New Board Directors announced

New Board Directors announced

The Blind Foundation congratulates its new Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) Board Directors, after the election announcement at its Annual General Meeting on 8 November.

Candidates Keith Appleton, Nicola Owen and Julie Bartlett were voted into the General Seats from 23 people who sought election.
Nicola Owen was elected with 162 votes.
Julie Bartlett was elected with 156 votes.
Keith Appleton was re-elected with 197 votes.
Biographies:

Keith Appleton

Keith was first elected in November 2010. He is an East Auckland based Chartered Accountant in Public Practice and has a keen interest in education, having held executive positions on two schools' Board of Trustees. Keith is an advisor to the New Zealand Association of Private Education Providers and the Quality Commission. He holds several company directorships. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors. Keith's adult daughter has had low vision since birth.

Nicola Owen

Nicola has demonstrated her commitment to engaging in a principled way with disabled people during the past six years, through working at Auckland Disability Law, the Human Rights Commission and as an audio describer. During this time, she led workshops on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and written policy submissions to central and local government and the Auckland Shadow report on UNCRPD.
She has close links with the blind community, professionally and personally. She is also an associate member of Blind Citizens New Zealand.

Julie Bartlett

Julie has worked for over 20 charitable organisations including Alzheimers Foundation, Autism NZ, Hospice and Multiple Sclerosis Society in a variety of roles ranging from volunteer to Fundraising Manager. In 2002, Julie and her husband, Roy, started StarJam a charity dedicated to empowering young people with disabilities through performance. As CEO she led the organisation for eleven years.
Julie was named NEXT Woman of the Year 2012 and appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2013.

Outgoing Directors

This year’s two retiring Directors are Neville Bennett, who has been a Board member since 2003, and David Heather, who joined the Board for a second time in 2012.

Blind Foundation governance

Since 2002, the Blind Foundation has been directly governed by its members, who elect the RNZFB Board of Directors. The Board of Directors focuses on strategic issues such as purpose and direction. Directors serve for a term of three years.

The RNZFB Board of Directors are:
Rick Hoskin, Chair
Keith Appleton
Julie Bartlett
Peter Hoskin
Chung-Pin Lin
Nicola Owen
Judith Small
Paul Sullivan
Carolyn Weston

ENDS

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