Patrick hails from Hawkes Bay (Ngāti Pāhauwera) and resides in Northland.
Patrick has had a long career as a senior public servant in the areas of Education, Justice , Environment, Housing and Māori development.
He is no stranger to this type of work that we do at Hui E!, as he was the inaugural executive officer for a peak body advocating at a national level for Māori housing outcomes with senior officials and ministers.
Prior to this role, he was leading a team in Auckland and Northland as regional manager for Kāinga Ora to ensure the organisation was accounting for its obligations to Tangata Whenua.
Katie is an advocate and community sector leader, with previous CE roles at Volunteering NZ and JustSpeak, a youth movement for social change in the justice sector.
More recently, Katie was Acting Director of Strategy, Rights and Advice for the Children's Commissioner and then Chief Advisor to, and member of, an Independent Panel founded by Tā Kim Workman. This involved working with Police on fairness and equity for Māori and communities and a large research programme called Understanding Policing Delivery.
Katie is tangata tiriti, a Romany woman, and an immigrant from the UK. There she was involved in youth advocacy and setting up youth programmes as a teenager and completed a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy. She now lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and is a proud mum to two boys and auntie to twin nieces.
Katie has recently gone back to using her birth surname, so you may know her as Katie Bruce.
Jess is a Canadian who has called New Zealand home for the past eight years, alongside her two children. With 15 years of experience in the community sector, she is a passionate advocate for food security, focusing on urban farming initiatives and teaching both adults and children about mārā kai and sustainability. Jess is also actively involved in LGBTQIA+ advocacy on the Kāpiti Coast.
Through her frontline community work, she has witnessed the transformative power of community—how it can uplift, empower, and create lasting change. This passion is what drives her excitement to be a part of the Hui E! whānau.
Maraea Garisau Turketo (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa) brings to the board over 20 years of proven leadership experience through diverse roles and at multiple levels in social justice and educational contexts. She finds it most rewarding working with communities that are traditionally underserved to meet their needs while achieving equitable outcomes. Maraea has skills in coaching and mentoring, developing and leading strategic plans, conflict resolution, and in Te Tiriti o Waitangi facilitation. She has worked at all levels of an organisation and her mahi has ranged from being a chairperson of a Kohanga when her children were babies, board member on multiple school boards, through to working in the public sector in education evaluation and monitoring of Oranga Tamariki. She is currently working as an education partnership manager, and runs her own consultancy business. Maraea prides herself on being a culturally responsive and self-reflective practitioner. She is looking forward to serving as a board member especially for an organisation that supports the amazing work that is being done in the community.
Ginnie Denny has held governance positions in a range of education-related organisations over the past 6 years. She brings expertise in tertiary and adult education as well as business acumen to the board table. Professionally, Ginnie works at the interface of business and education to create sustainable training platforms that meet the needs of both individual learners and their workplaces. She has a special interest in strengthening adult literacy and numeracy provision. Ginnie has worked for the Tertiary Education Commission, New Zealand Qualifications Authority and various Industry Training Organisations and Private Training Establishments to develop robust systems and processes to improve learner outcomes.
Bill is Southern Māori from Te Wai Pounamu, now living in Auckland. He has more than seventeen working at strategic and business unit levels in general management and trust management. Bill runs a business mentoring service under his business, Numb3rs Talk Limited. He initially worked as accountant from 2015 for Target Accounting Ltd servicing clients across the North Island. Bill then established 6 channels of client relationships. He is a provisional member of ICAANZ and an Associate Fellow of the NZIM. Bill has served on Navy League Canterbury (NZ) Inc and a member of the Defence Association of NZ. He holds a BEd, BCom and MBA.
Lee Colquhoun (Ngāpuhi) is from Ahipara in the Far North and whakapapa back to Te Tii Marae and Ngati Kawa on the East Coast. A graduate of Waikato University, Lee spent the next 15 years working in Australia and New Zealand in both the public and private sector, across a range of executive management roles such as NZ operations manager for Belgravia Leisure and owned my own repairs and maintenance business. Lee's passion for housing, solar and other special focus projects brought him to Whakatane in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. For the past 5 years, Lee has been the Chief Operating Officer at Te Puna Ora o Mataatua, one of the largest regional Māori health, medical, social and employment providers in the country. Te Puna Ora o Mataatua is a non-profit charitable organisation that provides over 50 services in an integrated Whanau Ora approach. Focus areas include youth into employment, a new medical academy, and wraparound social services including an award winning Kaupapa Māori clinical and therapeutic counselling service Ngā Mata Wai Ora.
Rula is enthusiastic about contributing meaningfully to our communities by joining Hui E!'s board. With over seven years of professional experience supporting former refugees and migrants through roles at NZ Red Cross and the Ministry of Education, she has gained expertise and developed strong connections with various community organisations. Her governance and leadership training with Pearl of the Islands Foundation and Manawka Ao Network, as well as involvement in initiatives such as the Refugee Support Group (Dunedin) and the INZ Community Sponsorship Programme, demonstrate her commitment to making a difference. As a local resident in Ōtepoti and having worked extensively across Otago Southland, Rula can effectively represent the voices and aspirations of ethnic groups. With a background as the child of Palestinian refugee parents and a diverse academic journey, including a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies, Rula brings a unique perspective. She is dedicated to promoting the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi and looking forward to addressing current challenges in our dynamic environment through her board role with Hui E!
Soifua was born in Tonga but has called Tauranga Moana home for over 16 years. She is Tātāriki Rautaki for Waiariki Whānau Mentoring and has spent many years within the community and social services sector in various roles between frontline, management and governance. Soifua's passions for the sector include celebrating cultural intelligence, activating organisational success and supporting safe collaborative practice. She is keen to be part of a team that shares knowledge and values authentic relationships. Soifua's favourite job is mum to five fānau who continue to ground her by reminding her daily that she’s not that good at TikTok. She is grateful that she can be a parent as part of a supportive village made up of her kāinga from Niuafo’ou and Ha’apai.
