Rob Quinlivan
Rob Quinlivan has supported the Tyler Foundation from the very beginning. His story tells of a small sparkle of an organization, borne out of loss, which has flourished under the loving and dedicated help of volunteers like Rob. He noted, “My involvement with the Tyler Foundation started on the night of Tyler's memorial service….Late in the evening,…with Mark McTamney and Anton McCloy, Mark Ferris suggested that he was thinking about organizing a small charity cricket match in memory of Tyler and asked if the three of us would be willing to help out. Of course, we had no hesitation.”
Rob, from Perth, Australia, met Mark and Kim Ferris early on in his time in Tokyo after he decided “Why not?” when offered an opportunity through Merrill Lynch to come to Japan. That was 1997. Rob and his wife, Alison, had two daughters while in Tokyo, another daughter born in London on a two-year assignment there, and another child on the way. The Quinlivan’s call Andy’s (Shin Hinomoto) under the train tracks in Yurakucho one of their favorite Tokyo restaurants.
Rob reflected that from that late night idea there were “A lot of ups and down…but when our celebrity guests actually arrived in Japan for the first year's event, I think we all pinched ourselves (and breathed a sigh of relief) because at that point we had turned the idea of a small charity cricket match into much more.” And now, “Looking back at those humble beginnings, I'm pretty sure that none of us could have imagined what the Tyler Foundation has achieved in the last three and a half years. The whole experience has been tremendously rewarding for me and has been great fun too.”
Building an organization from the ground up is a daunting endeavor but made all the more easy with the help of friends. Rob’s main focus has been coordinating the celebrity dinner auctions. As major fundraisers for the Tyler Foundation, this involves many hours of volunteerism. And Rob does it happily for the satisfaction of knowing that a good time was had by all, money has been raised to support a great cause, and, he noted, “Getting positive feedback from our events is particularly pleasing - especially when the feedback comes from our celebrity guests. These guys attend a lot of charity events so when they tell us that our functions are world class, I think the whole team is very proud (and we're pretty confident that our celebrities are not just being nice to us because they recommend us to their other celebrity friends.)”
Rob and his family will be transferring to London during the first half of 2009 to take up a new position with his employer, Barclays. “I hope to stay involved with the Tyler Foundation by being a contact point for our many European-based friends and supporters.” Rob, has also been involved with the Australia Society in Tokyo for many years and likes to play golf and cricket. Rob sends this encouraging message: “The Tyler Foundation welcomes new volunteers and my experience is that there are plenty of opportunities to participate. Plus it is a great way to get to know a lot of new friends.”