Team
Te Rōpū Matua, Our Board
Dr Liz Manley
CHAIR
Liz is an educator, scientist and writer. She was born in Zambia, lived across central and southern Africa, the UK and Europe, and moved to Titirangi over thirty years ago. She brings expertise across education - early childhood, primary and tertiary - health and governance, cancer services, and community engagement through roles with Te Whatu Ora and regional health boards and previously, local government.
Liz has a degree in journalism, an MSc and PhD in Cardiac Physiology and a Masters of Creative Writing. She was the principal of a local primary school and was awarded a Kiwibank Local Hero Award for her work with children in the areas of diversity and inclusion. She is also a member of Te Toka Tumai Auckland Hospital Clinical Ethics Advisory Group and sits on the Titirangi Community Arts Board.
Sue West
CEO
Sue joined as Tumuaki - CEO in July 2021. She has worked all her life in different aspects of education including working with the Learning Network NZ, Coastguard Boating Education, the Dairy Women’s Network, Globo Ltd., The University of Auckland, Internet NZ, Budget Advisory Services and Skills Highway. She is passionate about the power of lifelong learning with a particular focus on adult second-chance learners and assisting them to re-engage with education.
She has also lived and worked in other countries, including Laos, Kiribati and an aboriginal community in the northwest of Western Australia which has given her an interesting perspective on different cultures. Most recently she was Executive Director of the 20/20 Trust (now Katoa Connect) focussing on digital equity.
Dr Will Flavell
DEPUTY CHAIR
Dr. Will Flavell (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Maniapoto) is the Deputy Chairperson of the Henderson-Massey Local Board . He is also a former Fulbright Scholar in Boston, and an experienced governor. A passionate advocate for rangatahi, he is dedicated to improving education for Māori learners. He speaks te reo Māori, Japanese, and is developing fluency in Samoan.
Will has been appointed as Pouhere (Principal) of Te Kāpehu Whētu Tamaki, a new senior secondary school opening in Central Auckland in February
Tam Alexander
Tam is a not-for-profit specialist who was born in Durban, South Africa, but has long called Titirangi home. He works on most aspects of not-for-profit operations and governance, with particular emphasis on finance.
Tam started out with a varied career in the commercial sector before moving almost exclusively to working with community organisations - which have grown to be his passion.
Kay Thomas
Kay’s background is in secondary teaching and management in multicultural schools across Auckland and she is passionate about education in all its forms.
She is currently chair of Whau Local Board, former chair of the Waitākere Citizens Advice Bureau board, and a volunteer at New Lynn Citizens Advice Bureau. These experiences have given her the skills and knowledge necessary to represent her community very effectively and she brings a wealth of experience to our board.
Christine Harmsworth
A digital skills tutor here at Literacy Waitākere, Christine has a varied and rich background.
Christine has worked in the areas of disability, as an advocate for parents, and in the area of health behaviour change. Having been an adult university student, Christine understands the difficulty of entering a new learning environment, as well as the courage it takes to make the first step. She is passionate about ensuring all learners have a chance to realise their dreams of improving their literacy and numeracy.
Paul Chappory
A trained opera singer who studied with Pavarotti, Paul has always been ambitious despite learning disabilities and has dedicated himself to becoming numerate and literate.
Drawing from his own life experiences navigating disability, Paul provides the board with a student’s viewpoint. He is passionate about improving outcomes for students and helping them realise their social, cultural and economic potential.
Pale Sauni
Pale works as an independent Pasifika Consultant, targeting Pasifika and Māori communities as part of the Government’s priority audience to open up conversations to enable strategies to be designed and developed by and in these communities.
His focus is on engaging communities in building their financial capability and providing links to services and providers who help do this best.