Careerforce Board Profiles
Richard Westlake
Independent Chair
Richard Westlake is Director of Westlake Consulting Limited, a New Zealand based globally focused firm advising on organizational governance, strategy and board management relations.
Richard is a highly regarded trainer and facilitator for boards, directors and board chairs, and is a keynote presenter on corporate governance for courses run by the Institute of Directors. Besides advising on governance and organizational change, Richard has more than 15 years’ experience as a Director and Board Chairman. He is Chairman of the Standards Council of New Zealand, New Zealand’s representative member of ISO and Chairman of the New Zealand Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum.
He is an Independent Director of Dairy Goat Cooperative (NZ) Ltd and Intergen Limited, one of New Zealand’s largest locally-owned software solutions companies; and he has been an Independent Director of successful New Zealand-owned Kiwibank Ltd since its establishment in 2001, where he also chairs the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee.
Richard gained his MA degree at Oxford University, England, where he won a Rowing Blue in the 1973 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. After graduating, he trained as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force and his first leadership appointment came in 1975, at age 22, running a 4,500 person refugee camp at a British base in Cyprus.
Richard is an Accredited Fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand (‘AFInstD’) and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management (‘FNZIM’).
Meng Cheong
Director: Home and Community
With a bachelors degree in economics and a masters degree in business administration, Meng Cheong has enjoyed more than 20 years experience in the New Zealand health sector in a variety of roles encompassing finance, strategy, business development and general management.
Meng began his career in health at the Auckland Area Health Board as Manager, Corporate Finance. This progressed to roles within Counties Manukau DHB as Financial Controller, Manager, Strategy and Business Development and later as General Manager, Surgical Services. In 2003, he managed the operational integration of Greenlane Hospital and Auckland Hospital into the new Auckland City Hospital before moving on to take the role of Chief Operating Officer for Capital and Coast DHB.
Meng is currently CEO of The Salvation Army HomeCare service, providing home and community support services to nearly 5,000 New Zealanders to enable them stay in their own homes.
Christopher Harris
Director: Disability
Chris Harris has extensive leadership and governance experience across a wide range of health and disability organisations.
Chris is currently Chief Executive of Spectrum Care Trust Board, an organisation which provides a broad range of services for people with intellectual disability, physical disability, and/or autism.
Between 2000 and 2007 Chris was the General Manager of Mental Health and Addictions at the Waikato DHB, and also held the additional role of Acting General Manager of Waikato Hospital in 2007. Prior to this he was the Director of Framework Trust.
Chris is currently an Establishment Board Member at the NZ Disability Support Network and is on the Executive of the Auckland Disability Providers Network and the Ministry of Health-NGO Working Group.
He holds memberships on the Waikato Institute of Directors and on the International Disability Leaders Group.
Chris has a Master of Arts (Education) and a graduate diploma in Professional Management.
Dr Colin Hayes
Director: Mental Health and Addiction
Colin has worked extensively in the mental health care, alcohol and drug sector.
Colin is currently CEO of Framework, an NGO delivering community based mental health and intellectual disability services in Greater Auckland. From November 2010, Colin will be the Divisional Manager of Framework Richmond, one division of Richmond New Zealand Trust Ltd., the new organisation formed from the merger of Richmond NZ and Framework.
Prior to his role as CEO of Framework, Colin was Framework’s Director Quality and Professional Development. He has also worked as Portfolio Manager (Quality, Training and Service Improvement) at Waitemata DHB, and has worked as a service manager for a range of AOD services for Community Alcohol and Drug Services in Waitemata.
Between 1990 and 2003 Colin was a Board Member for the New Zealand Accreditation Board for Alcohol and Drug Services, and was Chair from 1995 to 2003.Colin has also been a member of several Advisory Boards and Committees, and is on the Board of New Covenant International Bible College (a Private Training Establishment).
Colin is a registered Nurse and has studied widely within the spheres of mental health, alcohol and other drugs (AOD), nursing, management, quality and theology. His PhD thesis research was mental health focused, looking at spiritual factors impacting the experience of mental illness. Colin has lectured at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Dr Frances Hughes
Director: Contract, Project and Risk Management
Frances has 30 years experience in the New Zealand health service as a health clinician, manager and educator. In addition to her nursing qualifications, she holds a BA, MA and a doctorate.
Frances has played a major leadership role in nursing in New Zealand. Over the past 20 years she has been instrumental in the professional, clinical and educational development of mental health nursing. This work included the establishment of a separate professional body of mental health nurses, and the design and development of graduate and advanced programmes for mental health nursing.
Frances has held the position of Chief Advisor (Nursing) for the Ministry of Health. She is involved in international research and has been commissioned by Governments, World Health Organisation (WHO) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) for work in relation to nursing, policy and mental health in Australia, South Pacific, UK, Canada and Asia.
Frances facilitates the WHO Pacific Island Mental Health network and holds two other directorships. She was the first Professor of Nursing and the Director of the Centre for Mental Health Policy, Research and Service Development at the University of Auckland. Currently Frances is Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and the Auckland University of Technology.
Dave Guerin
Director: Government Policy, Strategy and Workforce Development
Dave Guerin has specialised in tertiary education policy and management issues for the last 15 years, through most of which he has worked within his own firm Education Directions. He also spent two years heading up the national body for institutes of technology ad polytechnics.
Dave has worked with most groups in education, advising government policy, funding and regulatory agencies, industry groups, universities, polytechnics, ITOs, private training establishments, wananga and others. These days he focuses on analysing the tertiary education environment, and delivers services through ED Blog, ED Insider and custom consultancy work
Martin Taylor
Director: Aged Care Residential
Martin Taylor has been CEO of the New Zealand Aged Care Association (formerly Health Care Providers New Zealand) since 2004.
NZACA represents 75% of all aged residential care providers, and in his role as CEO Martin has led the annual negotiations on the Aged Related Residential Care contract with DHBs, and has overseen the development of significant research on the aged residential care environment.
Martin holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and is Chair of Wellington Fish and Game.
Pene Brown
Director: Maori Aspirations
Careerforce’s Maori Aspirations director position has been filled by Pene Brown since 2006.
Pehimana Haapu (Pene) Brown has an extensive background in governance, working with a range of Maori organisations in the fields of health, education, farming and social needs.
He is the Board Chair of Te Hauora O Turanganui a Kiwa (Turanga Health, a Maori health provider owned by the three iwi groups of Gisborne), Deputy Chair of Tairawhiti District Health Board (Gisborne), Chair of the Community and Public Health Advisory Committee and a Director of Turanganui Primary Health Organisation. Pene was the Chair of Tairawhiti Polytechnic, and a Trustee or Chair of various whanau, hapu and iwi land blocks. He is also the Chair of Te Runanga o Turanganui a Kiwa and Chair of Te Aitanga a Mahaki Trust.
Pene and his family have farmed in Puha for four generations and his whanau marae is Tapuihikitia Marae. Pene has a Diploma in Agriculture and has completed the Kellogg Rural Leadership Course (Lincoln University) and the Institute of Directors (IOD) Company Directors’ Course.
Richard Wagstaff
Director: Employee Knowledge
Richard Wagstaff is one of two national secretaries of the Public Service Association. The PSA is New Zealand’s largest union, with more than 58,000 members working in public and community services. Richard has been a PSA national secretary for 11 years.
He began working at the union in 1988 as a researcher. He became an organiser three years later, working with PSA members in the health and disability sectors in Auckland. In 1997 he was appointed operations manager, responsible for PSA members throughout the country in the health and community sectors. He took up his current position as a national secretary in 2000.
In 2007 Richard was elected vice president of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU). More than 350,000 New Zealand workers belong to the 40 unions that are affiliated to the CTU).
