What was your last year at SKC?

St Kevin's and I did not part the best of friends, I left at the end of Form 6/Year 12 in 1987. It was agreed by everyone that it would be more useful that I left and did something productive than stay and muck around.

What have you been up to since leaving SKC?

I started in 1988 at Inland Revenue, Oamaru and worked there, Palmerston North, Lower Hutt and Head Office. I moved to Health in 2001 and have worked in Gisborne, Hamilton, Wellington and Hawke's Bay in larger executive positions over the two decades. I worked at the Ministry of Health as a Deputy Director General and the inaugural Deputy Chief Executive for Covid under Dr Ashley Bloomfield, and was the only wahine Māori DHB CEO based at Hawke's Bay. I am now a partner at PwC working in the consultancy area.

What is your most fond memory of your time at St Kevin's?

I had good friends and I liked the smallness of the college. Ms Waugh and Mr Cooper (my English teachers in Form 5&6 respectively) were amazing and fostered my love of words to this day.

What made you choose your profession?

My profession chose me! Looking back I would say I grew to appreciate academia (graduated with my Masters Public Management in 2009), but principally everyone worked out pretty early in my career, I had a deep skill in knowing how to deliver things and fix things to make them better. The "things" I had to deliver and fix got more high risk, complex and bigger over time and that didn't phase me. I also work well with most people which is a handy skill to have when you need to rely on others to get something delivered.

How has the profession changed over the years?

Completely, I have mainly worked in the public sector and have recently moved to the private sector. Over the last twenty years more focus in both sectors on Te Tiriti, digital, data, equity, diversity, sustainability and climate.

Any information you are happy to share about your family, hobbies, interests etc

I'm married to Jack and we live in Clive in the Hawke's Bay which is a beautiful part of the country. I am a reluctant gardener which is unfortunate given the garden and number of fruit trees we have. I work most weeks in Wellington and we split our time between the two places as I share an apartment with our son Te Aho during the week. I binge watch TV series (currently Yellowstone) and read like the world is going to run out of books!

What do you think are some of the challenges for young people today and how is it different from your time at school?

I think we grew up in a time when things were less global, people shared less, people fitted in more. We probably were not as socially conscious about the environment, what it means to be diverse and inclusive, things were more suppressed, I would even say homogenised. Young people today see more, feel more, think more and experience more at a faster pace over more of the 24 hour time span. It must be both exhilarating and exhausting......

Any funny stories from SKC that you would like to share? 

I worked in the tuck shop when I was in form 4 - I am not sure how it ever turned a profit - just saying.

Article added: Thursday 23 November 2023