I am a four term Waipā District councillor and my ward is Pirongia-Kakepuku. I was born in the district in a family of 11 children and grew up on a dairy farm at Te Rore. A mother of six grown-up children (including a Korean adopted daughter), I had a finance career with the ANZ Bank and have poured energy into environmental causes. I was the founding chair of Pirongia Te Aroaro o Kahu Restoration Society which I led from 2002 until 2022. Returning kōkako to Mt Pirongia in 2017 has been an outstanding highlight, for which the Society won two national awards. Serving on the Waikato Conservation Board for two terms from 2018 to 2023 widened my networks and appreciation for native biodiversity threats, and in 2021 I was the instigator of the hugely successful Taiea te Taiao ecological corridor project which extends 40 kms between Maungatautari and Pirongia maunga and combines environmental and cultural regeneration.
Qualifications:
- BBS Management 1st Class Honours graduating from Massey University in 2012 as a Massey Scholar and my post-graduate studies included business research methods, advanced environmental management, cross-sector collaborative case studies for environmental protection, and business and sustainability.
- RMA Hearings Commissioner and Chair
- Chartered Member Institute of Directors New Zealand
- Former Associate of the Bankers’ Institute of New Zealand
I live in Pirongia Village with my husband Tony, who fully supports my council involvement. I am not a member of any political party nor affiliated to any. During my time as a Waipā District Councillor, my roles have included Chair of the Service Delivery Committee and Audit and Risk Committee, Commissioner and Chair for RMA Hearings, member of LGNZ’s National Advisory Panel for Climate Change and Waikato Regional Council’s Climate Action Forum and Regional Land Transport Committee.
In my free time, I have developed an amazing food forest with over 230 varieties of crops, creating dishes and preserves from them, and dabbling in home brewing. This was featured in the NZ Gardener Magazine’s 2025 June edition. I also enjoy singing in my church choir (soprano) with some tremendously talented Filipinos. There is a creative streak in me too, and squeezed in amongst it all I manage some cycling and getting out in the bush, especially up on beautiful Mt Pirongia.