Stephen McDonald | Chief Development Officer
Earthwatch Australia

Stephen McDonald is the Chief Development Officer with the Earthwatch Institute, which he joined in early 2022 after 17 years with Save the Children where he has held several senior roles.
He has substantial operational and strategic leadership experience and has witnessed first-hand the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on communities around the world as part of his humanitarian work.
Stephen has led the creation of key initiatives and multi-agency partnerships including being a founder of the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, as well as initiating the creation of ELRHA and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy in the UK.
He was most recently seconded to Inclusiv Education as Director of Global Engagement, which is a Save the Children social enterprise developing digital learning solutions for aid and development programmes.
Stephen is passionate about developing people, teams and organisations to be able to have greater impact.
Prior to joining Save the Children, Stephen worked in the private and government sectors, and he remains an active volunteer with the Country Fire Authority, amongst other community activities in Frankston South. 
He continues to work with individuals and organisations on leadership development, coaching and strategy development, drawing on his own experience of leading teams in some of the most challenging environments.