Jonathan Kings

Jonathan Kings is the Deputy Secretary of the Pacific and Development Group which leads an integrated approach to New Zealand's diplomatic and development engagement with Pacific countries, and manages New Zealand's development cooperation globally. 

Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2010, Jonathan was a senior manager with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Industry New Zealand for nine years. He had a range of responsibilities, including leading the investment attraction programme, and managing New Zealand's trade promotion offices in Europe, and the Middle East, and in the Americas.

He also spent two years at the OECD in Paris working on regional development issues. Prior to entering the public sector, Jonathan was chief executive of an Australasian energy sector consulting firm, and before that he was a senior manager with a multinational in the energy sector.

Stephen Goodman

Stephen Goodman joined VSA in September 2017 as CEO following 33 years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, part of the New Zealand Defence Force.

Initially trained and employed as a specialist Logistics Officer, including undertaking advanced logistics management training with the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom, the early part of his career saw him serve in a range of logistics leadership roles around New Zealand and in Australia. The latter part of his career saw Stephen move into a broader and more senior range of leadership roles within operations, strategic planning, policy development, business transformation, and the diplomatic representation areas.

Stephen deployed twice on operations, firstly to East Timor (now Timor Leste) in 2001 where he was part of an international team assisting the development of the new nation's security structure in the lead up to independence, then to the Solomon Islands in 2004 where he was the Senior National Officer commanding the New Zealand Defence Force contingent to the Regional Assistance Mission Solomon Islands (RAMSI). From 2008 until 2010 Stephen was the Defence Attaché within the New Zealand High Commission in Singapore. 

Stephen has a Masters in Philosophy from Massey University, and a Master of Arts from Deakin (Australia) University, and is a Fellow of the Australian Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies in Canberra, Australia.

Helen Hakena

Co-founder and CEO of Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency in Bougainville. 

She was educated at St. Mary's High School in Asitavi, Bougainville. She eventually entered Kabaleo Teacher's College in East New Britain Province for two years and graduated in 1974. She taught for 15 years in various schools in Bougainville from 1975-1990 when the Bougainville crisis broke out. She gave birth prematurely to her son and witnessed other women die in child birth on that day. 

This motivated her to start Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency. She couldn't bear to watch and hear women plea for help in an abandoned bank used by the private doctor who assisted them. Helen with four other women founded the organisation in 1992 to help in the Peace Building efforts but more so to mobilise women and youth to promote women's human rights and to advocate and prevent human rights abuses like the increase of sexual violence during the armed conflict. 

In 2001, her organisation was awarded the Millennium Peace Prize award by UN Women and International alert. Helen has represented the Asia Pacific Women on several occasions at the UN in New York, Geneva and Brussels. In 2016, she attended UNEA conference in Nairobi, Kenya and is well versed with climate change issues and sustainable development goals. She has participated and has received International training from various organisations. In 2010, Helen was appointed to the High Level Asia Pacific working group on Women, Peace & Security convened by UN-ESCAP. She has been an active member of the work of the Regional working group on women. Peace and Security and the Pacific Women's network on Violence Against Women & she is active in peace building and service in many spheres of her communities.

In 2005, she was awarded the Gender Excellence Award by UN Habitat for her commitment and dedication to improving women's status and participation. In 2004, was a nominee for the 1,000 women peace award. Her highlight was in 2001, on March 8 when she was nominated to present a petition to Kofi Annan, thousands of signatures calling on the UN Security Council to sign the UN Security Council 1325 policy on Women, Peace & Security. She presented the petition on International Women's Day on March 8 at the UN General Assembly to late Angela King as the Secretary General was away on another assignment. Helen's organization, Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency, has been a member of the Regional Women's Media and Policy Network on UNSCR1325 since 2007 and is currently a civil society representative of the Regional Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (convened by UN-ESCAP). She continues to be an active member of the Pacific Violence against Women Network and IANSA/PSAAG. She currently resides in Ieta village, Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. 

Christine Ramsay

Christine Ramsay is volunteering as an Office Management Adviser with Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency (LNWDA) in Bougainville. 

She will complete her assignment in March 2019. 

Conor Twyford

Conor started as General Manager, Sexual Abuse HELP Wellington in late 2016, an organisation providing support to survivors of sexual abuse. Conor is also a former VSA volunteer, undertaking an assignment in Vanuatu in 2003-04, and regularly assists VSA’s Recruitment team as a Selection Adviser to select new volunteers.

Laura Barnett

Laura's first assignment was as a UniVol with Kabaleo Teachers' College in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea. She was so inspired, she returned for a second assignment, this time working with the Catholic Archdiocese of Rabaul (CADR) as a family and sexual violence action liaison.

Holly Coulter

Holly Coulter volunteered as a Cervical Screening Systems Adviser with the Kiribati Family Health Association (KFHA) in Kiribati. She completed her assignment in January 2018. While on assignment, Holly travelled Kiribati, raising awareness around sexual and reproductive health and consulting closely with communities. She arranged funding through the Tindall Foundation to hold a candlelight walk in South Tarawa for White Ribbon Day, raising further awareness of gender-based violence.

Kyla Raynor

Talofa lava, I am Kyla Rayner, Agency Manager of Wellington Rape Crisis. I have been in the role here at WRC for 18 months and feel privileged belong to such a hard working organisation, delivering services to survivors of sexual violence in the Wellington region. Prior to this role, I worked at Wellington Women’s refuge for several years, as a frontline social worker, then as coordinator of safety programmes for women and children and  DV trainer on the dynamics of domestic violence and the experience for victims. I have facilitated many community and practitioner meetings in this space and believe there is a wealth of knowledge and solutions when we are prepared to sit with the details of the lived experience of survivors.  

I am passionate about ending sexual violence and domestic violence for all peoples, with a particular interest in women and Pasifika communities. I have been fortunate to walk alongside many women in their journey to safety and healing and feel incredibly lucky to have worked for two feminist organisations who share the end goal of creating a world free from violence and abuse.  I strive to bridge the gap between community, government and agencies with a firm belief that we all have pivotal roles to play in creating the world we want to live in. 

Natalie Thorburn

Natalie is a policy advisor for the National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges, and has a PhD from the University of Auckland. A registered social worker, her work and research experience has all centred on domestic and sexual violence.