Bay of Plenty Branch

The Bay of Plenty Branch of the Institute of Directors Emerging Director Award is open to Bay of Plenty Branch members in the early stages of their governance journey.

• Are you beginning to engage on a directorship path and aspire to enhance your governance pathway?
• Can you demonstrate a commitment to governance development and a high level of integrity?
• Are you ready to commit to the development of your governance pathway?

The focus of this award is to identify executives, managers and directors as individuals with potential and to foster the discipline of good governance through the acquisition of technical knowledge in addition to creating opportunities for networking via branch events and functions. 

2023 EDA winner

Charles Russell 

Past recipients

• Georgia Mischefski-Gray (2022)
• Jerome Ng (2021)
• Frances Bates-Crisp (2020)
• Annabel Davies (2019)
• Jana Rangooni (2018)
• Laurissa Cooney (2017)
• Anushiya Ponniah (2016)
• Bryan Graham (2015)
• Maria Stockman and Peter Tinholt (2014)
• Darren McGarvie (2013)
• Hemi Rolleston (2012)
• Maree Turner (2011)

Sam Fellows

Sam was the runner up in the Institute of Directors Bay of Plenty Branch Emerging Director Award 2019. As a result he is on the Institute of Directors Bay of Plenty Branch Committee and has taken an Emerging Director position with Aotearoa Avalon New Zealand.

Sam is a Trustee of Camp Quality New Zealand and Bethlehem School, Director of Upper Central Zone Rugby League and member of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Referees Management Group. 

He is a corporate solicitor at Tauranga City Council managing and advising on governance, employment, civil and regulatory disputes.

Graham Cooney CFInstD

Graham has over 30 years’ experience within governance. His sports governance began in 1998 on the Rugby Southland board, of which he was chair from 2007 – 2009.  This overlapped with his time on the Highlanders franchise board (1999 - 2006) and he also represented New Zealand Rugby (NZR) on the Crusaders board following the Christchurch earthquake.

Graham was on the NZR board from 2010 to 2016, where he was chair of the rugby committee for 3 years and on the Audit and Finance committee for 5 years.

Beginning as a founding director of Blue Sky Meats (NZ) Ltd. (A public company formed in 1986 and involved in the export meat trade.) Graham was chair from 2007 to 2016 when he retired from the board. The company has approximately 350 employees and a turnover of more than $100 million.

He was on the Council of Southern Institute of Technology for 11 years and the chair from 2002 to 2011. During this time, the zero fees initiative was introduced and despite charging no fees, cash assets grew from about $5 million to $30 million.

Other director roles include Tennis Southern, Bond Contracts, Computer Group NZ and independent chair for the law firm Preston Russell Limited.

Graham’s current governance role, since 2012, is a ministerial appointee to the NZ Racing Board. He is Chair of the Dates Committee, the Net Proceeds Committee and CRIG (Combined Racing Industry Group) and on Audit and Risk.

He is a Chartered fellow of the Institute of Directors NZ, NZIM, and NZ Institute of Primary Industry Management (NZIPIM). Graham was National President of NZIPIM in 1987 and 1988.

Whaimutu Dewes CMInstD

Ngati Porou, Ngati Rangitihi

Whaimutu is a member of the board for Contact Energy and the chair of Ngati Porou Forests and Sealord Group. He is a member of the board for Ngäti Porou Holding Company and of the Major Outsourced Contracts advisory board to the Department of Corrections.

Previous directorships include Ngati Porou Seafoods, Ngati Porou Holding Company, Housing New Zealand, Television New Zealand, Te Runanga o Ngati Porou, and the Advisory Boards to the Department of Corrections (Major Outsourced Contracts),Treasury and to AMP.  Whaimutu has also held senior management roles at Fletcher Challenge and the Department of Māori Affairs.

In the course of his career Whaimutu has been instrumental in developments in New Zealand constitutional law. Particularly the recognition of property rights of Māori people secured under the Treaty of Waitangi.  And setting up the governance and execution structures, to realise the economic outcomes from that process.

He has also negotiated long term and significant joint venture arrangements and now oversees between international and Maori companies; in the fields of forestry and carbon sequestration as well as seafood harvest and marketing globally.

Georgia Mischefski-Gray

Georgia Mischefski-Gray is the Institute of Directors Bay of Plenty Branch Emerging Director Award recipient 2022. She is an Intern Director with the Elms Tauranga and on the committee of the Institute of Directors Bay of Plenty branch.

Georgia currently serves on a variety of other boards, Reap Eastern Bay, Horizon Energy Group as an associate director and the Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers management committee. Previously, Georgia has been the Vice President of Otago University Students Association for two terms, Tatai Ora and the Otago waste governance group. Within these boards, Georgia has a key passion for sustainability, social justice and youth voice. 

She is currently employed as farm manager in Manawahe on her family's beef farm. Here, she manages the everyday operations of the farm alongside the data management and leading the emission reduction plans. 

Anthony Ririnui MInstD

Ngāi te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Te Ātiawa.

Anthony is a career Banker who has had a privileged role to support iwi and Māori organisations in Aotearoa with access to finance.
He leads Te Waka Whaihua (Māori Business team) for ASB and has worked for more than 27 years in the Financial Services industry.

He is the Co-Chair of Tāwhia, which brings Māori leaders from the banking sector which have established the first Māori Bankers Rōpū (group), to share ideas and deepen the understanding of key issues for Māori within the banking sector.

This Rōpū includes senior representatives from ASB, Westpac, ANZ, BNZ, Kiwibank, Heartland and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te Pūtea Matua – as an observer and kaitiaki to the financial system.

Anthony also has held other board roles within the wider Tauranga Community with groups such as Acorn Foundation and is actively involved in his own Hapū.

Eleanor Tait

Eleanor has over 13 years of experience working in the healthcare industry. Eleanor currently owns a well-regarded Physiotherapy practice in Mount Maunganui, where she works as a Physiotherapist.

Upon returning to New Zealand in 2018, she ventured into governance. Currently, she holds board positions in four organisations, including a Tauranga-based investment company and two orchards located in the Hawke's Bay.

In addition to these governance roles, Eleanor currently holds positions on both regional and national councils for Sports Medicine New Zealand, an organisation akin to the Institute of Directors in providing valuable development opportunities to its members. For Eleanor, education and professional growth are fundamental factors that elevate the standards of any profession.

She hopes to combine the valuable knowledge from both branches of her career to best serve in this role for Institute of Directors BOP. 

Alan Withy CFInstD

Alan was a consultant in land-development and planning matters during the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

He has held numerous management and governance positions and served on the boards of various companies and not-for-profit organisations with annual turnovers ranging from under $1million to over $50million.

He is an active mentor for the Business-in-the-Community program, and acts as a mediator mainly in contractual and organisational spheres..

Between 1990 and 2003 Alan was the founding director of the Alandale Group of companies involved with consulting, development, investment, management and planning. 

For 15 years prior to that he was a director and part owner of a large multi-disciplinary consulting company, operating with over 400 staff throughout New Zealand and overseas.

Since 2003 he has focused on advisory, conciliation, governance, mediation and adjudication roles.

Alan has conducted hundreds of hearings as an Independent Resource Management Act commissioner throughout the country, plus served on ministerial boards of inquiry.

Te Moana a Toi - Kaitohu-Taura 2022 - Aspiring Māori Director Award is open to residents in the Te Moana a Toi rohe.

• Are you beginning to engage on a governance path and aspire to develop your capabilities within it?
• Can you demonstrate a commitment and an understanding of governance principles in relation to organisations, trusts and committees or your community?
• Are you ready to commit to your governance development and uphold a high level of integrity?

Learn more and apply