Co-founders
Co-founder & Executive Trustee:
Graeme Dingle ONZM, MBE
Graeme Dingle has founded four successful charitable trusts, including the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre. He has achieved more than 200 mountaineering and adventuring firsts throughout the world and has published 10 books. He received the MBE for services to outdoor pursuits, the Award of New Zealand for services to recreation and sport and an ONZM for services to youth.
Co-founder & Executive Director:
Jo-anne Wilkinson LLB
Jo-anne Wilkinson founded Project K with Graeme Dingle. Her background is in commercial law and she taught for five years at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994/95, she and Graeme kayaked, tramped and mountain-biked from Nelson to Auckland to promote the Project K concept.
Administration and Accounts
Finance & Administration Manager:
Annette Mouat BBS, CA
Annette joined FYD in June 2002 and has worked as a financial controller for several corporates. In her last role she was the accountant for a non-profit organisation in Wellington.
Executive Assistant to Executive Trustees:
Debbie Brown
Deb has been involved with FYD since 2006. She currently acts Board Secretary to the Foundation for Youth Development Trust and provides executive support to the Foundation's Executive Trustees.
Office Administrator:
Brenda Kenny
Brenda joined the team in June 2007 and is responsible for reception, clerical functions and other general FYD admin tasks.
Programme National Managers
Project K and Stars National Programme Manager:
Lani French
Lani joined the FYD team in January 2008 and is the Project K National Manager. She has a background in social work and social policy, child and adolescent health, community programmes and brings a fantastic range of skills and knowledge to the organisation.
Kiwi Can National Programme Manager
Marie-Jo Wilson
Marie-Jo joined August 2006 and is responsible for all aspects of the Kiwi Can programme nationally. Marie-Jo has worked in the charitable sector for a number of years, both in NZ and in the UK.
Programme Development and Training
Programme Development Manager:
Victoria Hood
Victoria joined FYD in 2008 after spending thirteen years working in the youth and training sectors. She has developed, delivered and or assessed programmes for the Auckland District Health Board, University of Auckland, Auckland Institute of Technology, and the Department of Corrections. Victoria relies heavily on establishing, encouraging and maintaining relationships with diverse networks to ensure quality service delivery and the continual understanding and application of best practice. Her specialist interests are programme development, and youth participation and engagement.
Training Manager:
Kirsty Pillay-Hansen
Kirsty is of Indian - Pakeha descent. She has an MA (Hons) in Psychology and attained 1st class honours for her BA, also majoring in Psychology. Kirsty has worked for a number of youth organisations in training, programme development and health promotion roles for the last 12 years, including as an Advisor for MYD before joining FYD in September 2006. Her specialist interests are training and youth development.
Programme Development Support Coordinator:
Sarah Saleem B.Comm, Grad Dip Comms
Sarah Saleem comes from a corporate marketing background with experience in online communications and content management. Sarah joined the Foundation for Youth Development in April 2009 and is responsible for managing the FYD intranet, production of programme materials and general programme development support.
Research and Evaluation
Research and Evaluation Manager:
Julie Moore MA Hons.
Julie Moore has a Master of Arts in Psychology. She majored in psychology and sociology for her BA, and attained 1st class honours in psychology. She has tutored in social and community psychology at the University of Auckland. Her specialist interest is community psychology.
Research & Evaluation Co-ordinator:
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Priscilla Lai
Priscilla joined FYD in 2007 after graduating from the University of Auckland with a BA in Psychology. Priscilla is responsible for collecting and organising all the incoming data from our programmes, assisting programme and evaluation database development and managing all the research software.
Fundraising
National Business Development Manager:
Desley Simpson
BSc, DipTchg ( Hons), LTCL, Dip Psych, ATCL, FOSNZ
As CEO of Kiwi Can Trust for eight years, Desley worked alongside Project K for three years as a coalition partner on the Kaikohe Project. With a qualification from Indiana University's School of Philanthropy, Desley has had extensive experience in fundraising, event organising and education.
Business Development Assistant:
Annaliese Hewitt BBS, ATCL
Annaliese joined the Foundation for Youth Development in February 2009 and has a background in business development for non-bank lenders. Annaliese works on a part-time basis and assists with fundraising proposals, events and administration.
Fundraising Administrator:
Alison Mendelow
Alison has a BA in Industrial Psychology & Industrial Sociology and a post-grad qualification in Brand Management. She is from South Africa but worked in the UK public sector for seven years before immigrating to New Zealand four years ago.
Communications
Communications Advisor:
Jocelyn Somerford BA (Hons), Grad Dip Comms/PR
Jocelyn joined the Foundation for Youth Development in April 2009, having returned from the UK where she worked as a press officer in the not-for-profit, health sector. She has a background in communications and public relations.
IT
IT Manager:
Stas Popov
A Microsoft-certified system administrator, Stas Popov joined Project K in 2003, a year after emigrating from Russia. He is responsible for system administration, data analysis, developing applications and web design.