Bonnie Robinson
Bonnie Robinson has more than 20 years' experience working in the community social services sector.
Her roles have included policy analysis, research and advocacy, communications, and management. Much of this work has focused around services for older people and those living with chronic conditions and disability.
Currently Bonnie is chief executive officer at
HBH Senior Living, which operates residential care, housing, and community day services for older people.
Bonnie has had a parallel career in governance, and is often called on to give workshops and presentations on issues relating to non-profit social services.
As someone with multiple sclerosis (MS), Bonnie understands first-hand the impact of negotiating life in Auckland with a disability.
She is married and has young adult children. Outside of work, she sings with a choir, swims and sews.
Chantelle Griffiths
Chantelle Griffiths is a vision-impaired professional who works at
Blind Low Vision NZ.
She has held leadership roles within the
Braille Authority of NZ Aotearoa Trust, NZ Braille Music Retreat and the Pasifika Braille Literacy Project.
Chantelle is a
Be Leadership graduate and brings strategic thinking and policy skills, good stakeholder relations and strengths in training and mentoring.
Gerard Martin
Gerard Martin is a relationship manager with Immigration New Zealand, for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
He manages a portfolio of organisations that support skilled migrants and former refugees to settle in New Zealand.
His areas of interest includes addressing discrimination and unconscious bias affecting those with disabilities and advocating for greater accessibility in infrastructure and building design.
Gerard leads the transport sub-committee for his local residents association where he advocates with Auckland Transport and the local board for improvements to pedestrian and traffic safety.
He is a former board member of the
Institute of Public Administration of New Zealand (IPANZ) and has served on the Committee of the Auckland/Northland Amputee Society.
Gerard uses an above-knee prosthetic after losing his left leg to a bone tumour in his early twenties.
Jason Boberg
Jason Boberg is the co-founder and creative director of social impact agency Activate.
A proudly disabled film director by trade, Jason has a disability rights and justice focus to his work. This includes ethical representation of disabled people in decision-making and media.
He is an advocate for disability rights in the climate movement, both locally and internationally.
The founder of
Sustained Ability, he advocates on behalf of people with disabilities at the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Human Rights Council, and Framework Convention on climate change.
He is passionate about supporting the next generation of disabled decision makers to understand the expertise and [definition pattern] whakapapa of our disabled community.
Kramer Hoeflich
Kramer Hoeflich was born and raised in the Cook Islands on the island of Rarotonga. When he was 15, a spinal cord injury changed his life and brought him to New Zealand.
He has faced many challenges and overcome a lot of barriers to become the person he is today. This helped him discover a passion to work alongside young people of all abilities, cultures and backgrounds, to make a difference within the community.
Kramer has a strong focus on equality, inclusion and diversity, which is reflected in the projects, events and boards is involved with.
He is currently a team leader at
Vaka Tautua and is a strong voice for both the Pasifika and disability sectors.
Kramer's ultimate goal is to lead from the front and become Minister for Disability Issues.
Martine Abel Williamson
Disability advocate, accessibility consultant and policy advisor Martine Abel-Williamson QSM, has held numerous governance and leadership roles in the disability area.
These include treasurer and strategic lead for the
World Blind Union as well as Asia-Pacific Regional UN Advocacy Network coordinator.
She has also held governance roles with the Workbridge Council, the Guide Dog Society, Disability Connect, Independent Living Service, and worked at Auckland and Manukau local councils.
Martine is usually accompanied by her guide dog, Westin.
Rachel Peterson
Rachel Peterson is the Community Relationship Manager at
YES Disability which includes being the project lead of Parenting with a Disability New Zealand.
She has lived and worked in the health and disability sector for over 30 years, and as a returning panel member, brings experience and strong work networks.
Last year she was chosen to attend the four-day International Initiative for Disability Leadership (IIDL) conference in Washington DC where she spoke about her passion for youth with disability, leadership and succession planning.
She believes in using creative solutions and cultivating relationships to enhance communities. She has a love for design, with a particular interest in eco-design and accessibility.
She has two daughters, and in her younger days she also played wheelchair basketball for New Zealand.
Ursula Thynne
Ursula Thynne is profoundly deaf, but comfortable using both spoken language and New Zealand Sign Language. You will often see her with hearing dog Casper.
She has a history of working with the deaf community in social services, youth development and education as a qualified youth weorker and teacher of the deaf.
Currently, she works full-time as a teacher for
Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education New Zealand.
Ursula is a proud Aucklander who has lived in central Auckland for the past three years. Prior to that she lived at Piha, west Auckland for 12 years. She has a son currently doing NCEA Level 1.
