Governance, Policies & Annual Reports

Karun Shenoy was appointed as independent director to the CLNZ board in September 2022. His professional background has been in the technology industry, with leadership and management roles in major digital transformation programmes. A Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors, Karun is also currently board chair at English Language Partners New Zealand, President of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and board member at Business Central, and Angel HQ.

Mandy Hager is a multi-award winning writer of fiction for young adults. In 2019 she was awarded the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal, for life-time achievement and a distinguished contribution to New Zealand’s literature for young people. She has won the LIANZA Book Awards for Young Adult fiction 3 times (‘Smashed’ 2008, ‘The Nature of Ash’ 2013, ‘Dear Vincent’ 2014), the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards for YA fiction (‘The Crossing’ 2010), an Honour Award in the 1996 AIM Children’s Book Awards (‘Tom’s Story’), Golden Wings Excellence Award (‘Juno Lucina,’ 2002), Golden Wings Award (‘Run For The Trees’, 2003) and Six Notable Book Awards.

She has also been awarded the 2012 Beatson Fellowship, the 2014 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship and the 2015 Waikato University Writer in Residence.

In 2015 her novel ‘Singing Home the Whale’ was awarded the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award, and the Best Young Adult fiction Award from the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. It has also been named a 2016 IBBY Honour Book, an international award. Her historical novel for adults, ‘Heloise’, was long-listed for the Ockham Book Awards. Her latest non-fiction book is ‘Protest: Shaping Aotearoa.’

She is a trained teacher with an MA in Creative Writing. She also writes adult fiction, short stories, non-fiction, educational resources, blogs and articles, and tutored the Novel Course for Whitireia’s Creative Writing Programme for ten years. She is Past President of the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc.

Tom is a publisher with Bridget Williams Books (BWB), an award-winning independent New Zealand book publisher. His publishing encompasses both print and digital works, including the innovative BWB Texts series. Prior to joining BWB, Tom worked as a publisher with Cengage Learning EMEA in London. Tom holds a Masters in Publishing Studies with Distinction from Oxford Brookes University and is a Council Member for the Publishers Association of New Zealand with responsibility for the copyright portfolio.

Mel Winder (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Ngāi Tahu) is the Managing Director of Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand and has over 25 years’ experience working for multinational book publishers both in the UK and NZ. She has been a PANZ Councillor and member of the Book Awards Trust and sat on the Whitireia Publishing School Advisory Board.

Rose Carlyle is a full-time author. A graduate of the University of Otago, she practised as a corporate lawyer in Auckland in the 1990s before becoming a barrister sole in the 2000s. More recently, she has taught postgraduate courses at the College of Law in Auckland.

In 2018, Rose received a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland, and in 2020 she was awarded a residency at the Michael King Writers’ Centre. Her debut novel was an instant number-one bestseller in New Zealand, was translated into eight languages, and has been optioned for the screen. Her second novel will be released internationally in 2024.

Victoria Spackman ONZM is an independent director based in Wellington. Her past and current governance and advisory roles span the creative, business, technology and exporting sectors, including Chair of high-growth trans-Tasman technology company Ackama Group, director/board member of BATS Theatre, MetService, NZTE, Screenrights, SPADA, Uno Loco, and Toi Mai Workforce Development Council. She is also an owner-director of visitor experience design and screen production company Gibson International and serves on the board of the Katherine Mansfield House and Garden.

Victoria was Chief Executive of the Gibson Group both before and after she led a management buyout of that business, and was the first executive director of Whitirea and WelTech’s Te Auaha School of Creativity in Wellington. She was legal counsel for South Pacific Pictures and has contributed to screen productions such as Miles from Nowhere, Mistress Mercy, NZ Idol, Street Hospital, Dragons in a Distant Land (produced in Mandarin and Cantonese for Chinese audiences) Sione’s Wedding, Whale Rider, Shortland Street, Maddigan’s Quest and Paradise Café.

In 2012 she was awarded the prestigious Private Sector In-House Lawyer of the Year Award by the New Zealand Law Society to recognise her contribution to the profession and to Gibson Group. Victoria won the Arts and Culture category at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards in 2015 and in June 2016 was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre, film and television in the Queen's 90th Birthday Honours List. She has degrees and graduate qualifications across theatre, film, law, management and linguistics.

Yolunda Hickman is an artist working in the wider fields of painting. She is interested in the visual noise of contemporary life, and the slippage between classification, abstraction and meaning as we try to decipher the images and communication systems that fill our world.

Yolunda has exhibited extensively at artist spaces and public galleries throughout New Zealand. Highlights include Signal Forest, 4 Plinths, Wellington; Zombies Everywhere, Sumer, Tauranga; Shoaling, Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin; Legend, Window, Auckland; Size, Te Tuhi, Auckland. In 2020, she completed her doctoral thesis at Elam School of Fine Arts, the University of Auckland. She is Postgraduate Fine Arts Programme Leader at Whitecliffe, Auckland and is passionate about arts education to support creative and cultural conversations.

Evo Leota-Tupou, a social entrepreneur and a dedicated mother of five young children, is the founder of Pacific Kids' Learning in Ōtara, Auckland, with a focus on EdTech, Digital Learning, and STEAM. Actively engaged in EdTechNZ and Tech Women NZ, where she previously held leadership roles, she also contributes to Auckland Council's Pacific Advisory Panel and the National AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group for Te Whatu Ora.

A passionate advocate for neurodiverse learners and children with disabilities, Evo's dedication to inclusivity is reflected in her initiatives. Having spent time in South Korea before returning to Auckland, she keenly observed educational inequities and witnessed technological advancements in classrooms. This experience fueled her mission to bridge gaps and create positive community outcomes. Her efforts extend beyond traditional education to also embrace the richness of Pacific heritage, contributing to the promotion and support of emerging Pacific creatives.