Pathway to Partnership Steering Group member profiles
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Paul Baigent
Chief Executive Plunket Society
Image of Paul Baigent.Paul has 20 years experience in the management of professional services. In 1999 he joined the health and social service sectors, taking up the position of chief executive for the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society
Since joining Plunket Paul has been actively involved in leadership issues for the wider sector. Along with other non government organisation chief executives he was involved in the establishment of the Health and Disability NGO’s Working Group.
He is a member of the Family Services National Advisory Council, chairs the NGO sub group of the Council and participates in a number of consultative groups including the Pathway to Partnership and Family Outcomes strategic groups.
Plunket is a community owned and driven organisation with volunteers in hundreds of communities across the country. Through their local branches, volunteers contribute leadership, advocacy, fundraising and participation in a range of support services for families and support Plunket’s 800 specialist staff to deliver the universal WellChild service to 90% of New Zealand’s new borns.
As well as the universal plunket nurse services Plunket offers there are a diverse range of services available under the Plunket umbrella including family centres, parenting education, play groups, toy libraries and car seat rental schemes.
Plunket also assists families to access a wide range of health and social services within the community and refers clients to an extensive array of support agencies that help ensure families receive the most appropriate care.
Druis Barrett
Ministry of Social Development Maori Reference Group
Image of Druis Barrett.Born in Kaipara and resident in Whangarei for 30 years, Druis has 15 years experience in policy and operational service delivery to Maori communities, in particular in the area of Maori health.
In 1984, Druis was part of a group to formulate the constitution of Te Runanga o Ngapuhi, and her subsequent nomination by Ngati Whatua Kaumatua to serve on the first board of the Ngati Whatua Runanga reflects her close association with and ongoing commitment to the interests of iwi. Druis has been the chair of her marae for the past 6 years.
At a national level, she has had an advisory role to two Ministers of Health, served on the Gisborne Cervical Screening Enquiry, and is a past national president of the Maori Women’s Welfare League.
Druis is a director of the Maori Women’s Development Corporation and was a commissioner to the Maori Employment and Training Commission. She is also on the board of the National Kohanga Reo Trust. Her close connections and continuing work with Maori communities on a daily basis ensures that the Trust is provided with an unambiguous view of Maori at the grassroots level.
Murray Edridge
Chief Executive Barnardos New Zealand
Image of Murray Edridge.Murray Edridge has led Barnardos New Zealand since November 2003.
Barnardos is one of New Zealand’s largest non-government organisations committed to working with children, young people and their families.
Murray has a commerce degree from Victoria University and is a chartered accountant. Prior to his time at Barnardos, Murray worked for a number of years in the electricity and gas sector, as business manager for Radio New Zealand, and as general manager corporate services for The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.
Murray is on the board of SEED, the advisory board of the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families, and the Kids Help Foundation, and has undertaken a number of governance, organisational and financial roles in a variety of community groups.
Murray is married, with three nearly adult children. They are residents of the Kapiti Coast near Wellington.
Murray’s other interests include being a volunteer firefighter for 10 years (and a life member of the Wainuiomata Volunteer Fire Brigade), a keen sportsman and follower of most sporting endeavours. He has worked voluntarily with children and teenagers for a number of years, and has held a number of church leadership positions.
Molly Fiso
Ministry of Social Development Pacific Advisory Group
Image of Molly Fiso.Molly Fiso is a member of the Ministry of Social Development’s Pacific Advisory Group. She has been involved in family violence prevention for a number of years, working with government and non government organisations representing Pacific Island families. Her work has included the Family Violence Advisory Group and Te Rito.
Molly is a strong advocate for women who experience violence. She is the national manager of Pacific Island Women’s Project Aotearoa Incorporated. This group was established in 1989 and their core business is family violence prevention and intervention services. Their secondary services include working with government, community groups and churches to engage with Pacific communities through women and their families.
Molly is also a trustee for the Pacwell Trust, the organisers of the annual Pacifically Wellington Festival - an event set up to raise awareness of opportunities to all and to engage with Pacific families.
Being one of eight children Molly’s sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews all play a big part in her life - they are her inspiration.
Tau Huirama, Jigsaw
Child Abuse Prevention Services NZ Inc
Image of Tau Huirama.Tau Huirama is of Maniapoto and Waikato brought up in Ngaruawahia.
Tau has worked in child protection and family violence prevention for the past 20 years in the community and justice sectors. His past roles include counselling and group work, and support for sexually abused children, group facilitation for men who have been violent towards their children and partners. He has worked extensively within the prison system and for seven years he was the national Kaiwhakahaere for The National Network of Stopping Violence Services. For the past 30 months he has been employed as the chief executive strategic relationships of Jigsaw Family Services, an organisation that is child centered and family focused.
Tau is on the Family Violence Task Force, the Pathway to Partnership Steering Group and the Maori Reference Group.
Jozie Karanga
Te Korowai Aroha o Aotearoa
Image of Molly Fiso.Jozie Karanga has a professional background in teaching and regional education advisory roles in the public sector. This includes twenty years experience in capacity building for Maori non-government organisations, specifically in the provision of social and health services.
Jozie is currently the general manager of Te Korowai Aroha o Aotearoa, a national non-government umbrella organisation that works nationally and internationally in the area of cultural sustainability for indigenous peoples. She also sits on the board of Te Papa.
She has a keen interest in the development of an indigenous qualifications framework and is a member of a working party establishing the Coalition of Indigenous Non Governmental Organisations of Aotearoa. Jozie is also interested in socio economic policies that strengthen whanau, hapu and iwi within the community.
Ros Rice
Executive Officer New Zealand Council of Social Services
Image of Ros Rice.Ros has worked in the not-for-profit sector for eighteen years. After attending university as an adult student, she was employed to set up and run Otago’s community access radio station Hills AM. Through this venue she enabled many community organisations to have a voice in the media. During her time with Access Radio, Ros also served on the board of the Dunedin Volunteer Centre, and the Dunedin Council of Social Services.
Ros was part of the committee who established the Dunedin Community House, and served on the board for seven years.
In 2007, Ros moved to Wellington to take the position at New Zealand Council of Social Services. During this time she has been part of ComVoices (sector led media and promotional organisation), CIMS (sector on-line workspace and forum platform) and works closely and collaboratively with The Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations and The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services.
Jeff Sanders
Chief Executive Relationship Services Whakawhanaungatanga
Image of Jeff Sanders.Jeff has spent his working life in the government and not for profit sectors.
His early working life was spent in the Departments for Forestry, Health, and Education and as a parliamentary private secretary.
His non-government experience has included working in the Methodist Church of New Zealand as a Presbyter and Director of their Social Services, IHC New Zealand Inc. and for the last four years with Relationship Services.
He has served or is serving on the Boards of the New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Agencies, Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation, New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services, Wellington Aftercare Association and the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families.
He is currently a member of the Ministry of Social Development’s National Advisory Council for Family Services and the Taskforce for Action on Family Violence.
Anthea Simcock
Chief Executive, CPS
Image of Anthea Simcock.Anthea Simcock has been involved with children for over 30 years in educational therapeutical and child protection roles as a registered teacher, social worker and child therapist.
She is the founder and chief executive of CPS, a role she has held for 14 years. CPS is a child protection charitable trust dedicated to preventing harm to children. It is a national service providing advice, resources, information and programmes to inspire professionals and the community to take action to protect children, and give them skills, tools and confidence to do so. CPS is also a registered private training establishment and the leading supplier of educational programmes in child protection studies.
Anthea is the author of Safe not Sorry, How Can I Tell? and Well Prepared! - publications that provide information to increase the safety of children.
She has actively campaigned for better child protection for many years. Anthea is currently a member of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, the NZ Social Workers Association, the Institute of Directors and the New Zealand Paediatric Society. She is a JP, is married to Bob and has three adult children and one granddaughter.
Jocelyn Wilson
National Executive Officer Social Service Providers Aotearoa Inc.
Image of Jocelyn Wilson.Jocelyn has had a keen interest in the social service area for many years. She is the parent of four (now adult) children. When her youngest child started school she began her tertiary education at the University of Auckland as a mature student where she gained a BA in Sociology and Political Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Criminology. She has attended a residential management programme run by the New Zealand College of Management. She trained as a social worker at Tirimoana as part of her employment with the Department of Social Welfare in Christchurch. From there she moved on to Presbyterian Support in Christchurch where she worked for 18 years in a variety of roles including director and area service manager responsible for child and family services in Christchurch, Nelson, Blenheim and Ashburton. During this time she initiated and developed many new services including Holly House a residential home for young mothers and babies and introduced a range of programmes to support teenagers and their families.
Jocelyn together with a group of interested providers across the country was instrumental in setting up Social Service Providers Aotearoa (SSPA) some 15 years ago to provide a voice for social service organisations contracted to government. Since moving to Otaki four years ago, Jocelyn has been employed as national executive officer for SSPA and in this role has continued to advocate on behalf of the 275 grass root member agencies across the country. SSPA provides a voice for member agencies via regional network forums, best practice seminars and has regular communication through e-mail group contact, talking back questionnaires, newsletters and an annual conference. SSPA has continued to promote enhanced communication and collaboration between its member agencies and across the sectors particularly in working toward developing a stronger relationship between the non-government and government sector. As well as her membership on the Pathway to Partnership Steering Group, Jocelyn on the Child, Youth and Family/NGO forum and a panel member of the Non-Government Organisation Study Award Scheme.
Trevor McGlinchey
Chief Executive New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services
Image of Trevor McGlinchey.Trevor is the executive officer for the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services. The Council provides advocacy and research services, and operates under the governance of the main christian social service organisations. The Council works towards a more just and compassionate New Zealand society – with a particular focus on social justice for poor and vulnerable people.
Trevor has worked in the non government organisation sector for over 20 years. In his early working life he was a freezing worker and a general labourer, before starting an Oamaru based training trust in the 1980s for people marginalised by the changes that economic reforms caused to New Zealand’s social fabric.
Later he worked as a Senior Advisor Maori for the Education and Training Support Agency and for Skill New Zealand. He then became an area manager for the Tertiary Education Commission.
Trevor is of Scottish, Irish and Ngai Tahu whakapapa and regularly returns to his home marae to maintain his strong connections there. His wife is from Ngati Tuwharetoa and Ngati Tahinga. They have three adult children and recently celebrated the arrival of their first mokopuna!
Ray Smith (Chair)
Deputy Chief Executive Child, Youth and Family
Image of Ray Smith.Ray joined the Department of Social Welfare as a frontline staff member, through the Government Cadet Programme, when he left school in 1983. His first significant management opportunity came when he was appointed district manager, Papakura in 1992, becoming the northern regional manager in 1994.
Ray moved to Wellington in 1995 as national service delivery manager. During this time he developed and implemented a new structure for Income Support. Following the formation of Work and Income New Zealand in 1998, Ray was appointed the national commissioner responsible for service delivery, principally the integration of Income Support and the New Zealand Employment Service. He became deputy executive officer for Work and Income in 2001.
In July 2006 Ray took on the role of deputy chief executive of Child Youth and Family, following the merger of Child, Youth and Familyand the Ministry of Social Development.
Child, Youth and Family plays a vital role in helping families be safe, strong and thrive. They help families access the support they need to care for their children, and help children needing care to find secure, long term homes with family and whänau, caregivers or adoptive parents. Their youth justice teams support young people who offend to take responsibility for their actions and get onto a more positive path. They also work with communities to raise awareness, and prevent child abuse and neglect.
Over the last ten years Ray has attended international conferences in Australia, America and South-East Asia as a key presenter on the work that has been undertaken in service delivery in New Zealand. He has also been a participant, with other New Zealand and Australian public service leaders, in strategic public sector leaders' summits.
Sue Mackwell
Deputy Chief Executive Social Services Policy, Ministry of Social Development
Image of Sue Mackwell.Sue leads the Social Services Policy group within the Ministry of Social Development. This group consists of some 170 staff involved in developing policy to improve outcomes for children, families and communities, for young people, working age people and for older New Zealanders. The Ministry of Youth Development and International Relations also sit within Sue's group.
Prior to moving into this role, Sue was the general manager of Working Age People's Policy. Sue has been responsible for implementing several of Government's key programmes, including:
- Working for Families - addressing child poverty and work incentives for low to middle income earners
- Working New Zealand - first stage of New Zealand's benefit reform, focusing on streamlining New Zealand's benefit systems and providing services and support to people with ill health and disabilities
- Out of School Services - extending before school, after school and school holiday programmes for children and young people
- Carers Strategy - developing a cross sector government and non-government strategy focusing on improving support for families and other informal carers.
In her spare time Sue enjoys spending time with family, cooking and gardening.
Richard Wood
Deputy Chief Executive Family and Community Services
Image of Richard Wood.Richard has worked in the public sector for many years. He joined the former Department of Social Welfare in 1984 after operational policy, operational and resource management roles in Internal Affairs, Ministry of Transport, Department of Health and three agencies that no longer exist (Marine Department, Ministry of Works, Tourist and Publicity Department). He was also instrumental in establishing Strengthening Families and Heartland Services
Richard has been responsible, since its inception in 2004, for the development and operation of the Family and Community Services group within the Ministry of Social Development.
Family and Community Services (FACS) leads and coordinates services that support families, becoming the home for a variety of cross sectoral initiatives previously administered within the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and the Department of Labour / Community Employment Group. It manages in excess of 30 initiatives, activities and programmes that contribute to supporting families to be resilient and free from family violence, assisting families and communities to access the information and develop the knowledge they need to thrive, building community capability and capacity and supporting social cohesion and participation in communities. Since 1 July 2005, Family and Community Services has taken on a funding role, sharing with Child, Youth and Family responsibility for contracts previously managed solely by Child, Youth and Family. It works closely with the Families Commission and Office of the Children’s Commissioner, and supports the Family Services National Advisory Council.
