At our Annual General Meeting earlier this month we farewelled three outstanding board members, Helga Wientjes, Gail Marshall, and James Lord.

Helga Wientjes has served the Board for 2 terms of 3 years, spending time as both Vice Chair and Chairperson.

Helga has a passion for volunteering that is electric. She has confidently steered Volunteering New Zealand and we have benefited from her dedication to leading us, though her work behind the scenes, chairing meetings, and representing Volunteering New Zealand in public engagements and sector working groups. Helga’s delivered a legacy of a comprehensive governance handbook and our revamped vision and strategic plan.

Gail Marshall has served on the Board for one term of 3 years. In that time she has given huge amounts of time to serving Volunteering New Zealand and has generously shared her skills and expertise. She has made a significant impact in regards to our strategic communications, collaboratively devising our stakeholder engagement strategy, and contributing to our refreshed vision and overall strategic plan.

In her day job she is a communications expert, and leads Community Comms Collective. The Collective purpose is to give a free communications boost to community organisations so their efforts go further.

James Lord has also served on the Board for one term of 3 years. James has had a huge impact during this time. He worked incredibly hard in regards to chief executive recruitment, collaboratively devising our stakeholder engagement strategy, and contributing to our refreshed vision and overall strategic plan.

James is the Director of BeCollective, based in Wellington. He is director of BeCollective which is a volunteer software platform that aims to help with re-thinking how we engage, connect and give in communities.

Thank you for your commitment to Volunteering New Zealand, to the volunteering sector, and for your collaborative thought leadership and vision. We will miss having you on the team.

Ka kite ano,
Michelle Kitney
Chief Executive
Volunteering New Zealand