordinator
“The person who knows how to think, also knows that one must learn how to live.” – María Zambrano
AARON KUNASEELAN
Partnerships Manager from Montreal, Canada
“He only says,‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors?'” – Robert Frost
ISABEL LAWLOR PLAZAS
Executive Assistant from Dublin, Ireland
“Life is not about how many times you fall down. It’s about how many times you get back up.” – Jaime Escalante
CIARA MACKEN
Programme, Training & Partnership Director from LA, California
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
BENJAMIN LOGAN
Grants Coordinator from Belfast, Northern Ireland
“Brave Clarice. You will let me know when those lambs stop screaming, won’t you?” – Silence of the Lambs
CAROLINE NORTON
Communications & Fundraising Manager from Brig, Switzerland
“I know the ones who love us will miss us” – Keanu Reeves
DINA PASIC
Co-Founder, Executive Director of Communications from Tuzla, Bosnia
“Learn what is to be taken seriously and laugh at the rest.” – Herman Hesse
CAROLINA QUARANTA
Administration & Fundraising Director from Milan, Italy
“Some things you must always be unable to bear. Some things you must never stop refusing to bear” – William Faulkner
JEMIMA PRICE
Programmes Coordinator from Shrewsbury, UK
“Let me sing to you now about how people turn into other things.” – Ovid
GABRIELLA SHORT
Social Media Coordinator from Durham, UK
“No man ever steps in the same river twice. For it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus
LUJAIN RABAT
Research and Policy Manager
“If I lose my direction, I have to look for the North Star, and I go to the north. That does not mean I expect to arrive at the North Star. I Just want to go in that direction.” – Thich Nhat Hanh