FYD National Support Personnel
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.
Office Administrator:
Brenda Kenny
Brenda joined the team in June 2007 and is responsible for reception, clerical functions and other general FYD admin tasks.
Executive Assistant:
Eileen O'Connor
Eileen O'Connor has worked in a variety of roles in private companies and government departments. She was a founding member of the Titirangi Steiner School and has studied naturopathy. Eileen joined FYD in February 2002.
.jpg)
Administration Co-ordinator:
Janene Davidson
Janene joined the team in May 2008 and provides admin support to FYD managers.
She has an extensive background in office administration from performing a variety of roles over the last 20 years including owning her own business and various PA and secretarial roles.
Programme National Managers
Project K National Programme Manager
LaniFrench
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 & Stars National Manager
Marie-Jo Wilson
Marie-Jo joined August 2006 and is responsible for all aspects of the Kiwi Can and Stars 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
.jpg)
Programme & Development Support Coordinator:
Jo Birks BA, Cert. Journ
Jo Birks has worked at FYD since 2001. Her background is in journalism and the financial markets.
-low-res.jpg)
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.
Research and Evaluation
Research and Evaluation Coordinator:
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.
.jpg)
Data Entry Adminsitrator:
Priscilla Lai
Priscilla has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Management. She joined the Foundation for Youth Development in March 2007, after graduating from the University of Auckland. Priscilla is responsible for organising and collecting all the incoming data from our programmes. Her interests are in social and community psychology.
Fundraising
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.
Regional Development Manager
Dan Allen-Gordon
Dan has a strong sales background and history of working for charitable youth organisations and has been the Bay of Plenty Kiwi Can chair for the last 3 years. Dan is the Regional Development Manager for all three programmes (Kiwi Can, Stars and Project K) in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay regions.
Database Funding Coordinator:
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 7 years before immigrating to New Zealand a year ago.
Communications
Communications Manager
Diane Abad
Diane has a background in PR and marketing working for not-for-profits such as the Outdoor Pursuits Centre and Habitat for Humanity.
Communication Coordinator:
Sian Menhinick
Sian has a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and Politics from the University of Auckland and a Graduate Diploma in Public Relations from AUT. Sian joined the FYD team in March 2007 and has previous experience in a PR consultancy.
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.