Our structure
Learn about our structure and meet the board and our senior leaders.
National Council
The National Council is our highest governing body. It develops the high-level direction of our organisation and is responsible for electing our National President, National Board, and National Youth Representative.
We have thousands of members and people who volunteer their time who support our work. Members can belong to local branches or groups, and representatives from these make up seven area councils. Five representatives from each area council sit on National Council. One of the representatives must be a youth area councillor.
National Council also includes our:
- National President
- Vice President
- National Youth Representative, and
- counsellors of honour.
Dame Cindy Kiro, Governor-General of New Zealand is our Patron and is a non-voting member of National Council.
National Board
The National Board sets our strategic direction, approves plans and ensures we are upholding our core principles and working effectively to achieve our mission.
Our Secretary General is appointed by the National Board, and her role is to oversee the operational functioning of our organisation and holds responsibility for implementing strategic direction from the National Board. The Secretary General is supported by an Executive Leadership Team, comprised of:
- an executive director
- five general managers, and
- a pou ārahi.
National Board Charter (PDF, 243KB)
New Zealand Red Cross Constitution (PDF, 371KB)
New Zealand Red Cross Regulations (PDF, 676KB)
Relationship to government
We work as an auxiliary to the public authorities in the humanitarian field. This means that while we are independent, we cooperate with the government for humanitarian purposes.
National Board members
John has a background in military, business management, emergency management, and resilience leadership.
He joined New Zealand Red Cross in 2001 as a member of the Central Region Board. After going to Indonesia as an international delegate in 2005, he worked for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for more than a decade. He joined our National Board in 2017 and was Vice-President from 2021 to 2024 before being elected as President.
Before joining Red Cross and working for our international Movement, John spent more than 20 years as a professional soldier with the New Zealand Army.
Patrick was a Red Cross employee from 1993 to 2016. He held several roles over this time, including Regional Director, National Retail Manager, and Acting National Fundraising Manager.
Before joining the National Board, he was Chair of our Waikato Area Council. Patrick has governance experience in the philanthropic and educational sectors.
Born and raised in Dunedin, Dan joined Red Cross in 2014 through a youth emergency preparedness programme and later joined the Dunedin Disaster Welfare Support Team. He’s been on the Dunedin Branch Executive Committee, National Youth Panel, Otago Area Council, and Southern Area Council.
Throughout these many roles, Dan has continued to mentor rangatahi in emergency preparedness and leadership. He also champions open discussions around health, safety and wellbeing.
Sue has been with New Zealand Red Cross since 2008. She joined as an international delegate specialising in organisational development and has worked with Red Cross societies in Timor-Leste and the Pacific.
She led our Wellington Area Council from 2016 to 2018 and was president of our Wellington Branch president from 2021 to 2022. With qualifications in teaching and business management, she's worked in training, fundraising, marketing, and communications.
Mat joined Red Cross in 2007 and has a background in youth, organisational development, and emergency management. He's an environmental scientist with qualifications in geology as well as disaster risk and resilience.
He's doing a PhD at the University of Canterbury. His research considers how to better incorporate non-resident populations into New Zealand’s disaster risk framework.
Mat holds several other governance roles at organisations in primary industry, technology, local community, and sport.
Mikaela joined Red Cross in 2018 as Disaster Welfare and Support Team volunteer and has held leadership roles with the Kāpiti-Mana team. She was an employee for several years where she supported our governance, Executive Leadership Team, and projects.
She's had several roles in the public sector, and currently works in emergency management as an advisor for social and community resilience.
Mikaela holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, International Relations, and Modern Languages. In 2022 she received our Jennifer Clark Memorial Scholarship for her postgraduate study in international development.
Warren is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is a Senior Audit Partner at BDO Christchurch.
He's the Deputy Chair of BDO New Zealand and is their International Liaison Partner. He’s an FMA licenced auditor, approved CAAINZ auditor, and Office of the Auditor and Controller approved auditor.
He joined the National Board in October 2017.
Niall joined Red Cross in 2006 as an emergency response unit volunteer, which was a precursor to our Disaster Welfare and Support teams. As an international delegate, he went to Haiti in 2008 and Sri Lanka in 2010. He chaired the Otago Area Council from 2012 to 2018 and was awarded Honorary Life Membership in 2016.
Niall joined the New Zealand Army when he was 16 and served for six years. After leaving the military he was a police officer for 33 years. He has governance experience with a variety of organisations in the not-for-profit sector. He's currently a District Support Officer with RNZRSA and joined our National Board in November 2024.
Executive Leadership Team
Sarah joined as our Secretary General in December 2020.
Before joining Red Cross, she held the statutory role of Director Civil Defence Emergency Management in the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and its predecessor, the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management, leading over 50 emergencies affecting New Zealand. She supported legislative and policy change processes, as well as implementation of key strategic capabilities, including the Emergency Mobile Alert system and the New Zealand Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoys network. She joined the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management in 2003 and held a number of different roles during her time with the Ministry.
She's brought a range of skills from working at an executive level nationally and internationally. She gained diverse international experience working in Ethiopia, Niue, the Solomon Islands, and the United Kingdom.
Sarah was a member of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team for nine years and has represented New Zealand at a variety of bilateral, regional and international meetings, exercises, and forums. She's published a number of papers in international journals and has co-edited three books.
Sarah is known by her nickname ‘Norm’, which comes from her maiden name ‘Norman’.
Alex Pierard joined Red Cross in May 2022 after nearly two decades working as a public servant in the foreign policy and security sectors.
Before joining Red Cross, Alex managed a team in the Ministry of Defence responsible for advising ministers on New Zealand’s international deployments, defence relationships, and international interests.
She worked for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including on postings overseas. In Wellington she's held positions working on Pacific, climate change, United Nations, North Asia, human rights, international development and trade as well as economic issues. She's represented New Zealand off-shore in bilateral, regional, and multilateral forums. In previous roles she's worked very closely with agencies and organisations involved in emergency response and humanitarian relief.
Alex has a Master’s Degree in Political Studies from the University of Auckland and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
Kate Boocock has over a decade of experience working across the public and nonprofit sectors in policy, research, and project management roles.
She has managed teams focused on improving project management capability and governance, supporting executive leadership to oversee strategic initiatives and strengthen risk management. Her work in the nonprofit sector has included leading governance reviews, developing policy frameworks, and supporting organisations to build long-term resilience.
Kate’s experience spans central and local government as well as nonprofit organisations, with expertise in policy development, evaluation, strategic planning, and capability building. She has worked closely with community groups, international partners, and government agencies to drive impactful, people-centered solutions.
Kate holds a Master’s Degree in Development Studies from the University of Auckland and is currently studying Te Reo Māori.
Sean Stewart joined Red Cross as General Manager Emergency Management and International in February 2022 having proudly served for 34 years in the New Zealand Defence Force.
Sean retired from the Royal New Zealand Navy as a Captain, having been awarded Operational Service medals for Bougainville, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, and Middle East peace support and humanitarian operations. He also served overseas in Penang, Malaysia and in Washington DC. His operational service at sea culminated in the command of the HMNZS Canterbury.
Sean has worked closely with the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management — now known as the National Emergency Management Agency — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and other agencies involved in emergency management here in New Zealand and the Pacific.
Shane joined Red Cross in 2016 as General Manager Communications, Marketing, and Fundraising. During this time, he was seconded to the role of Strategy Delivery Manager to lead the development of Strategy 2030.
With a background in the financial sector, he has had a professional career that spans the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.
He was responsible for national customer service delivery at Housing New Zealand. He also worked for The Salvation Army as the Territorial Public Relations Director responsible for brand management and marketing, and for national fundraising programmes. He brings a broad range of skills and experience including strategy development, communications and marketing, and innovation, and change.
Shane moved into the new role of General Manager Engagement and Enterprise on 1 February 2022.
Sue joined Red Cross in 2013 as Southland Area Manager. Since then, she's been the Humanitarian Services Manager for Otago-Southland and National Migration Manager. She was the Acting General Manager Migration from November 2021 and was appointed into the permanent role from 1 September 2022.
She co-led the setup of the our refugee settlement locations in Dunedin, Invercargill, Christchurch, and Blenheim and has advised on the setup of Levin and Masterton.
She has qualifications and experience in education and public health sectors, having worked as a classroom teacher, a health promoter, and a youth work manager before her roles at Red Cross.
Jane started her career as an officer in the New Zealand Army and served in both the regular and reserve forces from 1997 to 2022, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Before joining us she was the Director Organisational Strategy and Performance at the Treasury. She also spent three years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as Divisional Manager Strategy and Coordination.
She served overseas throughout her work in the military and public sector, including a two-year posting to Malaysia, an operational tour in Afghanistan, and time in Nepal instructing United Nations peacekeepers about sexual violence. She also served on responses for natural disasters, including Whakaari | White Island, and other responses, including COVID-19 and the Christchurch terror attacks.
She's practised as a lawyer and was a university lecturer in international humanitarian law. She has a chapter in a book on ‘women in the armed forces’ and is passionate about inclusion and culture change. She wanted to work with Red Cross for a long time, and volunteered as a judge in our international humanitarian law Moot Court since 2014.
Jane has volunteered in many different community organisations, usually with a focus on helping young people because she believes that our youth are the future of tomorrow. She has undergraduate degrees in law and commerce (economics) and a masters of international security. She lives with her children Isabela and Lucas, and their fur child Amber – an energetic labrador.
Fiona joined Red Cross as General Manager People Experience and Support on 1 February 2022 having worked previously as lead for the Government’s Joint Venture for Family Violence and Sexual Violence. She built a team and established relationships between the New Zealand government and Tangata Whenua, communities, and the family violence and sexual violence sectors. This supported the development of New Zealand’s first national strategy to eliminate family violence and sexual violence – Te Aorerekura.
Before this, Fiona’s role at the Treasury saw her build cross-agency collaboration, increase investment into social services, and develop a policy framework to help generate higher living standards. She has many years of experience working on not-for-profit boards, including on issues of sexual violence, disability, and women’s participation.
Isaia is a proud descendent of Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau-a-Apanui iwi, and to Manahiki and Rakahanga. He adds that his connection from the Pacific to Aotearoa can be told through the stories of Māui Tikitiki-a-Taranga.
Isaia joined Red Cross in February 2025 after a 16-year career at Fire and Emergency New Zealand where he started as a firefighter. His extensive experience includes governance roles, programme delivery, change management, and developing organisational partnerships. His work at Fire and Emergency New Zealand included embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Ao Māori into governance, leadership, and policy frameworks.