Our board and patron

Members of the Governance Board provide Te Wāhi Wāhine with guidance, governance, accountability, and support within a collective framework. Members are involved in all aspects of the Centre and provide invaluable knowledge, skills and ideas. The Governance Board is elected at our AGM which is open to all Te Wāhi Wāhine members and held in December every year.

Katherine McAlpine

Chair

Katherine McAlpine

Chair

Katherine is a union organiser with Equity NZ, the performers union.

She has worked in academia, the arts, corporate and not-for-profit environments. She is an experienced trainer, knowledge management practitioner, activist and taxi driver of teenagers. Social justice and intersectional feminism are key areas of interest and action.

Olivia Mcgann

Treasurer

Olivia Mcgann

Treasurer

Olivia McGann is a Chartered Accountant who currently works as the Commercial Operations Manager (NZ) for Xero. Studying and working primarily in the finance industry she became aware of how important it is for women to feel and be empowered in all aspects of their lives.

She brings her finance, operational execution and strategy skills to the team along with a passion for learning and development.

Juressa Lee

Board Member

Juressa Lee

Board Member

Tēnā koutou katoa

He uri tēnei mai te Moana Nui a Kiwa

Ki te taha o tōku matua, no Pawarenga, no Ngawha, no Tauranga Moana

Ko Te Rarawa, ko Ngāpuhi, ko Ngāi Te Rangi ōku iwi

Ko Te Uri o Tai, ko Ngāti Rangi, ko Ngāti Makamaka ōku hapū

Ki te taha o tōku māmā, no Rarotonga, no Tahiti hoki

Ko Tupapa, ko Ngatangiia ōku hapū

Ko Juressa Lee ahau. Kia ora mai tātou!

Currently I am working as the plastics campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa. I have done a bunch of different things along the way including various roles in academia from business analysis to pastoral care for international scholarship students from developing countries. Project procurement and commercial administration in construction and engineering consultancies. In my spare time I try to help out with the rūmaki reo we’ve been fortunate to be part of, all hands on deck! Keen to see how to make all of this useful for AWC!

I love being more active and dedicated to protecting our planet and all the life it sustains. Am on the everlasting journey of decolonisation. As a mum and nan to brown skinned, Polynesian tamariki everything I do – work, voluntary, grassroots, etc – is with them in mind and what they will have to live with. I love the sentiment of being a better ancestor. As tangata whenua and tangata moana, it would be my pleasure and joy to bring my perspective to the table, joining courageous feminists committed to justice, equity and wellness for wāhine and non-binary, genderqueer people. Ngā mihi nui!

Liv Roe

Board Member

Liv Roe

Board Member

Mabuhay & kia ora koutou. Ko Liv tōku ingoa. I have a deep passion for activism and advocacy for progressive and feminist social movements, particularly in the field of international human rights, gender and LGBTQI+ equity, and migrant support.

I am a first-and-a-half generation migrant from the Philippines. My family moved to New Zealand in the year 2000 when I was nine years old from Manila. Through decades of my lived-experience as a kid growing up in a brand new country and adapting to a new culture, I have gained the resilience to overcome discrimination and systemic hurdles, and am driven to challenge antiquated patriarchal views in today’s political climate – which is holistically intertwined with my identity as an Asian woman.

My professional background is in the public venues and creative arts sector as administrative support, and it is an honour offer my expertise in the field to contribute to the development of Auckland Women’s Centre, so that it can continue to champion for a better quality of life for wāhine in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Maggie Jakob-Hoff

Board Member

Maggie Jakob-Hoff

Board Member

I have been involved with social research doing evaluation, review and auditing for my entire professional career. Much of it has been in the mental health, education and health sectors.

I’m deeply committed to women’s issues and have always wanted to serve the Auckland Women’s Centre as a volunteer. I have been helping set up evaluation systems here since 2019 and have been greatly impressed by the staff and the outcomes resulting from their work. This has increased my enthusiasm for being involved.

I decided to join the board after being retired from paid work for a year and am honoured to have been elected.

Stacey Porter

Board Member

Stacey Porter

Board Member

Stacey Porter (Ngai Takoto, Ngāti Kahu and Ngāpuhi) is a Māori Advisor for Whāraurau. Stacey has a background in kaupapa Māori, and extensive experience in Māori mental health, Māori policy, Māori education and community legal needs.

Hayley Shields

Board Member

Hayley Shields

Board Member

Hayley is a partner of Edified consulting offering services to the higher education and international education sector in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. Throughout her career she has worked in public and non-profit organisations, led strategy and operations and owned a small business focussed on wellbeing and leadership development.  She has a postgraduate degree in gender and development studies and lived for a time in Cambodia working for a charity focused on young women’s economic and educational empowerment.  Gender equity and social justice, locally and globally, drive my action and advocacy.

Erica Burke

Board Member

Erica Burke

Board Member

Erica is a Senior Associate Lawyer in Tāmaki Makaurau, specialising in Family Law.  She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the 8th edition of the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal – Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā wahine. Erica is also an active mentor within the University of Auckland Law School He Ira Wāhine.

Erica has been involved in the Auckland Women Lawyers Association including as Secretary for four years previously. During this time she was actively involved in developing a scholarship for young women leaving school, as the first in their family to attend Law School. During this time, Erica also focussed on writing and presenting submissions to the Select Committee in respect of the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, having written about this for the Journal previously.

Eica is a strong advocate for women’s rights, their safety and representation. She is committed to gender justice and utilising her skills and experience to support initiatives that advocate for related issues.

A key focus for Erica is the experience and support of women’s access to and engagement with legal services and representation.

Izzy Montague

Board Member

Izzy Montague

Board Member

Kia ora I’m Izzy (she/her), I’m a Pākehā person from Tāmaki Makaurau.

I’m a Project Manager at Women’s Health Action, a social change organisation working to improve the health and wellbeing of women and whānau. Utilising my sociological background, critical thinking/intersectionality, and commitment to upholding Te Tiriti, I am a staunch advocate for the rights and equity of women, Māori, and rainbow communities.

I have worked on major projects that prioritise the voices and experiences of consumers of health care services, for breastfeeding, body image, and reproductive rights/screening. I also run events (the Big Latch On), oversee website builds (findyourbreastfeedingsupport.org.nz) and write submissions.

 

For 4 years I worked at Life101 and Momentum Charitable Trust. Here I led the development of a mentor programme to support people leaving prison, alongside writing funding applications, online learning programmes, and websites. Additionally, I volunteer for People Against Prisons Aotearoa and help to run their annual Holiday Card Drive.

 

My professional roles have allowed me to express and explore my personal commitment to social justice, prison abolition, and health care reform.

Dr Judy McGregor

Patron

Dr Judy McGregor

Patron

Professor Judy McGregor, CNZM, was New Zealand’s first Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner  with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission between 2002-2010 and during that period published the “Caring Counts” report of employment in the aged care sector which was the catalyst for successful equal pay legislation. She was appointed Chair of the Waitematā District Health Board in June 2018., served as Head of the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology, has a doctorate in political communication, and is a trained lawyer and former newspaper editor. She has published eight books and hundreds of refereed journal articles relating to the media, gender equality, the employment and care of older people, and a range of human rights issues.