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, 1.8MB)
New Zealand Red Cross Constitution (PDF, 371KB)
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 the military, business management, emergency management and resilience leadership.
After 20 years as a New Zealand Army officer, he spent time as the chief executive of the New Zealand Academy of Sport before 11 years working for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent supporting their global operations as a security advisor.
John first joined New Zealand Red Cross in 2001 as a member of the Central Region Board and joined the National Board in October 2017, holding the role of Vice-President from 2021 to 2024 before being elected as President.
Patrick is a former long-serving senior staff member of New Zealand Red Cross from 1993 to 2016, including as a Regional Director, National Retail Manager and Acting National Fundraising Manager. Before joining the National Board, he was Chair of our Waikato Area Council. He has also had governance experience in the philanthropic and educational sectors.
Born and raised in Dunedin, Dan joined Red Cross in 2014 through a local Red Cross Youth Emergency Preparedness Programme (YEPP). He later joined the Disaster Welfare Support Team and has responded to many local and national emergencies.
As his passion for Red Cross grew, Dan became more involved in governance and strategy planning, being on Dunedin Branch Executive Committee, Otago Area Council, National Youth Panel, and finally the Southern Area Council. Throughout these many roles, Dan has continued to mentor rangatahi in emergency preparedness and leadership.
Throughout his involvement in Red Cross, he continues to advocate for stronger youth engagement and mentoring opportunities for all members. He also champions open discussions around health, safety and wellbeing.
While on the board, Dan looks forward to engaging with rangatahi across our global movement of humanitarians while fostering meaningful youth engagement and action.
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 was the area council chair in Wellington from 2016 to 2018 and Wellington branch president from September 2021. She has worked in training, fundraising, marketing and communications. She has qualifications in teaching and business management.
Mat has been involved with New Zealand Red Cross since 2007. He has a background in youth and organisational development, as well as emergency management.
He is an environmental scientist, with qualifications in geology and disaster risk and resilience. He is currently undertaking his PhD, considering how to better incorporate non-resident populations into New Zealand’s disaster risk framework.
He holds several other governance roles across primary industry, technology, local community, and sport organisations.
Hailing from the Top of the South, Te Tau Ihu, and now calling Te Whānganui-a-tara home, Mikaela joined Red Cross in 2018 as Disaster Welfare and Support Team volunteer. As a volunteer she held leadership roles in the Kāpiti-Mana team, and spent time as staff supporting our governance, executive leadership team, and other projects.
She's had several roles in the public sector, and currently works in emergency management as an advisor for Social and Community Resilience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, International Relations, and Modern Languages. In 2022 she received our Jennifer Clarke Memorial Scholarship for developing leadership in youth for her postgraduate study in international development.
She hopes to bring a fresh and innovative perspective to the National Board, “I’m really excited to advocate for decisions that are enabling and supportive of Red Cross people, and that grow our organisation’s culture of collaboration, impact and adaptability.”
Warren is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is currently a Senior Audit Partner at BDO Christchurch. Warren is also the Deputy Chair of BDO New Zealand and is the International Liaison Partner for BDO New Zealand. He is also an FMA licenced auditor, an approved CAAINZ auditor and an Office of the Auditor and Controller approved auditor. He joined the National Board in October 2017.
Coming from a New Zealand Army and Police background, including several operational deployments, Niall joined New Zealand Red Cross in 2006 as Controller of the Dunedin Emergency Response Unit, a precursor to the current Disaster Welfare and Support teams.
Niall trained as a member of New Zealand’s fledgling IT and Telecom Emergency Response Unit and went to Haiti in 2008. In 2010 he went to Sri Lanka as IFRC Security Coordinator. He chaired the Otago Area Council for six years until 2018 and was awarded Honorary Life Membership in 2016.
Currently Niall is employed as a District Support Manager for the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association based in Dunedin, where he enjoys training and coordinating a volunteer workforce across Otago and Southland. He has governance experience with a variety of organisations in the not-for-profit sector and joined the 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’.
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.
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 Whaakari | 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.