Our people

Hon Dame Fran has had a distinguished career in national and local politics, including as a Cabinet Minister, Mayor of Wellington, Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council and New Zealand representative on the APEC Business Advisory Council.

Paul Morgan became a trustee of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono in October 2021 and is the board's deputy chair.

Lyn Lim (Huei Min Lim) originates from Malaysia and has strong interests and involvement in commercial and community activities relating to Asia.

Simon Watt is a partner and board member in the Wellington office of the national law firm Bell Gully and leads Bell Gully' s public law and climate change practices.

Danny Chan is an experienced New Zealand director, with extensive accounting, finance and investment management and education experience.

Chris Seed has been Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade since February 2019. Prior to this, he spent five years as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Australia.

Tupe Solomon-Tanoa'i became a trustee of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono in October 2021.

Ziena Jalil became a trustee of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono in October 2021.

HE Mr Amris Hassan served as Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand from 2006 to 2010.

Mr Nakasone had a career in politics, serving as Japan's Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and Minister of State for Science and Technology from 1999 to 2001.

Professor Han Sung-Joo is professor emeritus at Korea University and founder of the Asan Institute.

Dr Supachai served as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 2005 to 2013.

Hon. Rafidah Aziz serves as the non-executive independent chairman of AirAsia X.

Mr Guillermo M. Luz is an associate director of the Ayala Corporation, one of the biggest business conglomerates in the Philippines.

Heekyung (Jo) Min is the Executive Vice President and head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of CJ CheilJedang in Korea.

Professor Pavida Pananond is a Professor of International Business at the Thammasat Business School at the Thammasat University.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak is director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) and professor of International Relations at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

As a serial entrepreneur, Le has worked in the following areas: human resources, social media, software development and vocational training.

Stanley Tan is a proud and happy father of two daughters, a businessman, and a committed humanitarian.

Prof Zhou is a highly respected physicist. His life's work, including advancing the theory of spiral amplitude of particles, has earned him widespread recognition and numerous awards.

Dr Victor K Fung is group chairman of The Fung group and chairman of the advisory board of the Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong, a multi-disciplinary think-tank co-established with the Fung Global Institute in 2015.

Dr Ng Eng Hen of the People's Action Party was elected into Singapore's parliament as MP for the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency in 2001.

Dr Raghupati Singhania is the chairman and managing director of JK Tyre & Industries Limited. He is also the chairman of JK Tornel, S.A.de C.V., Mexico and is a member of the one of India's most prominent and highly regarded business families.

Reuben Abraham is CEO of IDFC Foundation and IDFC Institute, a Mumbai based think/do tank focused on state capability and political economy issues.

Senaka Silva is a long-standing advocate of Sri Lanka-NZ relations, having served as New Zealand’s Honorary Consul in Sri Lanka since 2009, as Chair of the Australia New Zealand Business Council and through business and other connections.

Helianti Hilman is the founder and CEO of Javara, a social enterprise focused on sustaining Indonesia’s food biodiversity heritage by introducing and bringing indigenous food products from Indonesia to the world.

Adaljiza Magno is Timor Leste's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and former Ambassador to Singapore and former Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Annie Wu Suk-ching is a senior businesswoman, educational philanthropist and women’s leader.

Amane Nakashima, is the president of Nakashimato Co. and the chairman of Kewpie Corp. Nakashimato Co.

Melissa Lee was born in Korea and grew up in Malaysia, settling in New Zealand in 1988. She has more than 20 years' journalism experience, including a five-year stint with the Sunday News.

Hon Philip Burdon has had a distinguished career across the fields of law, business, and politics.

Rob Fyfe is an experienced director, and former CEO of a global airline.

Traci Houpapa is the chair of the Federation of Māori Authorities (FoMA). She specialises in strategic and economic development.

Manying Ip is Professor in Asian Studies at Auckland University and the author of several critically acclaimed books on Chinese in New Zealand.

Mitchell Pham is a Vietnamese-Kiwi technology business and social entrepreneur who originally arrived in New Zealand as a refugee at the age of 13.

Sir Don McKinnon was first elected to parliament in 1978. He was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister in 1990 and became the longest-serving Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand's history.

Vanushi Walters was elected as the member of Parliament for Upper Harbour in 2020 and currently sits as Deputy Chair of the Justice Select Committee as well as a member of the Regulations Review Committee.

Sir Anand Satyanand has worked as a lawyer, Judge and Ombudsman and was New Zealand’s 19th Governor-General from 2006 until 2011.

Warrick is the managing partner of deals, tax and legal, and chairman and CEO of KPMG in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Lianne Dalziel’s third term as Mayor of Christchurch will be her last term after just over 30 years of public service.

Paula Tesoriero is chief executive at Whaikaha - The Ministry of Disabled People.

Sameer Handa is a company director and executive member of the India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC).

Kyle Murdoch is a chief executive, company director and producer with 20 years of experience working in the media industry in Asia.

Simon Murdoch is a former Secretary Foreign Affairs and Trade and served on the board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Nicola Ngarewa is the principal of Spotswood College and is the Chairperson of Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Josh Wharehinga is the Deputy Mayor of Gisborne District Council and has had a long connection with the Asia New Zealand Foundation as a former member of the Leadership Network.

Sachie Nomura is a chef and food writer and is the owner of cooking school Sachie’s Kitchen.

Simon Draper is an experienced diplomat with an extensive international background in negotiation and relationship management.

Adele manages the corporate and governance responsibilities of the Foundation and takes a coordinating role across programmes.

Paula provides assistance to the executive director and the chairman. She has been with the Foundation since 2003.

Sunita joined the Foundation in 2007 in the role of accountant. She has a BCA in commerce from Victoria University of Wellington, and has previously worked in Australia and England across both the private and public sectors.

Liz covers the reception at the Foundation as well as accounts payable and receivable and general administration.

Sean O'Connor joined the team in 2014 after being associated with the Foundation as a participant in the 2013 Business Studies Forum in Shanghai.

Dara is from Singapore. She came to New Zealand in 2019 and has come to accept wind-swept hair as the daily look.

Nick has over 20 years’ experience in businesses and commercial entities and has founded a number of successful businesses.

Ethan (Ngāi Takoto, Te Aupōuri) has recently joined the Foundation in the business programme and is based in Auckland.

Before joining the Foundation, BoBae (BB) had previously worked as a programme coordinator in Korea where she managed volunteer programmes. This included sending domestic students overseas, to mainly …

Linh works out of the Foundation's Auckland office as project officer for the Leadership Nework. She joined the Foundation in 2021 as a project coordinator for the Business Programme before moving to her current role in 2022.

Lingy brings a wealth of knowledge from the startup and innovation scene having spent several years working with startup companies in New Zealand and internationally.

Suzannah Jessep joined the Foundation in March 2019, after serving as New Zealand’s Deputy High Commissioner to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Deputy Ambassador to Nepal and as New Zealand’s Deputy …

Dr James To has an academic background in Asian languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese), political science, and commerce.

Jordan is a Senior Research Adviser in the Foundation's research and engagement team. He has an academic and public sector background.

Craig Cooper has worked in the arts sector for almost 20 years in both Australia and New Zealand in a variety of roles.

Kirsty studied at Lincoln College (way back in the 80’s), then backpacked around the world for four years before returning to settle in Gisborne.

Rebecca Inoue-Palmer has been working on media initiatives for the Asia New Zealand Foundation since 2011 and was the first manager of the Asia Media Centre when it was established in 2017.

Ned Wotherspoon joined the Foundation in 2015 after working for a number of years creating website content for the government agency Careers New Zealand.

Phoebe joined the Foundation in 2020 as Communications Coordinator after graduating from Massey University. She completed a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Expressive Arts/Media Studies.

Shireen has joined the Foundation as the Communications Adviser, after spending five years working in the education sector.

Tania Te Whenua (Tūhoe, Whakatōhea) is the principal of Te Whenua Law and Consulting, assisting organisations to realise a commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi and to engage confidently with Māori culture, clients and key stakeholders.

Graeme Acton joined the team at the Foundation in February 2020, moving from the position of Foreign News Editor with RNZ in Wellington.

Eleanor joined the Asia Media Centre as a media adviser in 2020, fresh from the newsroom.

Lee Seabrook-Suckling comes to the Asia Media Centre as media adviser after a decade in journalism and public relations.

Hannah is a Project Manager at the Christchurch Foundation, a charity with the purpose of making Ōtautahi Christchurch a better city through philanthropic giving and impact programmes.

Ajay is a policy officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Ben is a Policy Practitioner with fourteen years of work and study experience in Māori development and international-related kaupapa.

Xavier hails from the villages of Lotofaga (Aleipata), Matatufu, Falelatai and Falefā in Sāmoa.

Jenny is passionate about the intersection of business, technology and mission-driven entities. Her interests have led her to pursue a MBA (Technology specialisation) at the Australian Graduate School of Business.

Arina Aizal is the Community Connector and Youth Coordinator at Otago Access Radio.

Crystal (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Mahuta) is a Mana Wāhine & Kaupapa Māori researcher and PhD candidate in Waikato University's Management School.