Chair, VisAble Board

Joanne is a Science Officer with Otago University, and an autistic peer reviewer and contributor for autism-based research.

Joanne is Chair of the Kāpiti Disability Advisory Group under the Kāpiti Coast District Council, Chair of VisAble, Co-Chair of the Living Guidelines Group for Aotearoa New Zealand Autism Guideline: He Waka Huia Takiwātanga Rau, Past President for DPA, Secretary of My Life My Voice, Treasurer for Neuroscience and Trauma Informed Network Aotearoa, board member for Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Australia and New Zealand, and long-time passionate board member for Autism New Zealand.

She is on the Curriculum Voices group and the Disability Voices Group for the Ministry of Education Curriculum Refresh. She is also a member of the Police Disability Advisory Group on behalf of the Disabled People’s Organisation Coalition. She is an Autistic member of the Autism Research Centre at Canterbury University and a member of the Oversight Committee for Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research.

She is a member of the Reserve Bank Central Bank Digital Currency Forum and the Bankers Association Forum for Vulnerable and Older People. She previously served as a member of the disability expert advisory group for the Royal Commission of Enquiry for Abuse in State and Faith Based Care.

Board member

Gary Williams KSO MNZM PLY, is Ngāti Porou and a disabled person. He has an academic background in Computer Science and in Mathematics. Having spent almost 20 years at GNS Sciences, he then spent 11 years as the CEO of Disabled Persons Assembly. He used his position to influence strategic outcomes for the disability sector, both nationally and internationally.

Nowadays, he has multiple interests in the sector including with Whanau Ora, EGL, SAMS and Your Way Kia Roha. Gary is Kaumatua to tāngata whaikaha Māori to the disability communities and the go to national spokesperson on abuse in our communities.

Board member & Chair of audit and risk committee

Nan is a barrister and solicitor in sole practice, specialising in disability law. Nan is a committee member for Parafed Waikato and the EGL Waikato Leadership Group, and a Director of Spectrum Care Limited.

She is also a member of the Steering Group for Auckland Disability Law and a Director of The Disability Trustee Limited. Nan was diagnosed as autistic in 2020 and is mother to four children, two of whom are also autistic.

Board member & Board secretary

Marion has extensive experience in the health and disability sectors, having worked as a Senior Management Consultant specialising in stakeholder relationship management, project and programme management, service development, and health service procurement.

She has held senior roles in government and community services. Marion’s dedication to improving services and empowering communities reflects her passion for justice and sustainable, impactful change that enhance the lives of disabled people. Marion has family members who are disabled.

Board member

Mojo is the chief executive for Disabled Person’s Assembly, was the first Deaf parliamentarian and served in Parliament from 2011 to 2017. Mojo, who was born profoundly Deaf, has been involved with DPA for over 15 years and received the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to people with disabilities in 2019.

She is passionate about upholding the rights of tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people and is an experienced and respected advocate on disability and human rights issues at both individual and systemic levels.

Board member & Audit and risk committee member

Leo McIntyre is a Wellington-based independent consultant and mental health professional with 20 years’ experience in managing services, strategic advice and governance, supervision and mentoring, and working directly with people who experience mental distress. Most recently, until February 2024, he was a Principal Advisor at the Royal Commission on Abuse in State Care and in Faith-based Institutions.

He is experienced and respected as an advocate on disability and human rights issues at both individual and systemic levels. As Chair of Balance Aotearoa until 2023, Leo led their work with the Disabled Persons Organisations Coalition (DPOC) and was Chair of the Coalition from November 2019 to October 2020 and part of its delegation to Geneva for the UNCRPD Committee’s 2022 examination of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Chief Executive

Ko Taranaki te maunga Ko Kaponga te hau kainga Ko tauiwi whaikaha au Ko purapura ora ao Ko Paul Gibson au. Paul is a disabled person who has worked amongst and advocated for the disability community, including survivors of abuse, throughout his life. He most recently was a commissioner on the Abuse in Care Inquiry.

As the first Human Rights Commissioner with responsibility for disability rights he strategized and advocated for the identification, visibility response and prevention of abuse against disabled people, and led the call for the inquiry’s establishment. He was President of DPA Disabled Persons Assembly and been a member of DPO’s Blind Citizens NZ and Kapo Aotearoa.

He was on the advisory group that wrote the first NZ Disability Strategy. As well as being an advocate, he has worked as a provider in health, education, and disability support.

He has been a tauiwi Tiriti educator and connected extensively with Pasifika and migrant networks. He has led international initiatives, contributing to the development of the CRPD, and was the first Chair of the Global Alliance of Human Rights institutions Disability Caucus, leading work on supported decision making.

Paul is a husband and father, with 3 of the 4 immediate family members being disabled people

Founder and National Safeguarding Adults Lead

Sue has worked in violence prevention for over 30 years, serving as a police officer and working with police across the UK, in the areas of family violence and disability, safeguarding adults and disability hate crime.

Before moving to Aotearoa New Zealand, with her husband and three children, Sue worked for MENCAP the UK’s leading learning disability charity.

For the past 18 years, Sue has been advocating for the need for a national framework for adult safeguarding to support individuals and agencies to work together to safeguard adults at risk. Sue is a neurodivergent woman, who is dedicated to working with others to eliminate violence towards tāngata Whaikaha Māori, d/Deaf and disabled people.

She believes that an inclusive approach that meets the needs of all New Zealanders can only occur when there is recognition and acknowledgement of the marginalisation and exclusion of tāngata Whaikaha Māori, d/Deaf and disabled people in the current family violence and sexual violence system and when we have the power to lead solutions that meet our needs and aspirations.

Cultural Lead

Jonathan Tautari (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, and Ngāti Manaia and Tainui) brings over 18 years of experience in the health and disability sector, having held senior advisory and policy management roles.

Jonathan has actively engaged with communities across Aotearoa, collaborating with tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau to amplify their experiences, voices, and stories. Listening to the lived experiences of disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori fosters a continuous commitment to strengthening services, ensuring they are of high quality and culturally responsive.

Service Lead

Petra has been working as a Social Worker for 25+ years in a variety of settings: with disabled people, in education, in foster care, in health and in mental health. During this time, she has worked with many whānau in various countries, from all walks of life, of all ages and cultures. In recent years, Petra’s work has focused on safeguarding adults from abuse and neglect, whilst working at Waitematā Hospitals.

Petra has a passion to assist people in improving their lives and is motivated by a genuine interest in people. She believes everyone deserves to be treated with the utmost respect and deserves to have their rights upheld. She works under the premise of Do No More Harm, which means the solution can’t be worse than the problem itself.

Having a brother with a disability, Petra has been drawn to working as an advocate from a young age.

Service Lead

For the last 15 years Sandra has worked in the change management space largely in the mental health sector. She has a previous background working in the disability sector and identifies as neurodivergent.

Her passion is to enable person-centred outcomes to be achieved by considering how the organisation operates and ‘lives’ its values. She does this by ensuring the voice of the person is heard and actively involved, and to work collaboratively to operationalise and/or improve services, functions and organisational infrastructure.

Business Lead

Jayne comes from a background of working in healthcare operations, having worked for Te Awakairangi Health Network PHO, and for Health New Zealand / Te Whatu Ora.

She has a broad range of experience in business management, process improvement, recruitment and HR, project and financial work, and implementing robust systems to support compliance and excellence. Jayne identifies as neurodivergent and has three children, all of whom are either autistic, ADHD, or both combined.

Building Capability Lead

Claire has worked in the disability sector for over 30 years, with more than 10 years’ experience in delivering training and workshops on sexuality. She is a firm believer in self-direction and is passionate about all people having the right to loving, diverse and fulfilling relationships – no matter who they are.

She has worked with the Downs Syndrome Association, numerous disability agencies within the New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN). Claire was National Service Manager at Manawanui, and was most recently a portfolio manager at MSD DSS.

Training, evaluation and policy Lead

Debbie has worked in violence response, prevention, training, and research for over 30 years. She has specific expertise in the mental health effects of violence against women, women disabled by violence, and violence against disabled people. Debbie has, for many years, worked closely with disability activists, advocating for a twin-track response to violence against disabled women and women disabled by violence.

This means accessible mainstream services that understand and recognise dis/abled women and specialist services where required. Debbie identifies as a disabled woman.