Patron
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Fran Wilde QSO
Fran is currently Chair of Wellington Regional Council. Starting her working life as a journalist, she then entered politics. She became a cabinet minister in the eighties, then left Parliament to become Mayor of Wellington. Formerly she was Chair of Housing New Zealand and Chief Executive of Trade New Zealand. |
The Board
The Trustee board may consist of up to 12 persons having such special knowledge, experience, qualifications and interest as the Board may from time to time prescribe. A formal appointment policy has been approved by the Board to ensure the best possible mix of the above skills.
Where considered appropriate non trustees may be appointed to Board sub committees to further stregthen the skills available.
Up to three trustees may be appointed from time to time by the Board from local government entities within the Wellington region......
Full details of approved policies are available on this site: Policies.
The foundation is governed by a high-profile and well-regarded board of trustees who volunteer their time.
Current members are:
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Kevin O’Connor (Chairman)
Company Director and founding trustee
Kevin was formerly the Chairman of Infratil Limited, a specialist investor in international infrastructure and utility assets. Previously he had a 35 year career in investment and stockbroking. He is a member of the New Zealand Takeovers Panel; Deputy Chairman of Utilities Emerging Markets Ltd and a member of the Catholic Foundation of Wellington as well as being involved with a number of other charitable bodies. He is a keen sportsman and maintains an active interest in golf, tennis, skiing and walking. |
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Richard Caughley
Partner, Morrison Kent, Barristers and Solicitors
Richard is a lawyer and has been a partner of Morrison Kent since 1985. He is currently head of the Commercial Property team and is also a member of the Morrison Kent Board. He is married to Sarah and has three teenage children. He is passionate about golf and is a member of Royal Wellington Golf Club. He also enjoys sailing, clay bird shooting and tennis. |
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Terry Nowland
Partner, Nowland Gordon and Associates, Barristers and Solicitors
Terry is a lawyer and has practiced in Wellington for nearly forty years. He specialises in commercial, commercial property and personal work, such as trusts and wills. He is a director of various private companies and a trustee on a number of trusts. He is a member of the Institute of Directors and of the New Zealand Trustees Association. Married with three children, he enjoys golf and other leisure activities such as walking. |
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Graeme Sinclair
Fellow Chartered Accountant
Graeme Sinclair joined the Nikau Foundation Board in June 2009. He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and brings twenty one years experience as a partner of KPMG. He is a member of the Grants and Investments sub committees. Graeme operates his own business developing business strategies, business plans and assessing business risk. Te Omanga Hospice is a key contract where he is a member of the management team. He is also deputy chair of UNICEF New Zealand. Graeme enjoys following motorsport, playing golf, skiing and spending time with his wife and family of three children. |
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Gus van de Roer
Branding and Marketing Strategist
Gus was owner and Chief Executive of one of New Zealand’s leading branding agencies. Educated in the Netherlands, he worked in several countries, including Spain and the UK, before settling in New Zealand with his ‘Kiwi’ wife, Beverley. He has spoken at many conferences on branding and was a member of the Designers Institute of New Zealand, the Institute of Directors and the International Association of Business Communicators. Gus is presently a Trustee of the New Zealand Opera Foundation, The New Zealand Netherlands Foundation and is a strategic consultant to several organisations.
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Celia Wade-Brown
Mayor - Wellington City
Celia grew up in London, graduated from Nottingham University with honours in Philosophy, spent a year working abroad in West Africa, and had a career in IT programming, consultancy and teaching. She came to work in Wellington in 1983 and fell in love with the beautiful natural setting, compact form and sense of place and decided to call Wellington home. She served as a Southern Ward Councillor from 1994 and was elected Mayor in 2010.
“We are extremely fortunate to live in such a unique capital – one with a physical scale that is close-up and personal with all the vitality and facilities of a much larger city. It truly is the coolest little capital in the world” |
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Chris Milne
Councillor - Hutt City
Chris is a business consultant specialising in information technology for productivity. He has worked in accounting, banking and in parliament and is a Hutt City Councillor and a consultant with Zeald.com, a leading website development company. Chris is also a director or Seaview Marina Ltd. Chris enjoys the outdoors, particularly skiing, climbing and tramping, and he is also a keen tennis player and occasional golfer. Sadly, his three university-aged children can now beat him at most sports, a fate shared with his wife Jan. |
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Ian Cassels
Company Director
Ian is the Managing Director of the Wellington Company - a major player in the redevelopment of Wellington city's urban environments and historic places. He is also:
- President of the Wellington Branch of the Property Council of New Zealand
- Actively involved in Angel Investments: assisting funding with start up companies- Bio Fuel and Medicine
- A member of the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce
Ian and the Wellington Company are long time supporters of the prestigious Arts Category for the Wellingtonian of the Year Awards and the Gold Awards celebrating Wellington’s brilliant business performers. |
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Non Trustee members of Sub Committees:
Tim McGuinness
Investment Management
External member of Investment Sub Committee:
Tim has held senior executive and board / trustee positions with substantial New Zealand based investment management organisations and funds for over 10 years and has an extensive specialist financial market knowledge and experience built up through involvement with the management of investment funds for over 25 years. He is currently Chairman of the Government Superannuation Fund Authority, Chairman of Trustees of the Dairy Industry Superannuation Scheme and Fonterra Superannuation Scheme and a trustee of the New Zealand Fire Service Superannuation Scheme, the Police Superannuation Scheme, and a director of Whai Rawa Fund Limited. These positions followed senior executive and funds management positions with Royal & SunAlliance and Norwich Union / State Insurance for over 15 years. He has also undertaken a number of consultancy assignments, is Chairman of the Nominating Committee for the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation and was previously a member of the NZ Stock Exchange Surveillance Panel for a number of years. Tim is a born and bred Wellingtonian and attended St Pat (Town) college and Victoria University. He is married with four children. |
Staff
Day to day management of Nikau Foundation is conducted by two part time staff.
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Adrienne Bushell - Development Manager
Adrienne is responsible for raising funds for the Foundation. She spends much of her time discussing the Foundation with prospective donors, professional advisors and ensuring that as many people as possible are aware of Nikau Foundation and how the community benefits from their generosity.
Adrienne has previously worked as a director for Country Calendar among various roles with Television New Zealand, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the Royal Society of New Zealand. She is a former chair of the Friends of the Malaghan Institute and is the vice-president of the Alliance Francaise Wellington. She has two stepsons, one son and three young grandchildren. She is determined to be skiing still when the latter grow up |
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Brian Burge - Manager
Brian manages the day to day finances and administration, policy development, compliance and the grantmaking process.
Brian was most recently the deputy chief executive and chief financial officer of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and has previously worked for Norwich Union and Coopers Animal Health. Brian is married with three grown children and two granddaughters. He is a keen bowler, both indoor and outdoor and is a stamp collector. He has recently joined the voluntary community patrol in Whitby. |
