Board of Trustees

Hon John Luxton is the chair of a number of businesses and organisations including Pouarua Farm, Waikato River Authority and Marire Holdings Ltd and Associated Companies. He provided consultancy services in Asia, Africa and the Pacific before being elected to Parliament in 1987. He was a cabinet minister for nine years, holding numerous ministerial positions. He served as a member of the Foundation’s board of trustees in 2001 and 2002.

Lyn Lim (Huei Min Lim) originates from Malaysia and has strong interests and involvement in commercial and community activities relating to Asia. She is a director on the boards of Public Trust and Mykris Limited and trustee and deputy chair of ASB Community Trust. Lim is a council member of AUT University and a board member of Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board and the New Zealand Shareholders' Association. Previously, Lim was a board member of New Zealand China Trade Association and Hong Kong New Zealand Business Association and a member of ANZ Private Bank External Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors, the New Zealand Asian Leaders organisation and the Hong Kong New Zealand Business Association. Lim is a partner of Forest Harrison, the legal firm she started in 2006. In 2017 Lim became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to New Zealand-Asia relations and governance.

Manji spent 11 years trading global markets for investment banks in London. In 2002, he moved to New Zealand and has since been actively involved in governance and social enterprise. He has degrees in Economics and Political Science, and a Masters in International Law and Politics from the University of Canterbury. Manji has spent many years examining the friction between the public and private space, and is especially interested in the reform of our monetary, welfare and tax systems, as well our political and constitutional arrangements. He was a two term Christchurch City Councillor. As Chair of the Finance Committee, his main focus was the council's financial position, as well as its post-earthquake strategic direction and risk management. 

Simon Murdoch is a graduate of Canterbury University and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University in 2012. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972 and was posted to Canberra from 1974 to 1977. He later served in Washington from 1983 to 1987 and returned to Canberra as High Commissioner from 1999 to 2002. He was appointed as Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2002. He retired in 2009 and was awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) honour. Mr Murdoch' s other roles include Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1991 to 1998. Since retirement, Murdoch has kept busy including acting as New Zealand Special Rep for Afghanistan and Pakistan until 2012. He is also an Associate of the Victoria University of Wellington Centre for Strategic Studies.

Simon Watt is a partner, board member, Deputy Chair, and Chair of the Wellington office of the national law firm Bell Gully. He leads Bell Gully' s public law and climate change practices, and advises on trade law issues. He has been involved in the development of Bell Gully' s Asia strategy and is relationship partner for the Asia New Zealand Foundation and Asia Forum, as well as for MFAT in advising on preparations for APEC 2021. Simon has advised parliamentary, provincial government and commercial clients in Asia, and New Zealand businesses exporting to Asia. As a recruitment partner, chair of Bell Gully’s Staff Committee and a member of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Simon has promoted Asian language skills and work experience, and ethnic and other diversity initiatives in the firm.

Danny Chan is an experienced New Zealand director, with extensive accounting, finance and investment management and education experience. He holds a number of directorships with companies including Academic Colleges Group Limited, Farmers’ Mutual Group Limited, Abano Healthcare Limited, Flowerzone International Limited and Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development Limited, as well as numerous companies associated with his private investments both in New Zealand and Asia. He is a Member of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet - China Project, the NZ China Executive Council, the New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal and the Confucius Institute. He has lived and worked in Asia for a number of years and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Chris Seed took up the role of chief executive and secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in February 2019. Prior to taking up this position, Chris spent five years (2013-2018) as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Australia. Chris first joined MFAT in 1985. He was Deputy Secretary for the Australia, Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa Group from 2008-2013. His earlier career included assignments in Tehran, Canberra, London and Papua New Guinea, where he was High Commissioner. Chris also spent some time in the Ministry of Defence as deputy secretary, Policy and Planning from 2004-2008. In addition to a number of roles in Wellington, Chris has served with the International Peace Monitoring Team in the Solomon Islands, the New Zealand delegation to the UN General Assembly and was seconded to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Chris holds a Master’s Degree in History and a BA with First Class Honours from Massey University.

Dame Fran Wilde 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 (ABAC).  She has had many years’ experience in the New Zealand private and public sectors and has a deep knowledge of NZ foreign policy. Dame Wilde has been a director of numerous companies, and held diverse roles across the government and non-profit sectors, from Crown negotiator for Treaty of Waitangi Claims to Chair of the International Festival of the Arts. She has also had a career in the business sector as a company director and chair, and was CEO of the NZ Trade Development Board for six years. She was awarded a CNZM in 2012, a Westpac Women of Influence Award in 2015, an honorary doctor of laws from VUW in 2004 and, in 1995, a QSO and Wellingtonian of the Year.