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Our board of directors sets our strategy and monitors our performance. The board has extensive knowledge in business, investment, exporting and public policy, helping to ensure that NZTE provides the right support for its customers.

Charles Finny was appointed Chair in March 2025.  He had previously served on the Board from 2009 to 2021.

Charles has worked on international trade for all his career.  He is currently a partner at the Government Relations Consultancy Saunders Unsworth where he focusses on international trade and the supply chain.  He is the Independent Chair of the NZ Port Company CEO Group.  His clients export both goods and services.  He also teaches trade policy to university students in New Zealand and abroad.

Charles served for over 20 years in government working for the Prime Ministers Department, Department of Trade, and Industry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  He served offshore in Singapore, Beijing and Taipei.  He has been part of the teams that negotiating several of New Zealand’s FTAs.  He served 5 years as CEO of the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Charles also serves on the Board of Woolyarns Holdings.  He is the former Chair of Education New Zealand.  He has also served on the New Zealand Film Commission Board and the Victoria University of Wellington Council.  He is a Chartered Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Charles Finny

Sarah Paterson is Director of Blue Circle Consulting Ltd, providing advice on strategy development, trade and primary sector policy, and facilitating strategic cooperation. She is also a partner in Global Trade Insights, providing trade policy training and capacity building.

Sarah has worked on trade and primary sector issues for almost 20 years, including roles with Fonterra, the then Meat and Wool New Zealand, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She is chair of Inter-Weave, a director of Kiwifruit New Zealand, Landcorp Farming Limited (Pāmu), and Wairarapa Building Society. Her previous roles include director of the New Zealand Meat Board and member of the Army Leadership Board. Sarah studied at the University of Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political Science.

Sarah Paterson

For the past 20 years Deb has been an active owner, investor, advisor, and facilitator in all facets of the small business ecosystem. She holds a part-time role in the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Auckland, is a co-owner of the family biotechnology business Biocell Corporation and through her own consultancy provides advisory and facilitation services to SMEs.

Deb currently sits on several advisory boards and Boards of Directors including Biocell, Soul Capital, and Forrest Estate Wines and is an advisor to the Booster Innovation Fund investment committee. She is an investor with ICEHOUSE Ventures and Soul Capital and was previously an investor and chair of Pet Doctors Ltd. 

Deb was part of the original team that designed and developed the Owner Manager Programme in 2001 facilitating programmes for the Icehouse until 2025. She is the co-author of two books focussed on SMEs. She was a member of NZTE's Better By Design advisory board, and deputy chair of the government-appointed Small Business Council.

Deb has degrees in psychology from the Universities of Otago and Auckland and a Ph.D. in Organisational Culture also from The University of Auckland.

Deb Shepherd

Victoria is an independent director, with roles including chair of high-growth trans-Tasman technology company Ackama Group, chair of Thankyou Payroll, and director of Acumen NZ, CDC Pharmaceuticals, and Copyright Licensing NZ. She is an owner-director of visitor experience design and screen production company Gibson International, and chairs the advisory boards of creative companies Uno Loco and Hula. 

Victoria was chief executive of Gibson International both before and after she led a management buyout of that business and was the first executive director of Te Auaha School of Creativity in Wellington. She is a previous board member of Education New Zealand, MetService, and the Toi Mai Workforce Development Council.

Victoria is an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre, film and television.

Victoria Spackman

Matanuku Mahuika has more than 30 years' experience as a lawyer advising on a wide range of corporate, commercial, Treaty of Waitangi, Māori land and administrative law issues. He was partner at Walters Williams & Co and in-house counsel at the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission before becoming the founding partner of Kahui Legal, a specialist boutique firm for Māori legal issues. Matanuku has also acted as a Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiator and worked directly on various items of law reform. Matanuku is currently a barrister at Bankside Chambers.

Alongside his experience as a lawyer, Matanuku has worked with early-stage and start-up businesses and has held a wide variety of directorships and governance roles. He is the immediate past chair of the Eastland Group (now Tairawhiti Investments), the chair of Eastland Generation, serves on the boards of Callaghan Innovation and The New Zealand Merino Company, and has formerly held roles as Chair of the Ministerial Panel on the reform of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, Chair of the Ngāti Porou Holding Company, Chair of Sealord Group, and Deputy Chair of Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (now Moana New Zealand).

Matanuku lives in Gisborne and is of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Raukawa descent.


Matanuku Mahuika

Errol Clark is a distinguished corporate financier, strategic adviser, and board director with four decades of experience in investment banking, foreign direct investment, and strategic development across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. He has an extensive global network of business leaders, decision-makers and financial institutions. 

Errol is the founder of International Capital Corporation, a corporate finance boutique with a record of building start-ups, restructuring and growing established businesses, and securing several billion dollars in equity and debt capital for government and private sector clients. He has sourced substantial direct investment for New Zealand from global engineering, pharmaceutical, banking and agribusiness multinationals and led the development of billion-dollar banking portfolios for UBS and Bank of Nova Scotia.  

Errol is well known for his roles in arts and heritage. He is currently Co- Chair of Trustees for the Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection. His previous art and heritage sector governance roles include board member of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, Council Member of the Attingham Trust (London), and adviser to the Amatller Foundation (Barcelona).  

Errol Clark

Simon Limmer is the Chief Executive Officer of Indevin Group, New Zealand’s leading producer of high-quality wine and the home of Villa Maria. 

Simon brings extensive leadership experience across New Zealand’s primary industries and takes pride in showcasing premium New Zealand brands to the world. Before joining Indevin, he was CEO of Silver Fern Farms, New Zealand’s largest meat exporter, for six years. Prior to that, he spent a decade with Zespri, where he held a variety of roles producing and marketing kiwifruit internationally. Earlier in his career, Simon spent 14 years with French environmental services company Veolia, working in a range of international locations. 

Appointed CEO of Indevin Group in 2024, New Zealand’s largest wine company, Simon brings international experience and strong commercial acumen to New Zealand’s wine sector, steering the business through a dynamic global market and championing the next chapter of growth for one of the country’s most iconic industries. 


Simon Limmer

The Lead team is NZTE's executive management group. The Lead team has a broad range of experience, particularly in the private sector, and their leadership has a direct impact on the services we provide to our customers.

Pete has been chief executive of NZTE since 2011. He has a passion for New Zealand, which drives his commitment to NZTE. He believes he works for a cause, not an institution. Pete sees his role as leading strategy and culture, to deliver for both exporters and investors. He works closely with his other government agency partners, for the good of New Zealand.

Prior to joining NZTE, Pete spent 23 years in the engineering, manufacturing, and pulp and paper industries, covering business in New Zealand, Australia, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe, including roles in human resources, operations, logistics, supply chain, business improvement and general management. He has a social sciences master's degree from Massey University, and post graduate studies in business.

Pete has also been on the Board of the Ports of Auckland since late 2021.

Pete Chrisp

Based in Auckland, Clare leads the international team made up of 37 offices across six regions. She was formerly NZTE's Regional Director of East Asia and prior to that Regional Director for Australia Pacific. Clare joined NZTE as New Zealand's Trade Commissioner/Consul General to Italy with responsibility for the offices in Milan and Istanbul.

Before joining NZTE, Clare held a number of senior marketing and leadership roles at St John Ambulance, Tourism Holdings, Auckland Rugby and Carter Holt Harvey. She co-founded and exited two start-ups - Philadelphia Consulting and Redi Cuts.

Clare has a BA, BCom, Postgraduate Diploma in Business, and an MBA from the University of Auckland, and a Postgraduate Diploma of Packaging Technology from Massey University. She has also studied at Harvard Business School and INSEAD.

Clare Wilson

Phillipa Cameron leads NZTE's Export Customer team, which helps thousands of New Zealand exporters succeed overseas.

Pip was formerly the Chief Customer Officer at Stuff, where she was responsible for Marketing, Customer Experience, Communications, Events and Customer Operations; as well as the Consumer Revenue within the business. During her 10 years there, she was part of the core team that scaled Stuff and has a deep understanding of digital transformation.

Pip started her career in FMCG, and has a real passion for innovation, brand and customer insight. She has three kids, is married to Jonathan (a full-time Director), and is based in Auckland.

Phillipa Cameron

Katie supports and advises the Chief Executive and Lead team. She joined the Lead team in March 2024, bringing with her experience from her time at NZTE as Business Advisor to the General Manager, Strategy, Performance, and Partners and NZ Story Operations Manager. 

Prior to NZTE, Katie made contributions to the NZ health sector as a Senior Executive Coordinator and Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive. 

Katie has an interest in operational efficiency and believes that a well-organised and efficient operation is the key to a successful and dynamic organisation.

Katie is from Wellington where she lives with her husband and their two children.

Katie White

Rachel oversees NZTE's strategy development and implementation, internal and external stakeholder relationships, corporate services and people functions, and Māori capability and relationships.

Before joining NZTE, Rachel worked in management consulting, government policy and Ministerial advisory roles. Rachel holds an Honours degree in Applied Economics from Massey University and a Master's of Public Policy from Victoria University.

Rachel Baxter

Sanchia leads a team that serves NZTE's customers indirectly. Prior roles at NZTE include customer director, Mumbai trade commissioner and general manager of Internal Partners & People. Prior to joining NZTE, she was managing director for IBM's Kenexa NZ, leading the Best Workplaces programme and launching their Smarter Workforce solution across Australia and New Zealand. During a decade in the United States, she was on the Great Place to Work® Institute's lead team. She has arts and business degrees from the University of Auckland and a diploma in financial markets from the Securities Institute of Australia.

Sanchia Yonge

Iain McCombe leads our Digital and Data team, bringing a wealth of experience and a strategic vision to our digital initiatives.

Iain has over 18 years of experience leading global product teams, including a significant tenure at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in the USA, where he led their Talent Management software portfolio. 

Iain holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Organisational Design and a Master of Arts in Organisational Psychology. He is passionate about leveraging data and technology to enhance customer experiences and drive business success.


Iain McCombe

Regional Directors lead our activity in six international regions and have a range of international experience across public and private sector. 

Based in London, Amanda oversees activity across NZTE's Europe, Middle East and Africa region. She previously served as NZTE’s Regional Director for North America for seven years. Prior to this role, she was customer director for the Central North Island's Customer team, having joined as a customer manager in 2013.

Before joining NZTE, Amanda worked for UK Trade & Investment in London as an international trade advisor, where her work included responsibility for the national fashion sector strategy. She has also worked on economic development projects at the Canterbury Development Corporation. Her private sector experience includes financial management, people management and export development. She has a commerce degree from the University of Otago.

Amanda Martin

Based in Shanghai, Chris leads NZTE's operations and stakeholder relationships across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He was appointed immediately following service as NZTE's Trade Commissioner in Beijing.

Chris earlier served as Trade Commissioner/Vice Consul in São Paulo, Brazil, covering the region of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, and also in Spain and Portugal as a Business Development Manager.

Prior to joining NZTE, Chris was a Performance Coach, Trainer and Speaker based in Madrid, as well as a published author, assisting organisations in getting the best out of their leaders and teams.

Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese, Chris graduated from Waikato University with majors in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations.

Chris Metcalfe


Based in Sydney, Haylon currently serves as Regional Director to Australia and the Pacific for NZTE, leading operations and relationships across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Suva offices. 

Prior to commencing this role in September 2025, Haylon was in the United States for five years where he was Trade Commissioner to Los Angeles. He has also served as Trade Commissioner to the Middle East, as well as Africa. 

Haylon holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Auckland. 


Haylon Smith 

Based in Singapore, Joe Nelson oversees NZTE's offices and relationships across SEEA as Regional Director. Joe was appointed to the role in 2025, having previously served as Regional Director EMEA and New Zealand Trade Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland, New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner and Consul-General to Viet Nam, based in Ho Chi Minh City.

Prior to joining NZTE, Joe was the CEO of Cedenco, one of New Zealand's leading exporters, where he oversaw the strategic acquisition of ENZA Foods and delivered significant sales growth for the company. His experience spans a broad range of New Zealand's primary industries including horticulture and food and beverage.

Joe holds a Bachelor's degree in resource studies from Lincoln University and a postgraduate diploma in business administration from the University of Auckland.


Joe Nelson

Based in São Paulo, Stephen Blair leads NZTE’s operations and relationships across Latin America. Stephen also serves as New Zealand’s Consul-General for the State of São Paulo. Stephen was appointed to the role in 2024 immediately following service as New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner to South Korea. Stephen earlier served as New Zealand's Consul-General and Trade Commissioner to Melbourne.

Before joining NZTE, Stephen worked in the banking sector and held a variety of senior management roles in Australia, including as National Operations Manager of the business advisory service Enterprise Connect.

Stephen attended North Carolina State University on scholarship and is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington in economics and history. He represented New Zealand in athletics and has served on several not-for-profit boards in New Zealand and Australia.


Stephen Blair

Based in Los Angeles, Michael "MOD" O'Donnell oversees NZTE activity across the United States and Canada. He was previously Deputy Chair of NZTE.

Before joining NZTE, MOD was a professional director and chair for various companies including Serato, Kiwibank, Radio New Zealand, Garage Project, Tourism New Zealand, Timely and HiTech New Zealand. 

Prior to this MOD held leadership roles at Trade Me, AMP, Gareth Morgan Investments and Forestry Corporation. He also hosted TVNZ television programme "Start Me Up" and wrote the Saturday business column for Stuff Media for 15 years.


Michael O'Donnell

NZTE is committed to growing the Māori economy internationally, and we have specific strategies and a team of specialist advisors with the cultural and commercial competence to support Māori entities. Meet some of the team below.

Jeremy leads the Māori Export Customer team, which supports Māori Focus customers. The Māori Export Customer team looks after customers across the country. Jeremy was also a customer of NZTE for many years, bringing a unique perspective to the team.

Jeremy's experience includes leadership roles in start-ups, growth and corporates across a range of sectors, including food and beverage, finance, IT and iwi/Māori.

Jeremy's whakapapa links to Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pikiao, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Te Whakatōhea iwi in the Bay of Plenty.

Jeremy Gardiner

Shelley serves as the Māori Customer Director, leading the team of Māori Customer Managers at NZTE.

Shelley has held executive commercial leadership roles and general management positions, bridging onshore and offshore manufacturing through the value chain to both ingredient and consumer brands. 

This has built a 360-degree appreciation of global strategy, executing through diverse business models, partnerships, and product innovation, most recently heading Asia for Icebreaker. With a deep sense of pride, Shelley has been taking a slice of Aotearoa to the globe, now driven by a passion to unlock New Zealand’s unique quadruple bottom line global potential for a better future for our people.


Shelley Guerard

__Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa__

Jamie is a Customer Manager/Māori Partnerships Lead in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, where he was previously an NZTE Customer Manager working with Māori seafood, FMCG and Technology companies. 

He has over 20 years' experience in Māori small business development, applying his proficiency in financial management and growth planning. 

Before NZTE, Jamie was a commercial development manager at Te Puni Kōkiri, and earlier a business consultant with PwC. He has also held various accounting and treasury roles for insurance and aviation companies in the UK. Jamie holds Bachelor of Business in Finance. He is building his proficiency in Te Reo me ona Tikanga and is as an endurance sports participant.

Jamie Te Hiwi

We help New Zealand businesses grow internationally – bigger, better, faster. Explore our services for exporters, help for investors, and trade news.

Meet the NZTE leadership team. Learn more about our board of directors, CEO and lead team, regional directors and Māori business advisors. 

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