Trustees
Anna Groot
Chair
Anna has honed her skills in business growth and strategic communications advisory, growing businesses and organisations across the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia over the last 20 years. She has recently brought her skills and contact book home, to help New Zealand businesses thrive both domestically and on the world stage. Anna has worked with start-ups, non-profits and multi-national corporations alike, developing business growth strategies and bringing ideas to life in the form of immersive experiences, unique products, innovative services, facilitated introductions, filmed content and animation. As a multiple hat wearing business development advisor, producer, director and scriptwriter, and cat herder, Anna is happiest when working on a vision in need of distillation, bringing the right people together to affect positive change in the world. “Nothing is impossible” is her mantra. Anna is thrilled to be utilising her skills to help nurture kaitiakitanga and help restore the whenua.
CONNIE ROWE
Deputy Chair
Connie believes that people thrive when they are in connected communities and have meaningful shared goals which is why she is passionate about the work of EcoMatters. She has spent the last 20 years working across the public and private sector in public relations, communications and more latterly in public engagement which is a passion. Connie leads stakeholder management for Auckland Airport and has deep experience in the transport infrastructure space. Connie grew up in suburbs across West Auckland and now lives in central Auckland with her husband and two sons.
Nick Pollard
Treasurer
Nick is an accomplished resource management consultant and organisational leader, working with people and communities in a broad range of projects with one of New Zealand’s leading environmental planning and design consultancies. Through his work with a wide range of stakeholders, Nick is keenly aware of the need to work collaboratively with participants and understanding the diverse drivers and contexts that shape behaviours and outcomes. Nick has a strong personal alignment with the values and objectives of EcoMatters, with a belief that through community action and working with nature we can solve complex problems and achieve significant improvements for the environment and for people’s lives. Nick’s involvement with EcoMatters is inspired by a goal of increasingly stepping more lightly on the land, and encouraging others to join him.
JAimee Kirby-Brown
Trustee
Jaimee (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine, Ngāti Awa) has a long-standing interest in the legal aspects needed to create a thriving environment. She is currently a Principal Legal Advisor at the Ministry for the Environment, where she specialises in environmental policy and legislative reform. During her legal career, she has gained experience in Māori, public and environmental law in a variety of roles at legal firms before she moved to MfE. Jaimee lives locally in Titirangi with her husband and three children and is passionate about her community, also serving as a trustee at her children’s school. When she’s not working, she enjoys tennis and other sports as well as the outdoors with her whānau.
EMMA FOULKES
Trustee
Emma is a seasoned sustainability manager with a civil engineering background and extensive experience in sustainability consulting and project management. Passionate about driving positive outcomes, she has been on a journey to both live more sustainably and drive sustainable practices through her work in procurement and project delivery. Emma was drawn to EcoMatters’ mission of empowering communities to live sustainably, aligning with her personal and professional values. Her collaborative approach builds trusting partnerships. She enjoys working with diverse groups of people to achieve outcomes aligned with EcoMatters’ goals to reduce carbon emissions, minimise waste, and contribute to broader social and economic uplift in communities. Outside of work, Emma loves being in nature and can usually be found gardening, bushwalking, and enjoying ocean adventures.
NIGEL SMITH
Trustee
Nigel is a relational educational and community leader, with a background in organisational development. His personal and professional experiences across Aotearoa, Australia, South East Asia, North America and North Africa have shaped his desire for regenerative growth and change. Nigel currently acts as a project manager and leadership consultant in the educational sector, and is a director of Pūkeko Learning Solutions, an eLearning development consultancy. He is passionate about helping organisations navigate the ever-changing contexts in which we live by surfacing the wisdom that is often present if we can find ways to listen well together. He personally recharges by connecting with Te Tāiao on land or water and facilitating opportunities for others to do the same. Nigel has lived in West Auckland for the NZ-based chapters of his adult life and values the opportunity to serve the wider community with EcoMatters.
STEPHANIE WHYTE
Trustee
Stephanie has spent her career helping people to see what is possible, whether as an individual or collectively as a team. She believes that everyone has the ability to make an impact from wherever they are and that education is the key to empowerment. As Principal Advisor, Learning & Capability Development for Waka Kotahi, NZ Transport Agency, she is working to help internal and external stakeholders to ensure they have the knowledge and skills they need plus systems and processes that work with them to efficiently deliver what they need to be delivering. Stephanie has lifelong connections with West Auckland and two small children who go to kura in the Whau area. She is thrilled to serve on the EcoMatters Environment Trust Board as she believes that our natural environment is precious and we need to work together to look after Papatūānuku.
LUCY HAWCROFT
Trustee
Lucy is an experienced sustainability professional. She has worked in leadership roles across not-for-profits, local and central government, and the private sector. She is passionate about enabling individuals to engage in collective action to protect the natural environment, and promote sustainable transport systems and quality urban spaces. Lucy was involved in developing several of the climate and environmental work programmes that EcoMatters now delivers during her time at Auckland Council. This experience gave her a deep admiration of the quality of work that EcoMatters delivers with communities. Her current role is focused on progressing decarbonisation and climate resilience initiatives for KiwiRail. In her spare time she enjoys tramping, cycling and Bollywood dancing.
Sarah Lindberg
Trustee
Sarah is a Sustainability and Resilience Consultant with significant experience working on climate change and infrastructure projects. Her interest in environmental, social and economic risks and opportunities associated with infrastructure, government and business has given her the opportunity to work across a variety of projects, both in New Zealand and during time living in South America. Sarah was drawn to EcoMatters as she enjoys collaborating with and supporting the growth of others, and believes that a holistic approach is essential to improving the wellbeing of our communities and environment.