Simon Martin, Chairman
Simon Martin has had a varied career. He studied at Canterbury University and Lincoln College, farmed for 20 years in South Canterbury, serving on a number of local community committees. He served on the Timaru Harbour Board for eight years and Waihi School Trust Board for 15 years. Simon was a director of Pyne Gould Guinness and Pyne Gould Corporation for 25 years and a director of Reid Farmers for 10 years. He currently chairs a number of smaller companies and Trusts.
Simon's involvement with Hohepa began some ten years ago, chairing a successful capital fundraising campaign for Hohepa Canterbury. He is keen to ensure that the quality of life enjoyed by Hohepa residents and day attendees is continually enhanced and is confident that the governance structures in place will help deliver this outcome.
Rodney (Rod) A deTerte
Rod is a consulting accountant with 27 years of professional experience, 19 years having been gained in private practices. Rod is presently operating his own practice and provides consulting and mentoring services to a diverse group of clients. The professional skills acquired have been obtained in New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia and South East Asia.
Rod has held a number of trusteeships and has been on the Hohepa Trust Board for 12 years. Rod is also presently the chair of the Hawke's Bay Regional Board, a position he has held since its inception in 2004. Rod has been involved with Hohepa for over 15 years and is fully committed to the strategies the Hohepa Trust Board is working to ensure Hohepa is well placed to continue to offer a quality service to its users. Rod is married to Kerry and has three adult children.
Peter Wallace Phillips
Peter is a lawyer by profession and has been with Anthony Harper Lawyers for over 40 years. He is a Past President of the Canterbury District Law Society and has been on the Council of the New Law Society. Peter has considerable experience in governance roles and enjoys bringing this experience to the Hohepa Board. He is Deputy Chair of the Hohepa Canterbury Regional Board and has served on that board for over three years.
Peter is constantly in awe of the huge work done to enhance the lives of the Hohepa service users and admires the dedication of staff and their enthusiasm for their work. He hopes that his work as a member of the National Board can go some way towards enhancing the quality of life of our service users and assisting with the constant battle to obtain adequate and appropriate funding for our facilities and our service users. Peter is married to Marie and has three adult children.
Greg O'Connor
Greg is a parent of a child in the children's community at Hohepa in the Hawke's Bay. He has become involved in the Trust because he believes his knowledge in the political scene and infrastructure in Wellington can be a good resource for the Trust Board, particularly when dealing with funding issues.
Greg is a Police Officer but has spent the last decade seconded to the New Zealand Police Association as President and, as such, deals on a day to day basis with officials and politicians. Greg chairs five Boards within the New Zealand Police Association Group of Companies, dealing with assets and turnover worth an excess of $20m.
John Morrissey
John Morrissey's contribution to the Canterbury Regional Board is based on both sporting and business backgrounds.
John played rugby for Canterbury and Otago and for NZ, and has been in senior management roles in companies involved with importing, wild game recovery and food manufacturing, and in management/ownership in the field of electronic equipment design and manufacture.
Currently John has investments in farming ventures near Christchurch and Central Otago and is Chairman of a new company expanding its manufactured electronic equipment exports from a Christchurch base.
John has been involved with Hohepa Canterbury for over 10 years as a sponsor, Chair of a successful Fundraising Committee, Board member and now Board Chair, and along with his late wife Bev has gained immense satisfaction from the association.
James was educated at Cambridge (MA 1964) and subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant in London (1968). He worked in the financial sector for 25 years, first as a fund manager with a major international firm in Edinburgh, and then as the founding Managing Director of a small private bank based in Edinburgh and London. He also acted as an independent Director for a number of other companies, in both the investment and insurance sectors. He served as a Trustee of several charitable organisations in Scotland, and was Chairman of a major schools group in Edinburgh for 5 years.
Although James was born in England, both his parents were from New Zealand, and he has maintained close ties with his whanau here throughout his life. James owned a dairy farm in Matamata for 25 years, which he visited regularly, and has had a house in the Bay of Islands since 1996. He came to live in New Zealand premanently in 2005 and is now based near Helensville. He has one son and three daughters, one of whom is at Hohepa Auckland.
Dee Twiss
Dee Twiss taught for ten years and then combined further study with caring for the three family preschoolers for another ten years. Family circumstances, one child deaf, another with cancer, awoke an intense interest in support for families with unusual needs.
With an MA & postgraduate DipEdPsych she worked as a field psychologist in education. Particular projects included cross-agency collaboration on new directions for services for deaf people and work with IHC towards inclusive community-based services. In 1989 she chaired the government special education working party involved in establishing national early intervention services, and worked then as an SES EI Advisor, MOE policy analyst and later as EI National Adviser.
Since 2000 she has worked independently, as a tertiary lecturer, case coordinator for the High Complex Needs Unit, and researcher for education and health sectors on various reviews, including education programmes for children with autism, and respite services for people with disabilities. Being on the Auckland Regional Board was a rewarding experience and she's pleased now to contribute to the National Trust Board in bringing high quality, personalised services to clients within their chosen community.
