New chair and directors appointed to the Nelson Regional Development Agency

Nelson City Council is pleased to announce the appointments of Ms Meg Matthews as Chair, and Directors, Mr David Johnston and Mr Jeremy Banks to the Nelson Regional Development Agency (NRDA) Board. This follows the resignation of Mr John Palmer, the first Chair appointed to the then newly established Agency in 2016.

Mayor Rachel Reese commended John Palmer for his outstanding contribution to the NRDA Board at Nelson City Council’s Governance Meeting earlier today and said “We were fortunate to have John’s leadership and governance expertise to guide the Agency in its formative years. He leaves behind a high performing board which shares his enthusiasm and passion for enhancing the region’s economy.”

“I look forward to continuing to work with Ms Matthews in her new capacity as Chair and welcome the energy and skills of new Directors, Mr Johnston and Mr Banks. Their expertise in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) is also a welcome presence on the Board.

Meg has been a Director on the NRDA Board since 2016 and is a former World of Wearable Art (WOW) CEO and Head of Marketing - Australasia for Air New Zealand. She started her career at the national airline as an accountant in 1996 after beginning her working career with Deloitte.  She is a qualified accountant with diverse experience across key business disciplines of finance, human resource management, strategic planning and marketing. Meg is also Chair of the Cawthron Institute Board and Director on the Boards of MEVO and the Halberg Foundation.

David is the General Manager for Ngāti Kuia and is helping lead and support the iwi post settlement.  He has achieved significant success in senior corporate roles at Westpac and the Bank of New Zealand, and as a Business Consultant in Te Tauihu. David was also runner up in the local 2013 Duncan Cotterill Aspiring Directors award and was selected for the Institute of Directors Mentoring for Diversity Programme in 2015.

Jeremy has held a number of governance roles and is currently a Director on the Boards of Wakatū Incorporation and Network for Learning, the Chair of Nelson Giants Ltd and Trustee of the Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust and Basketball Development Nelson Trust. He has an Honours degree in Computer Science from the University of Otago and his commercial experience includes establishing and growing a local software development company and managing software development operations for larger corporates.

David Johnston and Jeremy Banks join Chair Meg Mathews and existing Board members Sarah-Jane Weir, Alan Dunn, Martin Byrne and  Marina Hirst-Tristram on the NRDA Board.
 
Ends

Contact: media@ncc.govt.nz