Our People

Community Research is run by a governance group with two caucuses –  Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti –  and a small team based in Wellington.

Governance group

Tangata Whenua caucus members are:
Kataraina Pipi: Co-chair
Pania Coote
Shelley Hoani
Erena Kara

Tangata Tiriti caucus members are:
Garth Nowland-Foreman: Co-chair
Sally Fenwick Ridley: Treasurer
Bronwyn Boon
Natasha McDougall

Tangata Whenua caucus members

Co-Chair Kataraina Pipi, Ngāti Porou, Ngati Hine

Kataraina is a director of the Paewhenua Hou Partnership operating as FEM (2006) Ltd. She is a project manager, research and evaluation consultant, trainer and facilitator. Kataraina has had seven years as a practising evaluator and researcher and is a member of the Australasian Evaluation Society, the American Evaluation Society and the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association.

Pania Coote (nee Simeon), Ngai Tahu, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Porou

Pania Coote is of Ngai Tahu, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Porou descent, lives in Bluff and affiliates to Awarua Runanga.  She has a Masters in Social Welfare from the University of Otago, Dunedin, specialising in research, management and counselling.  Pania is the District Manager, Māori Health at Southern District Health Board.  Her background in social work and community development underpins her work in both health and Māori specific areas.  Pania’s role includes overseeing Māori Health and Māori Mental Health secondary care services across the Southland and Otago regions.  She also works in collaboration with primary care, Māori Providers to reduce disparities and improve Māori health outcomes.

Shelley Hoani, Ngāti Pou, Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Makino

Shelley is of Ngāti Pou, Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Makino descent.  Shelley is a mother of 13 and a ‘mama’ to her eight mokopuna. She has been a kaimahi for Te Wananga o Aotearoa since 2003 when as a recent graduate of Waikato University she became a kaiako of te reo Maori. Since then Shelley has held a number of portfolios within the Marautanga (curriculum) directorate.  Her most recent journey over the past two years has been with rangahau & research within the organisation focused on capability and capacity building. However, her focus now centres around the quality assurance of all TWoA publications produced as a result of rangahau activity and kaiarahi (curriculum portfolio owner) for two programmes (Certificate in Community Innovation and Bachelor of Maori Advancement).  She is passionate about learning, writing and transformation through education.

Erena Kara, Ngāpuhi

Erena Kara is the Operations Manager at Te Hau Ora O Kaikohe. Erena has a Masters in Social Sciences (Psychology) and has a strong interest in kaupapa Māori research, evaluation, and transformation.  Erena has worked within the health sector for most of her career, working in both the government and not for profit sectors.  Currently, she is involved in the evolution of the Whānau Ora programme as it relates to her rohe in Ngāpuhi.  Erena continues to be involved in research, particularly within the area of best health outcomes for Maori.  Erena is involved in the Kohanga Reo movement through her tamariki, is a member of the Maori Health Gains Council, Northland District Health Board, and is involved in iwi issues via her directorship on the Ngāpuhi Asset Holding Company.  She is married with two tamariki.

Tangata Tiriti caucus members

Co-Chair Garth Nowland-Foreman

Garth runs Community Solutions, a small consulting and training firm specialising in strategy, evaluation and governance for non-profit organisations and those who fund them. He also lectures in the Unitec NZ Graduate Programme in Not for Profit Management – in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific – specialising in governance, social policy, community research, social audit, ethics, change management, strategy, and capacity building for non-profit organisations. Garth has researched and written widely on these topics and also on non-profit funding and accountability, and strategic philanthropy.

Garth has a number of voluntary roles and is on the boards of the Lottery Grants, Australia and New Zealand Third Sector Research (ANZTSR), and the Christchurch Methodist Mission. He chaired the Committee for the Study of the New Zealand Non Profit Sector and was the initial editor for the Community Research “How to” pages of www.community.net.nz. Garth was also the first SAN registered Social Auditor in Aotearoa New Zealand. Previously, he worked as an NGO lobbyist heading up a government policy and research unit, and was in a Cabinet Minister’s office. He was national director of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) for six years. Garth has two adult sons, one of whom has a number of disabilities.

.Treasurer Sally Fenwick Ridley

Sally is originally from the North however has lived in the Waitetuna Valley in the Waikato for most of her life.  She is the Training and Communications Manager at Community Waikato.  Her focus is on community research and development, building capacity and disseminating information.  She has a Masters in Social Sciences and a Post Graduate Diploma in Community Psychology with the University of Waikato and is currently completing the Graduate Diploma in Not for Profit Management with Unitec. Sally is a member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association, and the Chair of MSSATW (Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, Waikato) and Insight Endometriosis.

.Bronwyn Boon

Bronwyn is a Lecturer in the Department of Management at the University of Otago. She entered the university system after 10 years nursing in New Zealand, England and Oman. Following her Masters and PhD study, Bronwyn’s research focused on organisation, identity, knowledge and place.

In the last three years she has “finally seen the light” and shifted her research attention to the community sector. She is working with / for a community organisation on their multi-stakeholder evaluation project. Bronwyn is working to increase her understanding so that she can contribute to research within the community sector in a meaningful way, as well as raise the profile of this important sector in her undergraduate and postgraduate university teaching.

Natasha McDougall

Natasha is a born and bred Wellingtonian. She is the Communications, Marketing and Sales Manager at Funding Information Service. The Funding Information Service has been at the forefront of funding and resourcing for over 20 years. Natasha has over 20 years experience within the marketing and communications environment and has worked in corporate, primary industry, tertiary, public and community and voluntary sectors. Natasha has a variety of volunteer roles, with board, trustee appointments and as a volunteer at Ronald McDonald Family Room.

Staff

Jan Hinde – Director

Jan comes from the North of England where she spent over 10 years involved in Community Arts Development before joining the Arts Council in Ireland as Head of Arts Participation. She arrived in New Zealand for a placement with Creative New Zealand and has since taken diverse roles with the community and voluntary sector. She is a passionate advocate of small NGO’s. Jan is a member of the Treaty Relations Group of Quakers Aotearoa, a massage therapist, and New Zealand’s only female Uilleann Piper.

Stephen Blyth – Communications & Fundraising Manager

Stephen’s ancestors are Scottish and English settlers who made Otautahi their home. Raumati South is where Stephen now lives with his partner and two children. Since 2007 Stephen has worked as a freelance advisor on a wide range of communications, web and related projects for NGOs and those that fund them. Prior to this he worked for Komihana a Whānau Families Commission, MSD, DIA and ECO, an environmental NGO. In his spare time you’ll find Stephen tilling the soil and paddling off the Kapiti coast. Blogging at: Common Knowledge.

Melissa Parkes – Content Editor

Melissa has worked in the non-profit sector for several years and has a passion for seeing the excellent work New Zealand’s Tangata Whenua Community & Voluntary Sector does underpinned by good community research. She works for TDM Consulting Limited), who gift one day per fortnight of her time for content gathering for the Community Research website, Facebook and Twitter feeds. As an avid online communicator, Melissa looks after multiple websites, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and also runs her own blog. Melissa’s particular interests are evaluation (particularly social return on investment), social justice, social media, social enterprise and education.

Fiona Cram, Ngāti Kahungunu – Content Developer, Whanau Ora Research webpages

Fiona has a PhD from the University of Otago (Social and Developmental Psychology), and over 20 years research and evaluation experience. Fiona is currently the Director of Katoa Ltd, a research and evaluation company. She is involved in a wide range of Kaupapa Māori (by Māori, for Māori) research and evaluation with Iwi (tribal) and Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders) groups, philanthropic organisations, District Health Boards, and government agencies. Currently Fiona is the principle advisor on the Whānau Ora (family wellness) action research initiative, in which Māori and Pacific action researchers are working alongside NGOs that provide holistic services to Māori and Pasifika families. She is also working with a team of researchers at the University of Otago on a study of the health journeys of young pregnant Māori women. This is leading into an intervention trial. www.katoa.net.nz

Website

Native Council

Native Council help you communicate with Maori and Pacific Island audiences using Branding, TV, Video, Print, Web, Interactive, Email, Publishing, Apps and Social Media.  They look after the Community Research website and have designed and created this for us.  www.nativecouncil.co.nz