Trustees have been chosen for their experience and expertise in areas pertinent to the programme, particularly including community ICT, technical, business, community education and health, philanthropy, communications, Māori and Pasifika development, youth development, housing and poverty action. We wish to acknowledge the contribution of past Trustee Sharleen Moate-Davis and previous Vice-Chair Terry Chapman.
Laurence Zwimpfer MNZM - Chair
Laurence Zwimpfer runs a consulting company in Wellington New Zealand specialising in the use of information and communication technologies in education. Since 1997 he has provided consulting and project management services for the Ministry of Education and other government and private sector organisations as well as the 2020 Communications Trust.
Laurence chairs the eDay New Zealand Trust, a not-for-profit charitable trust committed to the responsible recycling of electronic waste. He also chairs the advisory group for Victoria University’s Chair in Digital Government. He is a Harkness Fellow with degrees in Engineering from Canterbury University, Public Policy from Victoria University of Wellington, and Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
In 2006, the Institution of Professional Engineers in New Zealand (IPENZ) awarded him the Rabone Award for ICT, a Supreme Technical Award for Engineering Achievers and the William Pickering Award for Engineering Leadership. In 2011, he was awarded Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to Information Technology.
Tina Simcock - Deputy Chair
Kia ora and Fakalofa atu kia moutulu osi nei.
Nō hea au he Moananui-ā-Kiwa, nō Niue, Hakupu Atua.
E puta mai au ki Tāmaki Makaurau, engari e noho ana au ki Paraparaumu.
He āku mahi, te Kaihoutū Mātamua i roto i Te Huringa Mahara - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission.
Ko Tina Simcock tōku ingoa.
Tina comes to Digital Wings with over 30 years’ experience in the public service with speciality in social housing, home-ownership, health quality, safety and improvement, record management and mental health, wellbeing and addiction sectors. She holds various degrees and Masters in social housing, project management and business administration. Tina is very passionate about improving the lives of those people who are most in need (housing, mental health and wellbeing and social determinants beyond their control).
On a social front she is the Secretary of the Kāpiti Rugby League Club and is happily married, mother of four and proud nan of four mokopuna.
Digital Wings is delighted that Tina has agreed to fill the Deputy Chair role for our trust.
Janie Tito - Trustee
Welcoming our newest Digital Wings Trustee Janie Tito who brings a rare mix of education and web development background to our governance team.
Kia ora,
Ko Ngā Puhi me Ngāti Whātua ngā iwi
Ko Te Parawhau te hapū
Ko Tangiteroria temarae
I’m a recovering secondary teacher who fell in love with programming in my own classes! In 2016 I decided to retrain at Enspiral Dev Academy and became a specialist front-end developer. I currently work as a Software Developer at Sharesies.
I am also co-founder of Manu, where the team enjoy making software that helps grass-roots and community organisations. One of the things I love about the Digital Wings kaupapa, is the potential to empower and inspire rangatahi Māori and women to get into the IT industry. My whānau and I live in Lower Hutt, and enjoy taking the dog to Petone Beach, skate-boarding or just chilling in the garden.
Helen Leahy - Trustee
Helen was a member of the Expert Advisory Panel for the modernisation of Child, Youth and Family in 2015, and is a current member of the Māori Design Team for Oranga Tamariki. She is a member of the South Island Hauora Alliance and the national Disability Supports System Transformation working group. She is a Board member of PILLARS (positive futures for children of prisoners); anda member of the Ministry of Health National Public Health Service Establishment Advisory Group. In 2021 Helen was appointed to the Understanding Policing Delivery independent panel.
In 2017 Helen was awarded the Dame Tariana Turia award by Te Rau Matatini, for her contribution to Whānau Ora and whānau-centred practice. From1999-2015 Helen was Chief of Staff and Senior Ministerial Advisor for Dame Hon Tariana Turia. She was National Secretary for the Māori Party from its establishment in 2004 to 2014; and the author of ‘Crossing the Floor: the story of Tariana Turia” (2015).
Helen is of Irish, French, German and Scottish descent. Helen Leahy was the Pouārahi / Chief Executive of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu; the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency for the South Island from 2015 - 2022.
Belinda Gorman - Trustee
Belinda has a rare combination of cross-sector experience and qualifications spanning responsible business, philanthropy, international development and partnership brokering.
Belinda led the development and implementation of Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility activities in NZ, working within both the Corporation’s Philanthropy and Environment teams.
She joined Microsoft after a number of years working in international development, including 6 years with UNICEF and an extended period working with the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in Vietnam and Mongolia. Belinda has more than 15 years’ experience working in and with a diverse range of NGOs in New Zealand and internationally and is a passionate advocate for digital inclusion.
Belinda has an international accreditation in brokering partnerships with the public, private and community sectors. She completed her Masters in Development Studies at Victoria University in 2005.
Samuelu Sefuiva - Trustee
Samuelu Sefuiva has over 30 years’ experience in public policy, high level strategic advice, business cultural and economic development and executive leadership.
Sam has a strong professional and personal interest in the Pacific region particularly in human rights, social enterprise and public policy.
Currently his leadership roles include: Chair Generosity NZ; Mana Whakahaere Māori and Pasifika Trades Training: Auckland; and Trustee Black Grace (Dance) Trust. Previously Sam was Chief Advisor to the Race Relations Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission.
Pam Fleming - Trustee
Pamela Fleming has worked in the communications business for over 35 years as a print journalist on newspapers, magazines and news agencies and as a broadcaster with Radio New Zealand and Newstalk ZB.
Her media training career began when she helped establish Access Radio in New Zealand at a time when people from different ethnicities, or with views outside the mainstream, were virtually invisible in the media. She has since trained and mentored thousands of individuals and members of ethnic and community organisations, government agencies, and special interest groups.
Pamela has worked at a senior level as a communications and media adviser in a number of different government departments and agencies, with community groups and private companies.
More recently she has worked with the New Zealand Red Cross, MSD’s Community Investment branch, Māori business and community groups, various ethnic communities and with refugees. She has a strong interest in equipping people, of all ages and from all walks life, with the skills to share their stories and opinions in our rapidly changing mainstream and social media environment.
Tim Findlay - Trustee
Tim Findlay began Remarkit Solutions from his own home in 1999 with a commitment to breathe new life into used computer equipment and keep it out of the landfill.
That commitment has seen his business grow from home to garage to warehouse to now a thriving business employing 60 technical staff covering Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch.
Tim’s ethos of Reduce, Reuse, Refurbish and Resell has evidenced itself through RemarkIT’s involvement in the past annual eDay collections and his support of programmes like Computers in Homes and now Digital Wings.
Potaua Biasiny-Tule - Digital Wings Ambassador
Potaua has expertise in developing innovative digital communication strategies for Māori. Creator of TangataWhenua.com: a Māori news website sharing positive Māori news online; working with whānau, hapū, marae, land trusts, entities, hauora and iwi across the land. Potaua is both an elected Councillor and a Fellow of InternetNZ.
He worked with Google to create a Māori language version of the internet search tool. Google Māori gives an authentic Māori presence on the internet and there is a space there for Māori to speak for themselves. Google Māori brings the old world and the new world together. From there, Potaua and wife Nikolasa built Digital Natives Academy (DNA) to teach and prepare a new generation and to build on the strong base of coding, digital literacy, programming and gaming interest learned over 14 years in IT.
From robots to gaming, science, math, art, engineering and culture, they worked alongside 400 whanau to prepare for the jobs and opportunities of the future: Robots. Drones. Gaming Leagues. VR. AR.Now their most recent venture, Basecamp Rotorua, aims to be the new gathering place for creative techs, web developers, APP makers, animators, digital storytellers, social media content creators and new media journalists in Rotorua. The Basecamp Leadership Team has pulled together a community of successful digital leaders and is working with local education providers, industry networks, iwi and land trusts and community groups to turn their digital ideas into reality. They won the People's Choice Award at the Rotorua X Pitch Night 2016 and were successful in TPK’s Ka Hao, Māori Digital Technology Development Fund.
Potaua is a member of Te Arawa Partnership Board, finding new ways to positively connect with the Rotorua Lakes Council, and is a Marae Trustee Ngāti Te Takinga Mourea, Rotoiti. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), majoring in Political Science and a Postgraduate Diploma in Māori and Pacific Development, as well as qualifications in Illustration and Animation and a Certificate in Professional Catering.
The Digital Wings Trust was established in June 2017 after consultation with both business and community sectors. Our team has a commitment to both community development and to the environment.
