Welcome to our new Board members and Regional Chairs

August 15 2024

Our Board members are responsible for the governance of ACE New Zealand and our Regional Chairs provide consulting leadership in their region aligned to our strategy. We're excited to welcome new Board members and Regional Chairs into the ACE whanau. 

ACE New Zealand Board 

Our Board has nine positions, six of which are elected positions and three are appointed to fill specific skills and diversity gaps not captured through the election process. The elected positions are staggered so that each year we have two elected members retiring and available for open election.

Congratulations to our two new elected board members:

  • Penny Kneebone, Chief Executive at Tonkin + Taylor
  • Siobhan Hartwell, Regional General Manager NZPac at GHD

We also welcome Victoria Mills as an appointed Board member, following her win of our Emerging Leader Award last year.

ACE is very fortunate to have such a dedicated and strategic Board, who put their volunteer time into ensuring our organisation is strong and successful, for our members and for our wider sector.

Thanks to our outgoing Board members 

We'd like to thank our Board for 2023/24 for their dedication and commitment to ACE, with a special thank you to outgoing elected Board members Brett Ogilvie and Emily Afoa, and our outgoing appointed Board member and past President Ian Fraser, who did not seek reappointment this year. Ian has made a phenomenal contribution to ACE over many years now, and has been part of a transformative change, so a huge thank-you for your dedication, service, and support to the ACE team.

The Board is currently working through the process for the two appointed positions for the 2024/25 year and will announce those when they are confirmed.

This week's AGM marked Ceinwen McNeil's final act as ACE New Zealand President and Board Chair, after two remarkable years in the role. Like Ian, Ceinwen has made a phenomenal contribution to ACE and we wouldn’t be where we are today if she hadn’t helped propel us forward as a tireless champion for the sector, and specifically for our SMEs. Thank you for your leadership, your support and your service.

We welcome Andrea Rickard, Managing Director at Beca New Zealand, as our new President and Board Chair, and Chris Short, Chief Executive at CGW Consulting Engineers, as our Vice President. 

ACE New Zealand Regional Chairs

Our regional chairs are our connection to the regions, our champions, and your regional representatives working with you to bring our strategy to life in the regions.

We had elections for five regional chair positions this year.

We had two regional chairs elected unopposed – Cambell Ogilvie (Manawatu) and Scott Bosworth (Otago/Southland) and we welcome the following elected Regional Chairs: 

• Kākati Royal (Auckland/North Shore)
• Steph McLeod (Nelson/Blenheim)
• Thabit Shams (Wellington)

We are looking forward to working with you all to build our presence in the regions.

Thanks to our outgoing regional chairs

A huge thank-you to our outgoing regional chairs:

  • Colin Dryland (Auckland/North Shore)
  • Geoff Wiggley (Otago/Southland)
  • Marlo Bromley and Lee Huang (Wellington)
  • Erin McNary (Nelson/Blenheim)

Your investment and contribution to ACE New Zealand has been so appreciated and has made a real difference to ACE New Zealand, and especially to our new members who you have interviews and provided welcoming support to. Thank you for your commitment to ACE. 

See all current Board members, Regional Chairs and staff  

Check out all the ACE New Zealand Board members, Regional Chairs and staff who work together to be the voice for consulting and engineering at 'Meet our team'.