Read about our Social Wellbeing Board, Maori Advisory Group and Independent Advisors.
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The Joint Venture of the Social Wellbeing Board brings together leaders of Joint Venture member agencies to deliver an integrated, whole-of-government approach to family violence and sexual violence.
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Peter Hughes CNZM Te Kawa Mataaho |
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Andrew Kibblewhite Tāhū o te Ture |
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Megan Main Te Kaporeihana Āwhina Hunga Whara |
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Jeremy Lightfoot Ara Poutama Aotearoa |
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Iona Holsted Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga |
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Dr Ashley Bloomfield Manatū Hauora |
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Debbie Power Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora |
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Chappie Te Kani Oranga Tamariki |
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Andrew Coster Ngā Pirihimana O Aotearoa |
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Dave Samuels Te Puni Kōkiri |
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Emma Powell |
Emma Powell leads the team working with the Executive Board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence (the Joint Venture). She joined the team in December 2021, having worked at ACC for 11 years, where she held a number of senior leadership roles.
Emma was Chief Customer Officer at ACC, working to co-create solutions and deliver change for people. Emma led ACC’s Injury Prevention Strategy, forming multiple national and local partnerships over 3 years to deliver tangible outcomes and also led Whāia Te Tika, ACC’s Māori Strategy, which resulted in significant new funding, services, partnerships and initiatives spanning prevention to recovery.
Since 2010, Emma has worked closely with the sexual violence and family violence sectors and holds strong relationships with many sector leaders. She is an engaged, positive and outgoing executive leader who is committed to making a meaningful difference in the lives of New Zealanders by placing communities, tangata whenua and specialist sectors at the centre of design and decision making.
Our Independent Advisors were selected from a list of nominees received from Ngā Tāngata Whenua Rōpū, diverse communities, and sector bodies working within the family violence and sexual violence system.
Dr Nicole Coupe (Ngāi Tahu/Te Atiawa)
Nicole is CEO of Kirikiriroa Family Services Trust (KFST). She works to enable kaimahi to support and empower tamariki and their whānau to prevent family and sexual harm to tamariki in the Waikato region.
Nicole has a PhD and research experience in Kaupapa Māori epidemiology, particularly suicide prevention.
Dr Judith Davey
Judith has worked closely with voluntary organisations representing seniors and provided advice to numerous policy-making bodies in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Her social research has focused on the ageing of the population - its social, economic and policy implications. She was the first Director of the New Zealand Institute for Research on Ageing and in 2019 was awarded the MNZM for services to seniors.
Silvana Erenchun Perez
Silvana is the Strategic Manager of Shama Ethnic Women’s Trust, an agency providing support and advocacy for ethnic women and their families experiencing family violence, sexual violence or other complex issues. She is of Chilean descent.
Stella Gukibau (Ngāti Hine/Ngāti Whātua)
Stella is the Tumuaki of Tu Wāhine Trust, providing ‘by Māori-for Māori-with Māori’ services to individuals and whānau who are at risk of, or have been disrupted by mahi tūkino/sexual violence and family violence. She sits on the Paetakawaenga of TOAH-NNEST (Te Ohaakii a Hine – National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together) and has served on various national committees representing a Māori community response to mahi tūkino/sexual violence and family violence. She has a Bachelor of Social Work, Diploma of Business and a Master of Management and 34 years’ experience working in the community.
Dr Ruth Jones (Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāti Porou)
Ruth is a qualified social worker and a co-director of Kanohi ki te Kanohi consultancy. She has worked in the disability sector as a practitioner and manager for the past 20 years and as a person with a disability, is committed to ensuring all people, including tāngata and whānau whaikaha (Māori with disabilities and their whanau) are respected as equal citizens. She was a member of the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families for five years and an active contributor to the Disability Coalition Against Violence while it was active.
Hector Kaiwai (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Maniopoto, Tūhoe)
Hector has more than 15 years’ experience as a kaupapa Māori researcher and evaluator in the justice, social and health sectors. He has been involved in a number of projects in the justice sector including an evaluation of Ministry of Justice-funded Domestic Violence Programmes, an evidence review of what is known about effective recovery services for men who have been sexually abused, and an evaluation of the Body Safe Programme for Rape Prevention Education Whakatu Mauri. He was the research lead for the Māori-led Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki, an independent reviewer for the Office of the Children’s Commission report Te Kuku O Te Manawa, and is currently involved in an evaluation with Safe Man Safe Family funded by the Ministry of Social Development.
Deborah Mackenzie
Deborah is a co-founder of the Backbone Collective, an independent organisation that gathers the experiences of women who are victim-survivors to help inform the continuous improvement of policy, programmes and services that respond to family and sexual violence. She has worked for many years trying to improve New Zealand's response to violence against women and children and has a special interest in improving the justice sector response.
Hera Pierce (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa/Ngāpuhi, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga a Māhaki)
Hera is a practitioner in Kaupapa Māori Mahi Tukino/sexual violence, a founding member of Ngā Kaitiaki Mauri, and sits on the Paetakaweanga of TOAH-NNEST (Te Ohaakii a Hine – National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together). She has been involved in many government-led projects, is a very proud Wahine Māori and kuia to many grandchildren.
Lui Poe
Lui is a New Zealand-born Samoan from the villages of Safotu, Faleula, Faleaitu and Fasito’o Uta. He is the Chief of Operations for the Pacific social change organisation, The Cause Collective, which has a focus on improving outcomes for Pacific people and South Auckland. He has more than two decades of experience in the social sector, at practitioner, management and governance levels. His work in the area of family and sexual violence has predominantly focused on child protection and working with families.
Jono Selu
Jono is a queer social activist with a particular interest in intersectionality and identity formation. They have a background in health promotion and education, specialising in sexual health, sexual violence prevention, sexuality and gender identity, mental health, and decolonisation, and are of Samoan, Scottish and English heritage.
Lisa Smith (Tainui, Ngāti Raukawa ki Te Kaokaoroa O Patetere, Te Arawa)
Lisa is the Pukenga Whakarongo of Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga (National Network of Family Violence Services). She has a long history of frontline specialist family violence work and now works nationally to increase the visibility, resilience and voices of kaimahi Māori and kaupapa Māori family violence providers.
Takurua Tawera (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa)
Takurua is Co-chair (Māori Caucus) for Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga/National Network of Family Violence Services, Chair of the White Ribbon Campaign Trust, and Pou Whakahaere (senior cultural specialist) and counsellor for Moana House Dunedin. He has been working for almost thirty-five years with high-risk ngā tāngata, who use all forms of complex behaviours including violence.
Dr Natalie Thorburn
Natalie is the principal policy advisor for NCIWR – National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges Inc, and a registered social worker. She has a PhD in the field of gendered violence and leads NCIWR’s research programme into various aspects of family violence.
Gender Minorities Aotearoa
An Independent Advisor has also been appointed from the nationwide transgender organisation Gender Minorities Aotearoa, run by and for transgender people, including non-binary, intersex, and irawhiti takatāpui people. Their name is being withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Official Information Act.
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