Partners in Community Well-being Forum

As a mother, and a constituent MP with 20 plus years’ experience who has come from ‘flax-root’ politics, Hon Nanaia Mahuta remains connected to the aspirations of people from all walks of life. Those who work hard for a living so that their children can do better, kaumatua, trades-people, those who aspire to own their home, those who own small businesses and those who lead a range of services and organisations and huge iwi entities

During her time in Parliament, Hon Nanaia Mahuta supported policies and initiatives that built the capacity of communities, especially social service organisations, greater investment in education, employment and training opportunities particularly for young people, supported the continuation of the Treaty Settlement process and supported specific initiatives that lift the wellbeing and opportunities for young mums and those who are vulnerable and victims of abuse.

Hon Nanaia Mahuta is a tribal member of Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Manu and her parliamentary experience has enabled her to contribute to the collective aspirations of Māori and all New Zealanders. She has an MA (Hons) in social anthropology.

Hon Nanaia Mahuta today holds the portfolios of Foreign Affairs, Local Government and Associate Māori Development. .

She was previously a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government, serving then as Minister of Customs, Minister of Local Government, Minister of Youth Development, Associate Minister for the Environment, and Associate Minister of Tourism.

Karen has been our Chief Executive since September 2011 and has responsibility for fulfilling Taituarā vision to promote and support professional excellence in local government. Over this time she has introduced leadership development for the sector, grown the membership and ensured that guidance and practice advice is updated regularly. Karen has established extensive local government networks overseas and regularly utilises these contacts to the benefit of the New Zealand local government sector.

Karen’s previous roles have included Chief Executive at the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and Regional Assistant Commissioner at the State Services Commission where she led the development of the proposal to establish the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), a world-leading educational institution.

Karen is a Chartered Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. She has been on several boards including Refugee Trauma Recovery, AFS Intercultural Programmes where she was the Deputy Chair and she chaired Capital Swim Club Board for four years. She is a Swimming NZ qualified referee, and her other interests include reading and genealogy research.

Hillmarè Schulze is the Chief Economist at BERL. She draws on her experience, being a practising economist for more than 30 years across the globe. She has worked in multilateral and bilateral organisations, private and government sector. She is currently heading BERL, and values the credible and independent voice that the team brings to the economic and policy dialogue in New Zealand. BERL has been in business for more than 60 years, and prides itself on being a private economic consultancy, supporting central and regional government, private companies as well as various Māori and iwi entities by providing a credible evidence base and economic analysis to support good decision-making. She is a strong supporter of regional economic development, the Māori economy and making sure that the next generation has the tools to be productive global citizens.

Prior to joining BERL, Hillmarè worked for Te Puni Kōkri and the then Department of Labour. She moved to New Zealand in 2016, from the World Bank, where she worked as a senior economist focussed on 47 African countries.

She believes that economic development is a means to an end, and definitely not the end itself. Economic development should support families and communities to grow and thrive.

Dr Mike Reid, Principal Policy Advisor, LGNZ. After starting his local government career at Christchurch City council Mike has been with LGNZ since 1996, during which time he has worked in a diverse range of policy areas ranging from local governance and social policy to legislative change and local democracy. He currently leads LGNZ’s localism programme. Mike completed his PhD on the topic of strengthening local governance and local government in in 2011 and is currently on the board of the Institute of Governance and Policy Studies. He speaks regularly on local government matters and has published widely.

Steve brings extensive experience across the local government and wider public sector to his role at the Taranaki Regional Council.

Steve joined the Taranaki Regional Council as Chief Executive in October 2019, and prior to that was the Chief Executive of Southland District Council for six years. Steve has also held Chief Executive roles with the Kaipara District Council (December 2011 – October 2014) and Thames-Coromandel District Council (December 1998 – December 2011).

Steve has also worked in a range of executive and governance roles across the health, tertiary education and broader public sector.

Of Ngati Raukawa and Ngati Ranginui descent, Steve was awarded a Bachelor of Management Studies from the University of Waikato, and is a Chartered Accountant Fellow (FCA) with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Pauline came into Local Government in 2004, after taking time out to complete a BA and then a Master’s in Public Policy. With a previous background in the social sector, this allowed the transition into a role in Ruapehu District Council with the policy team. The role had a strong emphasis on community engagement and working with various social agencies. After three years as the Policy Team Leader, the last 8 years have been spent in various Senior Management roles which have always had strong focus on engagement, Community Wellbeing, as well as working with Communities on various projects.

Helen Algar is the Community Development Manager for Waitaki district. Since 2012 she has led the development of the Safer Waitaki project. Taking a ‘whole of community’ approach, this project has successfully applied a collective impact model to community development across social and cultural wellbeing building to a membership of over 140 organisations. The model has enabled a community response to gaps and opportunities enabling a strong Community/Council partnership. Helen has a strong background in health, disability, and community development, currently holding leadership roles at local and regional levels. Helen received the Queen's Service Medal in 2008 for services to health and disability issues and was appointed an ambassador for White Ribbon New Zealand in June 2018.

Gael Surgenor is currently the General Manager of Community and Social Innovation at Auckland Council. Since 2015 she has led a team of local government entrepreneurs at the TSI, a place-based initiative enabling wellbeing and prosperity in South and West Auckland. Co-designing with whanau and communities and collaborating with central government agencies is key to TSI’s approach. Along with demonstrating local government’s role as an anchor institution for wellbeing and a systems networker grappling with complex social and economic challenges. Gael has held senior leadership roles within central government and in community organisations including being a voluntary board member for various organisations.

Dr Penny Hagen assists organisations and teams to apply participatory and developmental approaches to the design, implementation, and iteration of strategy, programs, policies and services, for the purposes of advancing equity and intergenerational wellbeing. Penny has supported cross sector teams and communities in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand responding to complex social issues including youth employment, youth mental health and wellbeing, chronic health conditions and family violence. Penny’s work sits at the intersection of design, wellbeing and systems change and she is a keen advocate for growing participatory social innovation practices that are of Aotearoa. Penny is currently the Director of The Auckland Co-design Lab (The Lab), which prototypes, shares and experiments with what more participatory and collaborative ways of working in the public sector looks like. Current areas of focus for The Lab include systems approaches to wellbeing, the role of central and local government as a platform, learning partner and enabler for place and community-led responses, and commissioning and investment for wellbeing capacity and conditions.

Maree is Director of the Child Wellbeing Unit in the New Zealand Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet which is leading cross-sector work on New Zealand’s first Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. She has spent most of her career in child and family policy roles.

As a born and bred Cantabrian, Andrew rates as a highlight the decision to relocate back to Christchurch in 2008 after eighteen years exploring and working in Auckland as well as Australia, Malaysia, Japan and the USA.

During his work experiences Andrew learnt first-hand value of well-connected communities and the positive impact that feeling a strong sense of belonging has on wellbeing. This is never more apparent than in times following a civil crisis, and Christchurch has had more than its fair share in the past decade.

Over the past 3-4 years Andrew has brought his significant experience working with volunteers and community groups to develop a dedicated team within the Christchurch City Parks Unit to lead and promote a variety of programmes focused on community participation, education, job creation and personal development.

Raoul built his career working for a number of public and private sector businesses in the fields of project management, risk management and professional services over the last 21 years. Raoul and his wife shifted back to the Hastings District in 2007 to take up a Project Management role at the Hastings District Council and has been there since.

Raoul is the Director Of Strategic Projects, Key Account Services & Council Investment Partnerships at the Hastings District Council. He manages a team of skilled project management (PRINCE2 certified), strategy and policy professionals whose scope of work is founded upon providing exemplar strategy and policy development, project management and key account services to external and internal clients and stakeholders. His team is at the forefront of a number of the Hastings District Council’s strategic priority areas, including but not limited to industrial, commercial and residential developments, which more recently has included the oversight of a number of strategic priority actions which have arisen out of the Hastings Place Based Housing Plan and subsequent Hastings Medium and Long Term Housing Strategy 2021.

David has worked in the resource management area of local government over the last 21 years in both the policy and consenting areas at Napier City Council and Hastings District Council. More recently David has taken up the role of Program Delivery Manager – Hastings Housing Plan at the Hastings District Council which arose out of a government pilot project called the ‘Hastings Place Based Approach’ in order to address the significant housing issues in the district. His role involves the program management of the design and delivery of four significant Council owned development sites as well as relationship management services across external and internal clients and stakeholders involved in the delivery of housing in the district. A key focus of this role also involves the coordination of a monthly Program Control Group which includes a variety of government agencies including Kāinga Ora, Te Puni Kōkiri, Ministry of Social Development, local iwi, community housing providers and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Ko Ngāi te Rangi, Ko Ngā Pōtiki, Ko Ngāti Ranginui, Ko Ngāti Maniapoto ngā iwi

Jodie has worked across a District Health Board, Crown Entity, Kaupapa Māori Research Unit, Charitable Trusts, both Local and Central Government and has operated her own research consultancy while raising her children. Her background lies in community psychology, research and evaluation, project management, and partnership brokerage. Jodie is passionate about equity and ensuring programmes and outcomes are evidence based and designed to reach the right people. You will usually find her scoping new ideas, facilitating discussions, holding the whiteboard pen, planning, and turning most things into diagrams to simplify the complexity.

Jill Campbell is a Strategy Advisor for Rotorua Lakes Council. Originally from Canada, Jill has been involved in rangatahi and tamariki development for over 20 years. She is passionate about ensuring all children and their whanau have the things they need to thrive.

Over the past three years, Jill has spearheaded Council’s Child Equity Programme which focuses on addressing child poverty, ensuring equitable access to programmes and services and providing opportunities that can potentially disrupt the poverty cycle into adulthood.

The Child Equity Programme involves four schools, 900 tamariki, and lots of big dreams. The programme has built on existing partnerships with Central Gov’t, community services and change agents and various Council departments to focus on the areas where the need is greatest, linking them into services or programmes through a targeted approach.

For 12 years Damien has been straddling the worlds of academia and sport, drawing from both to improve wellbeing outcomes in the communities he has been involved in. Damien is passionate about play and its value for people and loves his role with Sport Waikato as New Zealand’s first Local Play Advocate, supporting Hamilton City Council to activate their Play Strategy. Outside of the day job, Damien is heavily involved with parkour, volunteering as the CEO for both Parkour NZ and Parkour Earth, as well as being an active coach and practitioner.

Nick Chester is the Team Leader for Planning and Policy at Hamilton City Council. His work involves providing strategic advice to a wider range of business units, varying from libraries and community development, through to visitor destinations and aquatic facilities. Nick supported the development of Hamilton’s Play Strategy in 2019, which changed the way the council support the community to stay active. Rather than a singular focus on organised sporting activities, the Play Strategy has a wider view of physical activity, to include informal recreation and play and reimagining Hamilton as an “urban playground” for all ages. Nick’s other recent work has involved development of strategies for older people, biodiversity and community facilities in Hamilton.

Gloria’s career in the public service spans 43 years; she was appointed as MSD Regional Commissioner for Taranaki, King Country and Whanganui in 1998.

In September 2019, Gloria was one of 11 Regional Public Service Leads (RPSLs) appointed as part of public service reforms aimed at creating a more joined up and citizen-focused Public Service. RPSLs have a convening mandate to provide systems-level leadership for the public service across 15 regions in New Zealand. As the Taranaki RPSL, Gloria works with public service officials and regional stakeholders to develop locally informed, regionally led and centrally supported plans and priorities.

Dr. Jeremy Mayall is the CEO of Creative Waikato - a regional arts capability building organisation. He is an advocate for arts, culture and creativity and the role that they play as an essential part of community wellbeing. He has a background as a research academic, and is also a composer, producer and performer who works in music, sound art, installation and multimedia formats. His work explores the interrelationships between sound, time, space, the senses, and the human experience. Recent work includes commissions for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NZTrio and ongoing collaborations with taonga puoro practitioner Horomona Horo.

Originally from a background in education, Shirley joined the Waitaki District Council Community Development team in 2014 in an administrative support role. This role has grown and developed alongside Safer Waitaki. The Safer Waitaki project is a ‘whole of community’ community development project with a focus on community wellbeing.

Currently the primary focus of Shirley’s role is to provide support to the Community Development team and wider Safer Waitaki Coalition, including event coordination, and stakeholder engagement. The role supports efficiency and consistent messaging across the network. Shirley has successfully coordinated two family harm conferences which have had regional and national appeal.