The Board is the governing body of the organisation and is responsible for the strategic and overall direction of Special Olympics New Zealand, while ensuring that its business is carried out in the best interests of the members and stakeholders.
Special Olympics New Zealand is pleased to have achieved the Sport New Zealand Governance Mark for play, active recreation and sport in New Zealand as of 10 February 2022.
Board of Trustees members
Al Robson
Chair
Erica Amon
Deputy Chair
Grace Payne
Athlete Representative
Peter Taylor
Simone Kokaua
Anne Cheetham
Scott Moran
Board Resources
Get to know the Board
Members of the Board come from a wide-range of backgrounds but all have an interest in Special Olympics New Zealand (SONZ).
Some of the Trustees are family members of athletes, some have medical expertise in intellectual disabilities and some are experts in the sport.
Other members have expertise in business, in government relations or in publicity.
Al Robson — Chair (Appointed)
Al graduated from Lincoln University with a Diploma in Horticulture.
His career has mostly been associated with the primary sector where he has held a range of management positions, working within or supporting the wider horticultural and arable farming sectors, as well as the dairy and meat industries. He currently holds an Executive management position with the SOE AsureQuality.
Al has a sporting background with a passion for basketball spanning a 45 year involvement in the sport. Along the way he has played in the National League for the Canterbury Rams and coaching a range of age groups collecting five National Championships along the way.
During his 20 years as a Special Olympics volunteer in Canterbury, Al has attended 3 World Games — two as Head Coach for basketball (Athens in 2011 and Los Angeles 2015) and more recently using his experience as Head of Delegation for the New Zealand team at the World Games in Abu Dhabi.
Al has been a Board member since 2017.
Erica Amon — Deputy Chair (Appointed)
Erica graduated from Otago University with Bachelor and Masters degrees in Clinical Pharmacy.
With over 20 years working in a variety of roles in the health sector, Erica was, until recently, Regional Manager for Healthcare of New Zealand — the largest provider of community-based health services and residential disability services in New Zealand, where she oversaw 7 services and over 1,400 staff.
She is now an Associate with Navigator Ltd, a small consultancy firm that work with NGO and iwi organisations in the transitioning of strategy into viable operations.
Erica has been an active member of the Institute of Directors, including 10 years’ service on the Waikato branch committee. Erica’s past governance roles include chair of Waikato Youth Empowerment Trust, and board member of Waikato Golf Association and Pohlen Community Hospital Trust Board.
She is a keen sports participant, having represented Waikato in golf, plus coached juniors so believes in and understands the value of sport in growing confidence, self-efficacy and social skills in all.
Peter Taylor — Appointed Trustee
Peter Taylor joined the Special Olympics Board in 2018, bringing with him experience from the finance sector as well as in elite sports.
Peter was a full-time athlete with the New Zealand Elite Rowing Team for 10 years, competing at three Olympic Games (2008, 2012 and 2016) with an Olympic Bronze as his highest achievement.
In 2016, Peter transitioned to a career in finance, working for Private Equity firm, Rangatira Investments and more recently, Venture Capital firm, Movac in Wellington. Here he oversees a portfolio of private investments, analysing potential new investments, and working with young technology companies who are seeking investment as they drive to making healthy returns for their investors.
Education: Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Accounting) at the University of Auckland, Post-Graduate Diploma in Advance Sport Management.
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Grace Payne — Athlete Representative
Grace Payne has been a part of Special Olympics Counties Club since 2010 and currently competes in Basketball and Powerlifting.
Grace currently competes in Basketball and Powerlifting, but has tried out a huge range of sports over the years athletics, football, tenpin bowling and table tennis.
Grace is the captain of her club’s A grade basketball team, the Bullets and has had this role since 2014. In 2016, Counties’ Bullets was New Zealand’s first unified basketball team, which included Special Olympics athletes and mainstream athletes competing together. Grace has also been to two Special Olympics National Games and the 2019 Abu Dhabi World Summer Games, being the first female from New Zealand to compete in basketball, coming 4th in the men’s grade.
In 2017 Grace took her leadership skills from captaining the Bullets basketball team and completed the Athlete Leadership programme. Since 2020, Grace is a co-chair for the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Regional Athlete Input Council and the group focuses on how athlete leaders can use their skills and promote inclusion in society.
Simone Kokaua — Elected Trustee
Ko Weraiti te maunga, Ko Waihou te awa, Ko Tainui te waka, Ko Ngāti Hinerangi rāua ko Kuki Airani ngā iwi, Ko Simone Kokaua tōku ingoa.
Simone has spent 17 years in the Building Supplies Industry, before moving into the transport industry and working with the Special Needs section for 7 years. This extended to enjoying a short time as a teacher aide at specialist school for children and young people who have an intellectual disability.
Her passion for her athletes was the driving force to pursue more knowledge. Simone graduated from Centre of Sport Science and Human Performance – Wintec with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science in 2019. She was also involved as an Active and Well Coordinator with Sport Waikato.
Simone has recently been elected as Chair of Central North Island Regional Council and Vice-Chair of Special Olympics Waikato as of April 2020. Simone’s involvement with our athletes spans 10 plus years in varied roles.
The primary reason for her engagement with Special Olympics Waikato was the pleasure that sport gave her nephew, while playing basketball and football. During this time, Simone has also attended two World Summer Games, as an Assistant Coach for Athletics in Los Angeles 2015 and Basketball in Abu Dhabi 2019.
Anne Cheetham — Elected Trustee
Originally from Ireland, Anne has lived on the Kapiti Coast since retiring to Waikanae from Melbourne in mid 2018.
She joined the Special Olympics Kapiti club later that year in the role of Fundraising Co-ordinator, and in early 2019 took over as Chair when the existing Chair stepped down due to ill health. Since then she has focused on supporting the Kapiti convenors and volunteers by ensuring compliance with Charities Commission and SONZ requirements, and leading fundraising efforts.
Anne’s background is in business and IT, with Companies such as KPMG and IBM and working across the UK and Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Recently elected to Chair of the Lower North Island Regional Committee, her aim is to facilitate sharing experience between Clubs and encourage inter-club co-operation.
One of the Appointed Trustee positions on the Board of Trustees is currently vacant.
Scott Moran — Appointed Trustee
Scott is an experienced governor and lawyer and joined the board in 2023.
Scott is an experienced sports governor, current serving as the Vice President of New Zealand Football and having previously held the role of the Netball New Zealand appointed board member to the Netball Central Zone board for the maximum term of 9 years.
Scott has been a partner at national law firm Duncan Cotterill Lawyers for 22 years. He is based in Wellington and practices in the areas of not-for profit, intellectual property, commercial and private client law. He has a long connection with IHC New Zealand and assists many of New Zealand’s leading charities and not-for-profit organisations. With Scott’s sports governance experience and connection with the intellectual disability sector, Scott is delighted to have the opportunity to assist Special Olympics New Zealand achieve its strategic objectives
Sub-committees
Members of the Board are allocated positions on the following committees:
Finance, Audit and Risk Committee
- Peter Taylor (Chair)
- Erica Amon
- Simone Kokaua
- Alan Robson
Sports Committee
- Simone Kokaua
Sport New Zealand Governance Mark
Special Olympics New Zealand is pleased to have achieved the Sport New Zealand Governance Mark for play, active recreation and sport in New Zealand as of 10 February 2022.
What is the Mark?
The Governance Mark indicates an organisation that is clear about how it intends to use time and money. The board has a considered process for development of strategy and an ongoing regime for monitoring efficacy of that strategy. Accountability to stakeholders is delivered through a planned programme of communication. The business of the organisation is conducted within a clear ethical framework. The board understands the strategic nature of its role. Meeting processes mean that time is well spent and the agenda is primarily future focussed.
Gaining the Mark
To gain the Mark the organisation has been through a process of self-assessment, third-party review, governance development and reassessment.
The Mark assesses the organisation’s alignment with the Governance Framework for play, active recreation and sport in New Zealand. That framework covers the key areas of: clarity and cohesion; people; boardroom processes; and integrity and accountability. The Mark award requires complete alignment with the mandatory elements of the framework and 80% alignment with the core elements.