Our Trustees
The InZone Education Foundation is governed by the InZone Education Foundation Board of Trustees. Our trustees share successful careers in the commercial and education sectors and have a passion for families and communities. We have trustees with expertise in human resources, marketing, education and strategy; and additionally trustees with a deep knowledge of mātauranga Māori to enhance the InZone kaupapa.
To further strengthen governance, the Board has established four sub-committees: Finance, Audit and Risk; Development and Sustainability; HR and Remuneration; and Student Culture and Outcomes.
DR JIM MATHER
Chairman
Dr Jim Mather is of Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe and English descent. He grew up in the communities of Te Teko, Ōtara and Māngere.
Previously he was the Chief Executive of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (New Zealand’s second largest tertiary institution) for 5 years. This followed a 9-year tenure as Chief Executive of Māori Television, and prior to that he was Chief Executive of the Pacific Business Trust for almost 3 years.
He holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Henley Business School in England and a Bachelor of Business Studies, as well as diplomas in business and management. He also completed a PhD in economic development through AUT University in 2014.
With business management experience spanning 25 years, he is a qualified accountant by profession, and has held a variety of private sector roles including General Manager of a marine engineering business and Financial Controller for a local subsidiary of a Swiss multi-national. He is a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand and the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
Aligned with his commercial background, Jim is also a former officer in the New Zealand Army, and was awarded the Sword of Honour in recognition of his distinguished achievements in Officer training. He served for 6 years in the NZ Army before leaving to further his career and educational aspirations.
He currently holds governance roles with the following organisations:
Chair of Radio New Zealand
Chair of Lakes District Health Board
Director of Auckland Transport
Director of Ngāti Awa Group Holdings Limited
Member of the MBIE Risk and Audit Committee
Managing Director of Mather Solutions Limited
Jim is passionate about providing educational opportunities to our young people as well as contributing to the strengthening of our communities and wider society.
Jim joined the InZone Board in February and became the Board Chair with effect from 1 March 2020.
DEBORAH GEORGE
Trustee
Deborah started her career as a secondary school teacher and has spent the past thirty years working in education in a variety of roles across commercial, government and not-for-profit organisations. Over this time she has owned businesses in both Hong Kong and New Zealand, worked for the New Zealand and Australian governments, and was one of a team of three to expand the Duffy “Books in Homes” programme nationwide. In 2017 she was invited to join the judging panel of the Prime Minister’s Excellence in Education awards which celebrate outstanding achievements across the sector.
Deborah is a Trustee and the former Chair of Teach First NZ which she co-founded in 2011. Teach First NZ is an innovative not-for-profit organisation which, in partnership with the University of Auckland, engages top graduates to teach in secondary schools serving low decile communities.
Formerly the Director of Enrolment and External Relations at Auckland Grammar School, Deborah also spent five years on the School’s Board of Trustees and three years as Director of Development. Deborah has been closely involved with the InZone project since it’s scoping in 2010 and a Trustee of the Foundation since its inception in May 2013 and as Board Chair from 2016 until February 2020. Deborah was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2022 for services to Education and Governance.
DANE GREY
Trustee
Ko Maungakiekie te maunga
Ko Waitemata te moana
Ko Māhuhu ki-te-rangi te waka
Ko Orākei te marae
Ko Āpihai te Kawau toku Tupuna
Ko Te Taou, Te Uringutu, Nga Oho nga hapū
Ko Ngāti Whātua te iwi
Ko Dane Grey toku ingoa
Dane is a Development Manager for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and HLC, managing commercial land development projects for both organisations. He and his wife Jacqui have twin boys, and live on the papakāinga at Ōrākei. Dane attended Auckland Grammar from 1998 – 2003, becoming prefect and captaining the First XV. He graduated from the University of Otago with Bachelor of Commerce. Dane started his career in agriculture and horticulture, working in management roles for organisations such as Silver Fern Farms and T&G Global. A passion for rugby took Dane overseas where he played in the UK for five years. The inevitable pull to come home and contribute to iwi, hapū and whānau lead to a career change into property development, first in governance role as Associate Director for the commercial arm of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, then as Development Manager for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and HLC.
Dane believes the InZone Education Foundation opens up a world of opportunities for Māori and Pasifika girls and boys, by not only being a facilitator but also a driver of strong schooling and positive values.
MONIQUE FORBES
Trustee
Ko Karioi te maunga
Ko Whaingaroa te moana
Ko Tainui te waka
Ko Tainui o Tainui te iwi
Ko Ngati Hikairo te hapu
Ko Poihakena te marae
Ko Monique Mae Forbes toku ingoa.
Monique grew up in Auckland and is an old girl of Epsom Girls’ Grammar School.
Upon graduating from the University of Auckland with a Master of Commerce (Hons) degree in Marketing, Monique has spent the past 21 years in the corporate world working across aviation, advertising, renewable energy, utilities and financial services industries both in New Zealand and Australia. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and holds certifications in Customer Experience (Forrester, CX-Pro).
Monique’s interest in InZone stemmed from watching the inspirational documentary “In the Zone” and wanted to contribute her time, effort, and energy to supporting our rangatahi going through the InZone programme, particularly the taitamariki wāhine attending Epsom Girls’ and beyond into tertiary study.
KARA WAETFORD
Chairman
As immediate past Chair of our InZone Advisory Group, an Auckland Grammar School (AGS) old boy (’87), out of zone student and Māori (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine), Kara is very passionate about the opportunities InZone provides to our rangatahi and the impact they have in their wider community.
Kara is currently a senior consultant a Te Amokura; a boutique Maori firm of professionals who work with businesses, the government and communities to find simple, innovative and sustainable solutions to complex issues and problems. Over the past fifteen years Kara has held executive roles in retail with JB HiFi, Warehouse Stationery and The Warehouse.
Kara lives in Mt Eden and has a son at AGS and a daughter a local intermediate and is a keen cricket and soccer coach.
GERALD BETHELL
Trustee
Gerald is CEO of a family business. His wife, Susan, and their three sons are of Ngāti Whakaue (Te Arawa) descent. Gerald attended Auckland Grammar from 1987 to 1991. He graduated from Auckland University in 1997 with an LLB, B.Com (Hons) in Accounting and Finance. Gerald began his career in corporate finance before working overseas. Upon returning to New Zealand in 2003, he joined his family business to “help out for a while” and is still there. He is a director on a number of private companies and joint ventures and is a Member of the Institute of Directors. He enjoys coaching his children’s sports teams with a focus on developing positive values in kids rather than elite sports people. Gerald supports the InZone kaupapa and the positive outcomes from combining high quality education with respecting and developing Māori and Pasifika tikanga.
DANICA HAPE-TIRIA
Trustee
Ko taratara te maunga
Ko Maungawhero te awa
Ko Otangaroa te Marae
Ko Nga Puhi toku iwi
Ko Ngati Kahu toku hapu
Ko Danica Hape-Tiria ahau
I am an experienced HR Professional with 20 years’ experience across a wide range of financial services. Previously at ASB Bank looking after Private Banking Wealth and Insurance and just recently joined Tower Insurance at the Head of People & Culture. I enjoy partnering with business leaders to drive people engagement & capabilities delivering strategic HR solutions.
My role enables me to utilise my skills and experience working with great people and leaders. I am very passionate about increasing Māori and Pacific representation in corporate environments by creating opportunities for our rangatahi and building our next future Māori and Pacific leaders. It is this passion that has attracted me to the InZone kaupapa and I am very excited to be joining a great team.
I have a partner Jamie and two tamariki. Jarvarnah , 19 years old in her second year at Auckland University and Armani, 14 years old in his first year at Auckland Boys Grammar. They are of Māori and Cook Island decent and so energising and motivating people to feel confident in themselves and their culture to realise their potential is one of my purposes in life, so they can go on to do amazing things.
In my spare time, I love all sports, but I particularly love to coach & play netball. I have coached teams at club, high school and representative levels but mainly now focus on Māori Netball, coaching Tamaki Under 17s. I am also on the Netball Waitakere Board and always love to work with our communities.
DANIEL LUND
Trustee
Daniel arrived in Aotearoa in 2007, moving from England to settle with his family in Auckland. However, his roots here go back to 1895 when his great grandfather moved from Germany to Christchurch.
Daniel is a specialist in customer experience transformation, helping companies to drive performance across sales, service and marketing, to grow customer value and advocacy. As a management consultant he has spent most of his career with Deloitte and Accenture. In 2019 he moved to Microsoft.
In his leadership positions, Daniel has taken on additional roles around corporate citizenship and diversity and inclusion. These efforts have focused primarily on the development of Māori and Pasifika youth. He is currently co-chair of the Māori and Pasifika Diversity & Inclusion pillar at Microsoft.
Board Alumni
The InZone Education Foundation has valued the contribution of a number of individuals who have served in the past as founding Board members. We would like to acknowledge them here.