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Ki te kāpuia e kore e whati
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Our Team
Governing the Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Aotearoa New Zealand | Hillary Award has a voluntary Board which governs the running of the Award under a licence issued by The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation.
The Board guides Award policy covering the following areas: finance and administration, standards, delivery and compliance. The current Board includes:
Chair
Trustees
Youth Trustee
Ken Hames
Board ChairKen Hames has a wide range of governance experience including in the electricity, fibre communications, contracting, farm environment, genetics, and technology sectors. He is a Chartered member of the NZ institute of Directors and is currently Chair of Extension 350 and a Director of LIC Ltd.
In his spare time, he is a keen tramper, assists the local school with their Duke of Edinburgh Award program and tries to spend a few days a week working on their family Northland Dairy and Beef farms.
With both of Ken’s children having achieved their Gold Awards, he brings to the table a grassroots passion for and knowledge of the Award, and extensive governance experience combined with commercial acumen and delivering strategy.
Andrea Duncan
Board MemberAndrea is an experienced Leadership and Strategy Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the corporate sector, skilled in strategy, leadership, sales, culture change, executive coaching, and team building.
Her contribution to the board is primarily in the areas of strategy planning, focus on delivering results and in the human resources area.
Andrea is a strong consulting professional, who has run her own consultancy business for the last six years. Prior to this she led RogenSi in New Zealand (a performance consultancy) and previously PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Andrea’s priority for the Award is for us to continue to deliver a sustainable programme despite the challenges of Covid-19, as well as to continue to innovate and provide an Award that is appealing to young people in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Andrea is a Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award holder.
Emily Fabling
Board MemberEmily joined the board in 2018. She is employed at the New Zealand Ministry of Education as Deputy Secretary. Preceding this Emily was Group Manager International Education and she is the Ministry’s current nominee to the Fulbright New Zealand board.
Previously Emily held leadership and management roles at Immigration New Zealand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Originally from Central Hawkes Bay, Emily has an Honours degree in International Relations from Victoria University Wellington.
As a mum to two boys she has a passion for youth and skills development and helping young people find their place in the world. Alongside good strategy, planning and governance, Emily's priority for the board to date has been working towards a greater diversity of participation by rangatahi/young people and Award Leaders – especially Māori, Pacific and other ethnicities, disabled people, and people from lower socio-economic areas. Emily drafted the board’s first diversity statement.
Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai
Board MemberMaxine has a wealth of governance experience as a director in both the business realm and Te Ao Maaori.
She is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.
Maxine is also a Director of KiwiRail and is on the St John Priory Board. She is a Trustee of Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, Momentum Waikato, and a Director of Raukura Hauora o Tainui. She is a past Chairman of Te Kauhanganui o Waikato and past member of the New Zealand Maritime Authority.
Brigitte Windley
Board MemberBrigitte Windley is a Coroner based in Wellington. Prior to appointment to the judiciary in 2016, Brigitte had twenty years of legal practice in a variety of roles in private law firm and in-house capacities, predominantly investigative in nature. She holds a Bachelor of Law and Master of Law (Hon) degrees.
As a Board Member Brigitte seeks to make a tangible contribution to ensuring the Award is well positioned for the future in engaging and supporting young people throughout their unique Award journey, as well as recognising and supporting the leaders, volunteers and caregivers who, despite these challenging times, continue to devote their time and energy to making the Award journey the success that it is. The Award has a long tradition of building self-confidence, independence, tenacity and resilience, a genuine sense of community, connection and social responsibility, all of which have been demonstrated to greatly enhance overall wellbeing. With that in mind, Brigitte has a particular interest in reducing barriers to Award participation, whether economic, social, physical or geographical.
As a Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award holder, Brigitte firmly believes the skills and personal growth that she gained in undertaking the Award programme have served her well in her career and other endeavours.
Anne Lofts
Board MemberJoining the Board in 2021, Anne Lofts saw an opportunity to actively support the Award as it delivers its purpose to empower young people in Aotearoa. With a background in professional services and having run her own consultancy business, Anne brings to the Board expertise in strategy development, sales culture change, marketing, and a pragmatic approach to problem solving.
Ensuring the Award continues to evolve, be relevant for the future and accessible to all young people, is something Anne actively champions alongside her fellow Trustees.
For Anne, the Award has exciting times ahead, especially as we progress our Te Ao Māori journey, Alumni programme, and 60th Anniversary - a perfect opportunity to profile and celebrate our past participants and Award Leaders. As a past Gold Award holder, she knows first-hand how the Award can make a difference, helping unlock potential and meaningfully contribute to our communities.
Alexandra Groos
Youth Trustee • Board MemberAlexandra is a proud member of the New Zealand health workforce, but her joy in life comes from working with young people. She is an instructor for the youth development organisation YSAR and active in her role as Award Leader for her students. When life permits, she is an avid outdoorswoman who loves tramping, skiing, and watersports.
Through her varied experiences, she has developed a keen understanding of the young person's experience growing up in Aotearoa. Further, she understands what it is to be an Award participant after completing her own journey through the three levels of The Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award.
Becoming the Youth Voice on The Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award Board of Trustees is an exciting opportunity for Alexandra. Her technical knowledge and appreciation of the Youth experience will enable her to advocate for her incredible peers currently participating in the Award. Alexandra aims to provide the Board with an honest and constructive opinion on how our governance will impact this organisation's most important members.
As a Bronze, Silver, and Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award holder, Alexandra has a clear and fierce passion for the Award. She sees this role as an opportunity for her to give back to the people and the organisation that have moulded many young people, including herself.
National Office Team
| Chief Executive Officer | Emma Brown | [email protected] |
| Finance and Operations Manager | Annelize van Zyl | [email protected] |
| Award Delivery Manager | Kylie Thorpe | [email protected] |
| Award Delivery Advisor | Jessica Zanetti | [email protected] |
| Award Delivery Advisor | Marie Partridge | [email protected] |
| Award Delivery Advisor | Nina McKay | [email protected] |
| Communications | Tabitha Newton | [email protected] |
| Digital Communications | Jenny Mitchell | [email protected] |
| Fundraising and Relationship Advisor | Caroline Barnes | [email protected] |
| Administration Assistant | Tasha Davis-Coupe | [email protected] |
| 60th Anniversary Manager | Rachel Hardie | [email protected] |
Work with us
Communications and Engagement AdvisorWe’ve been supporting Aotearoa’s rangatahi to discover their potential for the past 60 years. Now, we’re looking for a Communications and Engagement Advisor to help shape our story and engage our communities in the years to come, so even more young people can step outside their comfort zones and find out what they’re capable of through the Duke of Ed.
We’re looking for a savvy, creative Communications and Engagement Advisor to join our team and, working alongside our Campaigns, Publicity and Digital Media Advisor, take our comms activity to the next level. This role is perfect for someone who’s wanting to stretch their wings, take on new responsibilities and build on a broad set of comms experience.
If you have great engagement skills, you’re a fantastic copywriter and you’re keen to carve new communications strategies with a broad range of stakeholders from Aotearoa and around the world, then get in touch!