Our People
Our Ambassadors
Chris Harris - our Patron
Former Black Cap & Sports Commentator
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Chris has been a supporter and advocate for Conductive Education over many years, more recently in the role of Patron. His involvement came through his daughter Phoebe, the eldest of twins who had been attending Conductive Education from when she was 6 months old right up until she started school. Chris says that Phoebe along with the wider family continue to reap the benefits of their involvement with Conductive Education and he has no hesitation in recommending this programme to others.
Laura McGoldrick
Television Presenter & Actress
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Laura was delighted to have been approached to become an Ambassador for Conductive Education and to be able to support this wonderful cause. She has a close friend who has Cerebral Palsy so understands the need for a programme that is able to support, provide information and connect people to a local provider. Laura fully endorses the great work that Conductive Education does.
Brad Mooar
Professional Rugby Coach
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“What started as a personal challenge & fundraising project for Conductive Education has turned into a family journey and it is a huge privilege & honour to be one of CE’s Ambassadors. We love everything about Conductive – finding a way to give people a chance to unlock & extend their potential is a passion of mine. I see this as being at the heart of every interaction I have with & see at Conductive and it never fails to inspire me. Great people doing great work and working hard for others – how can you not be inspired!”
Mary Lambie
Television Presenter, Newsreader, Reporter and Writer
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Mary is the owner of Socius Media Ltd – a media training and consultancy company based in Auckland – www.socius.co.nz. Mary became a television fixture in New Zealand as the face of the long-running TVONE show ‘Good Morning’. As a journalist, she worked as a foreign correspondent in Japan and has hosted radio and TV business shows over a 25 year multi award winning broadcasting career. Mary and her husband Jim Mora have three teenaged children. She is also an enthusiastic walker and cyclist.
Kendra Cocksedge
MNZM
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Kendra was part of the Rugby World Cup winning Black Fern squads in 2010, 2017 and 2021 and was World Rugby Player of the Year in 2015. She is a proud Taranaki girl who has had an amazing rugby career. She retired from 30 plus years playing after the 2021 Rugby World Cup and is now enjoying her role working for NZ Rugby as Women’s High Performance Pathway Manager. Kendra’s involvement with Conductive Education started in 2022 when she visited one of our centres with a few of her team-mates bringing “Nancy” and their medals. Kendra was such a natural with the children and adults that Conductive Education supports and was delighted when asked to become an Ambassador for Conductive Education. Her genuine approach to people really shines through and she brings a great dimension to the Ambassador team.
Chelsea Bremner
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“It was a privilege to be approached by Conductive Education to become an Ambassador. I was introduced to Conductive Education through Wayne Smith, our current Black Ferns coach at the time. I understand the important need for this organisation through my 5 years of experience as a primary school teacher. I love the support, aroha and connection that is felt in this environment. It has a very positive impact on all involved and I love how it promotes independence and unlocking potential.”
Alana Bremner
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“I’m really looking forward to becoming an ambassador for Conductive Education. It is a privilege to be amongst and support this incredible Foundation who play a massive part in growing independence and reaching life changing milestones. Becoming an Ambassador felt right for me after visiting the Addington Centre with the Black Ferns and seeing the amazing mahi of the support staff and the smiles of the young tamariki. Being involved with Wayne Smith in 2022, I was able to see the direct impact this had on him and families across Aotearoa. I look forward to many more wheel-a-thons, visits to centres and using my platform to support Conductive Education in the bast way I can.”
Our Board
Craig Nilsen
Chair
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Craig has dedicated the past 10 plus years to attending Conductive Education as a parent, through to being instrumental in establishing Conductive Education Taranaki Trust. Craig is dedicated to ensuring the people we serve are able to access and participate in meaningful services that meet their needs. He is a strong advocate on national issues, including improving regional health equity. Craig is a proud and parochial Taranaki lad, happily married and the parent to three young boys. In his spare time he enjoys travelling and motorsport.
Kim Theyers
Vice Chair
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Kim has been the Tumuaki of Westown School in New Plymouth since 2017 where Conductive Education Taranaki is based. She has worked in education for over 25 years and prior to working at Westown spent 10 years at St Patrick’s School in Inglewood also in the Principal role.
Kim is passionate about education and believes it is the right of all children. At Westown School they are very excited to have a relationship with Conductive Education Taranaki and enjoy seeing first-hand the outstanding holistic education that Conductive Education provides for a wide variety of students.
Kim brings knowledge of education to the board table and has strengths in policy and strategic planning.
Christine Middlemass
Treasurer
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Chris is the Manager of Conductive Education Southern, currently the only affiliated CE centre in Aotearoa New Zealand that caters for clients of all ages. She is also the parent of a child with major health issues and significant complex additional needs who attends Conductive Education. This gives Chris huge insight into the lives of the people we support. She is very passionate about Conductive Education and would like to utilise her passion to advance Conductive Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. Chris brings strong finance and IT skills from her former career to the Board.
Murray Booten
Secretary
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Vicki Coddington
Trustee
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Vicki is the Centre Manager for Conductive Education Waikato and has been in this role since February 2020. With a background in Occupational Therapy, she values the early intervention approach to support families to meet their aspirations for their children in a collaborative, holistic and functional way. She sees the value in having Conductive Education available as an option for families, alongside more traditional supports in both the health and education sectors. Vicki has experience in governance, having been a trustee for the New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres and Waikato Health and Disability Expo Trust in the past.”
Donna Bilas
Trustee
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Donna is the Tumuaki at Addington Te Kura Taumatua in Christchurch She is immensely proud of the learning environment their students have at and the way the whole child and whānau are cared for encouraged and supported to live rich full lives. She is experienced in strategic planning, policy, finance, quality learning programmes, personnel and advocacy.
Donna is a NZ Accreditated as an NZ Strengths Coach. Her Clifton Strengths are – Woo, Empathy, Communication, Strategic and Positivity. She is committed to her Te Reo Maori learning journey and Te Tiriti responsive practice.
Linda Harris
Advisory Trustee
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Linda is the parent of Phoebe, who has Hemiplegia and accessed the Conductive Education Early Intervention Programme from when she was 6 months old, with fabulous results. Linda and her family are believers in the principles of Conductive Education and strongly feel it should be an option for all parents to access. Linda was invited to join the Board as an Advisory Trustee, because of her experience in marketing and fundraising.
Rebecca Courtney
National Coordinator
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Rebecca is General Manager of Conductive Education Canterbury, a position that she has held for 15 years. Under her guidance the centre has evolved to meet the needs of a very diverse group of children from birth to school entry. Rebecca enjoys working directly with families and observing the skill development of the children attending the service. Rebecca embraces the Enabling Good Lives principles in the work she does and is passionate about Conductive Education and how its holistic approach supports whānau to lead ordinary lives.
Life Members
The Late Dave Ching
Wilson Jolly
Anthony Smith
Sir Wayne Smith KNZM