Governance resume

I am passionate about good governance and growing New Zealand organisations. Over the past fifteen years I have brought a strategic focus to the boards I have served on. I have a strong background in sales, marketing and strategic business development with a very strong understanding of technology and digital transformation.

My professional career path enables me to bring to the boardroom specific expertise in strategy, disruptive technologies, building sustainable growth, continuous improvement and stakeholder engagement. My networks are very broad and diverse, leading to expansive relationships across the business community.

I bring energy, enthusiasm and an inquisitive mind to board proceedings. I have a keen eye for identifying and evaluating opportunities, growth potential and related risk factors. I am a diligent professional not afraid to ask the tough questions and tackle complicated issues head on. I integrate easily with peers and take great pride in assisting organisations and people push themselves to the forefront of their potential.

G O V E R N A N C E   E X P E R I E N C E

• Advisory Board Chair, Novo Group Limited
Highly successful consulting business offering Resource Management, Town Planning, Land Use Development and Traffic Engineering consultancy. I was appointed to the company’s first Advisory Board and lead the Director’s through the development of a new 5 year strategic plan to mature and grow the business. Other commitments required that I step down from the role. All 5 year strategic goals were exceeded well ahead of time.

• Establishment Board Member, Nga Puna Wai Sports Trust
The establishment board was tasked with establishing the trust and then overseeing the $53.5M development of this purpose built multisport facility and community serving the people of Christchurch. The Nga Puna Wai Sports Hub is a partnership between CCC, Sport Canterbury and the four tier 1 sporting partners (Athletics, Hockey, Tennis and Rugby League).

• Advisory Board Chair, Strategy Collective
Consulting business offering Chartered Accounting, Marketing, Brand, Digital, People and Culture consultancy services. Having formed the company’s first Advisory Board and led the development of a new 5 year national growth strategy, as chair I provided oversight of that strategy with an emphasis on coaching the leadership team toward performance and growth. All 5 year goals were successfully delivered, an impressive achievement by this talented team.

• Advisory Board Chair, Lentune Ltd
Privately owned software company with clients throughout New Zealand, Lentune’s core business is focused on the electrical wholesale industry. As chair I brought emphasis on strategy and growth to ensure the company realized its growth potential. Increased focus on growth led to an 80% growth in revenues during my tenure. This also included successful succession planning for the founder.

• Director, New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL), Southern Zone
The NZRL Southern Zone board is responsible to the national sporting organisation, NZRL, for the effective governance of promoting and growing the sport of Rugby League across the South Island. My participation brought a commercial perspective to the board, with a focus on developing strong governance, sound strategic direction and fostering a new level of leadership.

• Director, Canterbury Rugby League.
Regional sporting body charged with promoting and growing the sport of Rugby League across the Canterbury District. My appointment to the board centered on my commercial and governance experience to help build stronger financial sustainability and promoting robust strategic decisions. My key contributions included governance best practice, the appointments subcommittees for the appointment of a CEO and new board members and replacing the sports 100 year old home, post earthquake (to Nga Puna Wai Sports Hub, as above).

• Advisory Board Chair, Men at Work Ltd
Family owned award winning traffic management services provider. Appointed Chair from the outset, to establish the Advisory Board, the focus quickly moved to developing a growth strategy. I then stepped down from the Chair into a GM role where we grew the team (50 FTEs) and revenues 30% over 9 months. The business quickly doubled in size and continues to grow.

• Board of Trustees, Lifeline Christchurch.
Community focused service with 6 FTEs and over 100 volunteer counselors. My time with this board primarily focused on encouraging sound strategic decision making and good Governance practice. This included a period of due diligence on a acquisition decision that had significant outcomes for the organisation. The acquisition went ahead successfully.

• Executive Committee Member, Canterbury & Auckland Young Professionals Societies.
CYP quickly built a paying membership of ~500 young Canterbury professionals. My focus on the board was on the strategic direction of the society, driving member engagement and growth. Building on the CYP model, AYP successfully built a paying membership of ~1000 young Auckland professionals in its first year. My time with AYP focused on assisting them through their first AGM and the development of a revised strategic plan. R

R E L E V A N T  S K I L L S,  S T R E N G T H S  &  V A L U E

Driving Business Growth; many years’ experience in both growing enterprise service providers and advising SMBs to achieve growth in domestic and off shore markets.

Technology, Digital & Security; 25 years experience in leveraging technology and technology lead disruption. Experience spanning new digital business models, operational efficiency, risk, fraud, AML, identity verification technologies, technology delivery leadership and digital lead thinking.

Government; many years local and central Government experience and relationship management, including leading an All-of-Government tender with the D.I.A. Relevant strength in skills

Strategy; strategy formulation, implementation and execution for strategic goals achievement.

Sales & Marketing; strategy to leverage all appropriate sales channels and practices to produce maximum results. Strategic targeting of markets most aligned to the organisation’s values and strategic goals.

Organisational Culture; emphasis on collaborative culture, growth through partnership, results orientation, diversity & inclusion and continuous improvement. Governance

• Solid understanding of Governance fundamentals and good Governance practices as a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors (CMInstD) with over a decade of experience.

• Extensive success in the governance of high growth businesses with a long list of success stories.

• Experience in the governance of member and community based organisations where empathetic management of internal and external stakeholder interests is paramount.

Q U A L I F I C A T I O N S

• New Zealand Institute of Directors; Director Development courses completed.
- Strategy Essentials, 2011 and revisited 2024
- Chairing Fundamentals, 2017
- Charted Member Assessment, 2016
- Company Directors Course, 2016
- Health & Safety Governance, 2015
- Risk Essentials, 2014
- Governance Essentials, 2012
- Finance Essentials, 2012
- Strategy Essentials, 2011

• Sport New Zealand; Sport NZ Governance Framework.
- Strategy Essentials, 2011 Carver Policy Governance Principles Workshop, 2015

• New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM)
- Strategy Essentials, 2011 Four Quadrant Leadership, 2013

• University of Otago, Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing Management, 1999

• Other
- Change Management Foundations, APMG International, 2017.
- COBIT Enterprise IT Governance and Management Framework, 2012.
- Graduate (with distinction) of Telecom NZ Sales Academy & Waikato Management School (endorsed by the International Sales Executive Council and), 2009