Katie Bruce joins us as an experienced 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 overseeing 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 with her husband and is a proud mum to two boys and auntie to twin nieces.
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.
Outside of her community work, Jess is a dedicated full-time student at Massey University, pursuing a degree in communications and digital marketing. When she's not studying or working in her garden, she treasures spending time with her tamariki.
Jewelz is Ngā Puhi and Te Rarawa based in Tāmaki-Makau-Rau (Auckland). She has spent 15 years working to improve the wellbeing of Māori and Pacific communities within the charitable sector, working at both grassroots and systems level. Jewelz specialises in bringing communities together and supporting them to identify and direct their own kaupapa (positions and policies). A strong leader with skills in collaborative practice, agile thinking, and facilitation, she thrives in complexity. Jewelz's goal is to see Māori rangatahi (youth) and hapori (community) thriving in the places where they live, learn, work and play.
Sarah identifies as a braided river with Irish, Scottish, Polish Jewish and Ngāpuhi ancestry. Sarah grew up in Tāmaki-makaurau (Auckland) and now lives in Te Awa-kairangi (Lower Hutt). Sarah works part-time as a Principal Policy Consultant at FrankAdvice and part-time as an independent contractor with a special interest in how champions in the community sector can contribute to decolonisation and fulfilling the vision of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Drawn to social justice through storytelling, Sarah trained as a journalist before moving abroad and establishing a career in international development for agencies like Oxfam. After returning home to Aotearoa in 2008, Sarah reoriented her career to children’s rights advocacy and worked for agencies like UNICEF and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. Sarah is a Global Atlantic Fellow and has a Masters in Social Change from the University of Melbourne.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
