Member profiles
Aotearoa Ethnic Network » Member profiles
AEN links you to a who's who of influencers and decision makers in the Aotearoa/New Zealand ethnic sector. The list was started in May 2005 and has over 350 members (as of May 2007) with more joining daily. Members come from right across New Zealand (and beyond) but the majority are from Auckland and Wellington.
When we looked at our membership recently we saw that, as well as community members, people came from local government, central government, NGOs, the media and education. There are a number of elected representatives including local councillors, MPs and Ministers.
We encourage members to send us short profiles and links to their own websites as a way of better connecting the ethnic sector - and helping us put a face to the name! If you're an AEN member and want to be listed here, just email your information to profiles [at] aen.org.nz.
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Ruth DeSouza set up AEN and manages the list and co-edits the journal. Ruth is a Senior Research Fellow at AUT University's Centre for Asian and Migrant Health Research and a Director of Wairua Consulting Limited. Ruth has a background in mental health nursing, counselling and education. She is passionate about the ethnic sector and in how technology can advance the aspirations of communities. She set up the list to help people connect and share information and ideas. Ruth is a Board Member of the Walsh Trust and Editorial board member of Diversity in Health and Social Care. More... |
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Andy Williamson is Managing Director of Wairua Consulting Limited and co-manages AEN. Andy is an experienced consultant and researcher who specialises in the strategic and policy aspects of ICT. Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Government's Digital Strategy Advisory Board, Andy has an international reputation in community informatics and eDemocracy. He is also Chair of the WaitakereOnline Editorial Board. More... |
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Joris de Bres is the Race Relations Commissioner in the New Zealand Human Rights Commission. The Commission facilitates the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme. Joris is also Deputy Chairperson of Oxfam New Zealand , a trustee of Project Crimson (a trust for the conservation of New Zealand’s native pohutukawa and rata trees), and on the Advisory Board of Victoria University’s Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Studies. |
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Dave Moskovitz has been involved in the Jewish community in Wellington leadership roles since 1995, was President of Temple Sinai between 2004 and 2006. Dave has driven a number of key intra- and inter-faith initiatives, including improving relationships between the Wellington Progressive and Orthodox Jewish congregations and building bridges between the Jewish and Muslim communities. Dave is on the Wellington Council of Christians and Jews, and has been involved in a number of programmes initiated by the Human Rights Commission, including chairing the Religious Diversity session at the National Diversity Forum in 2005 and contributing a Jewish perspective to the Meeting between Media and Religious Representatives in the aftermath of the publication of the Danish cartoons. For a day job, Dave is a Company Director and IT Consultant, specialising in lexicography databases. |
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Syed Akbar Kamal is a Journalist who has been writing for newspapers since his High School days. His foray into All India Radio's English service began in the early 80’s and went parallel with his studies and newspaper writings. He bagged the prestigious ‘Khasa Subba Rau Award’ from Osmania University. After the University he equipped himself with television experience and worked in the advertising arena. With the emergence of computers he earned his MCSE from Microsoft and CCNA from Cisco. Here in New Zealand he has founded Teamwork Productions New Zealand Ltd and is involved in the production of Darpan-The Mirror, a current affairs and news based programme on Triangle TV. |
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 Tze Ming Mok is an Auckland writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, reviews and sociopolitical commentary. Best known for her weblog Yellow Peril and her 2006 Sunday Star Times column, she was also the first Asian editor of the New Zealand literary journal Landfall, and one of the 2006 Arts Foundation New Generation Laureates. She is first generation New Zealand-born Chinese, and has previously worked as a refugee status determination officer, a refugee legal advocate, and for the New Zealand Human Rights Commission. |
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Alistair Kwun is the Director of Alistair Kwun Communications, a cultural and public relations agency that focuses on bridging people through arts, culture and cross-cultural communications. He works with local and central government agencies, ethnic communities, arts organisations, media and Generation C (youth) creatives.
A core component of Alistair's work is communicating diversity as relevant, essential and belonging to everyone. Alistair believes that stories and personal experiences have the power to connect diverse groups and transform people's lives |
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Vaibhav Gangan blends journalism, public relations and corporate communications experience. He co-founded The Global Indian, New Zealand's first PDF e-zine for Indians in Australasia, in 2004. He was introduced to journalism at an early age of 17 and has struggled to quit since. His post-MBA international stints with Hill and Knowlton saw him deliver many marketing PR campaigns, followed by financial journalism for Reuters Plc covering the US and UK equities. He manages public- and media-relations and internal communications for a multi-national New Zealand-owned company. As a sidetrack, he's also a qualified insurance underwriter. Through The Global Indian, He has supported many charity activities and is founder of Friends of CRY Club in New Zealand, a voluntary group to support projects for underprivileged children in India through Child Relief and You, a New Delhi-headquartered not-for-profit organisation. He loves running and cycling in weekends. Favourite saying: "Be the change you want to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi |
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Tayyaba Khan is the founder and current President of Auckland Muslim Girls Association (AMGA). AMGA won the Sonja Davies Peace Award in 2005 for its creative peace initiative for young women of New Zealand. Tayyaba is also the Auckland Regional Co-ordinator for Islam Awareness Week, and various other Muslim community development initiative. She is currently a BHSc - Applied Mental Health student at AUT University. |
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Sapna Samant came to New Zealand in 2001. Before that she practiced medicine for nine years as a GP in Bombay. In Aotearoa she did a MA in film, television and media studies from the University of Auckland. She is a founding trustee of the Asia New Zealand Film Foundation Trust that organises the Asia Film Festival Aotearoa, the AsiaNZ Short Film Contest and encourages Asian Kiwis to tell stories through films. Sapna is a freelance producer for National Radio and is currently developing film scripts and television shows and occasionally writes short stories, features and articles. She is passionate about representation of Asians and other immigrants in the mainstream media and wants to change the stereotypes that Asians themselves often endorse. Sapna is also involved in media advocacy of health related issues. Otherwise, she has written a book on breastfeeding, served as a resource person for NGOs, lectured medical social workers….. She survives the obdurate (South Asian) patriarchy through irreverence, a very dry sense of humour, Vipassana, gardening, books, films and weekend hikes with her boyfriend. |
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Charles Mabbett is the media adviser at the Asia New Zealand Foundation. He was a print and broadcast journalist for over ten years for media organisations such as New Zealand Press Association, Australian Associated Press and Radio New Zealand. Charles who is part Chinese and part European was born in Kuala Lumpur and spent the early part of his life in a peripatetic existence that included Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Hong Kong. In fact, wherever his father’s job as a journalist took the family. His father is from Dannevirke and his mother is from Medan. The family settled in Wellington in 1976 when Charles was 12 and he has since called New Zealand home although there have been spells in Honolulu, San Francisco, London and Sydney. He is a true believer in strength through diversity and he hopes his work at the Asia:NZ can influence and inform the mainstream media and the New Zealand public as to the value of New Zealand’s Asian communities, particularly as global trends indicate that New Zealand will become increasingly dependent on Asia’s growing global cultural and political influence and economic power. |
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Kumanan Rasanathan is a public health medical doctor. He is currently working as an honorary fellow at the Peking University School of Public Health in Beijing and also holds an honorary appointment at the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland. Previously he has worked in a wide range of public health settings including at the Ministry of Health doing pandemic planning; as a clinical doctor in Australia and the United Kingdom; undertaking clinical trials in the development of the New Zealand meningococcal B vaccine; and in primary care developing health promotion programmes. He has undertaken research on the use of "Asian" as a category in the New Zealand health sector and on the health of young Asian New Zealanders. Kumanan is a council member of The Asian Network Inc. and an advisory committee member for the Centre for Asian Health Research and Evaluation at the University of Auckland. He is second generation Sri Lankan Tamil. |
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Abdul Rafik is Migrant Community Liaison Officer for Inland Revenue, based in Auckland. He is available to advise migrant groups on tax issues As a migrant himself, he found resettlement in New Zealand a great challenge - having to get meaningful employment, and understand the culture and the tax system of this country all at the same time. As well as collecting tax, Inland Revenue also delivers important measures on behalf of the Government such as child support, student loans, family assistance and paid parental leave. Abdul presents free seminars each week to different migrant communities, including an overview of the New Zealand tax system followed by questions and answers. At the end of the session there is always a chance to give advice on an individual basis. Abdul can be contacted at abdul.rafik [at] ird.govt.nz |
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Ron Kjestrup is Pakeha of Scottish and Danish decent. He was raised in the Waikato and has lived for several years in Otautahi and Otakou. Ron is currently Station Manager at Christchurch community radio station Plains FM96.9 which broadcasts in 16 different languages. Ron has an extensive background in media that includes commercial radio, local television, community radio and media training and education. Ron is passionate about community media. He believes that there is an opportunity with internet and digital technologies to carve a viable place for alternatives, which are essential to the democratic process. He also believes that co-operation and collegiality between the many migrant, ethnic, community and alternative media outlets can help build a vibrant sector. Plains FM is involved in several developments using technology to advance the sector, these include making programming more available on-line, using online technology to develop national communities of interest and an e-democracy initiative. |
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Kate Sutton is a policy analyst and project manager for COMET (City of Manukau Education Trust). She is Chair of the Tamaki Community Board (Glen Innes, Panmure, Mt Wellington, Otahuhu) and a member of the University of Auckland Council. A former student president of the Auckland University Students Associaiton , Kate is now an executive member of the University of Auckland society and involved in supporting and co-ordinating various University of Auckland student and alumni projects. She is very active in the Labour party and is the Women's Vice President. Kate mentors a young Macedonian girl from Selwyn College and is very interested in womens rights, international human rights and education policy. |
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Anjum Rahman is a Chartered Accountant by profession, working for a small firm in Hamilton. She has also been involved in various community groups, being a founding member of Shama (Hamilton Ethnic Women’s Centre) and the Islamic Women’s Council, as well as being involved with the Hamilton Peace Movement and various interfaith activities. In recent times, Anjum has become more politically active, standing as a candidate on the Labour Party list in the last election. She has a keen interest in policy development and in issues around race relations and human rights. Public speaking is another interest, and Anjum has been invited to speak at many events, including the 2006 National Interfaith Forum. Anjum is available to speak to any community group, as she believes this is the best way to break down barriers, and for different faith groups and ethnic communities to get to know each other. |
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Suzanne Schokman, a Features producer/presenter with Radio New Zealand, says 17 years of TV, Radio and advertising curiously slid off her CV into the Pacific en route to New Zealand. So starting again with a clean sheet and “Yes, I speak English”, she produced radio commercials, tutored at a radio school, created her own daily woman’s radio show and was a volunteer producer on a nationwide talkback programme. Perturbed by anti-Asian sentiment at the time of her arrival, she sent a programme proposal to National Radio which eventually evolved into her regular report on Asian communities in NZ, every Tuesday at 3.30pm. Programme content for this segment is also available for the next week online. The report – a mixture of light and shade – puts the spotlight on Asian individuals, organisations, achievements, issues, problems experienced, problems caused, culture, lifestyle, politics, religion, arts, music and more. Suzanne invites you to get in touch with her at Radio New Zealand. |
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Winnie Chang has 10 years cross-cultural marketing, strategy, and research experience. She is the founder of Bananaworks™ Communications Limited, and she is currently appointed as the Managing Director at the company. She is often approached to present, discuss or lecture on social marketing to ethnic audiences (government departments, universities, to mainstream advertising agencies, communication seminars, conferences, etc). Winnie is co-founder of an international non-governmental organization (NGO), called Women’s International Networks in Sustainability, funded in Germany and registered in Austria. She is fluent in Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. |
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Sangeeta Anand is known for her entrepreneurship and experience in the service industry spread across a range of sectors including airlines, communications and media. She is the Publisher of The Global Indian, New Zealand's first PDF e-zine for Indians in Australasia and is actively involved in its designing and production. Through The Global Indian, Sangeeta has supported many charity activities. She has been regularly writing on social issues in the magazine and is of the firm belief that community issues can be best understood by a greater representation of South Asians in mainstream media. Apart from the The Global Indian she's working as a Risk Analyst in New Zealand. Sangeeta is also a commercial artist with special focus on oil paintings |
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Rebecca Palmer is a reporter for The Dominion Post, focusing on immigration and ethnic affairs. Before training as a journalist, she was a teaching fellow in Chinese at the University of Otago, teaching basic Mandarin and Chinese film. Sadly, her Mandarin is now very rusty. She is keen to hear your story ideas and can be contacted on rebecca.palmer[at]dompost.co.nz |
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Sándor Lau was born in 1975 in South Bend, Indiana, USA, and grew up in Elizabeth, the pearl of Colorado's eastern plains... A full scholarship brought Sándor to the University of Oklahoma. He quickly decided to take full advantage of the university's study abroad programme. After spending half of his undergraduate education studying in Mexico, Spain, France, and China, he taught English in Taiwan where he amazingly survived the traffic and paraglided for the first time. In 2000, Sándor received a US Fulbright scholarship to study at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and attended film school there. Sándor continues to live in Auckland, making films and writing for audiences in New Zealand and around the world. |
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Verpal Singh heads The Sikh Centre, a not-for-profit organisation engaged in promoting greater interaction between Sikhs and the wider New Zealand community. He also runs a small publishing company specialising in niche areas. He is a writer, with a novel and a book of analytical essays in the pipeline.
Through the Sikh Centre, he has been involved in running three annual competitions in the field of Painting, Short Story Writing, and traditional Punjabi embroidery art of Phulkari. He is an active participant in the ongoing inter-faith dialogue amongst various faith communities of New Zealand.
Verpal Singh is a keen student of history, especially religious history. |
