Our team | Sustainable Coastlines

Full-time team members

josh_borthwick_smaller

Josh Borthwick
CEO

Fair-weather sailor, novice long-boarder, hiker and sustainability enthusiast, Josh has been on the water and around the water all his life. From sailing around the Bay of Islands through his childhood to tramping around rivers and streams as an adult. Josh brings 25 years of leadership and commercial experience to help the SC team deliver impact for the ocean we all love.

ben

Ben Knight
Community Engagement Director

An ocean lover with a background in diving, communication and business, Ben is passionate about enabling local communities to be involved in the protection and management of our wonderful and unique coastal, marine and freshwater environments.

kate_wairere_falls

Kate Rooney
Chief Operating Officer

Kate has wide-ranging experience in business services, facilities, and IT and leads Sustainable Coastlines in supporting critical delivery functions across our team. Kate loves sea kayaking, getting out for short hikes with friends and family, and walking along empty beaches.

Shawn Elise

Shawn Elise Tierney
Product Manager

An enthusiastic connector, Shawn Elise developed a passion for waste reduction working in events and realising the opportunity for people to come together to find solutions to limit human impact on the environment. She loves yoga, disc golf, tramping, gardening and funky house dance parties.

Helen Adams-Blackburn
Communications Manager

Helen’s go-to places to recharge are the ocean and the bush. She’s keen to put her skills in writing, creative problem solving and her background in environmental ethics to good use in helping to protect the environment. Helen loves swimming, tramping, reading, music, and hanging out with her cat.

Dan Downing

Dan Downing
Corporate Events Manager

Enthusiastic connector and smile-producer; Dan knows how to get people on board with the important work of looking after our ocean. With a background in sustainability and business, Dan left a corporate job to follow his passion for nature and support others to do the same. In his spare time, you’ll find Dan in the shed building a kubb set or a liquor cabinet out of an old wine barrel. He’s also SC’s honorary games master!

Briar Inwood

Briar Inwood
Engagement Facilitator
Ōtautahi Christchurch

Lover and protector of the big blue, Briar spent her childhood on the beaches in Akaroa and Kaikōura, exploring the rockpools. She has been passionate about learning and protecting the environment from a young age, which led her to study Sustainability at Ara Institute. You can find her working with Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari or off exploring in the mountains in her spare time.

Te Hira Mayall-Nahi

Te Hira Mayall-Nahi
Engagement Facilitator
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

Hailing from the Kaipara and Hokianga harbours, Te Hira is ready to put in the work to protect the moana. Te Hira’s enthusiasm feeds into her curiosity, keeping her open to learning new things every day, and she will never turn down an opportunity to swim in the moana.

Janey Smith

Janey Smith
Social Media Coordinator

Janey has always been passionate about nature and sustainability and aspires for a career in a conservation-related capacity. She recently completed her BSc in Zoology and spends her free time with friends and family; or reading, writing and working on personal art projects. Janey also loves spending time in nature, especially at beaches and on forest walks.

1Lana Jackson

Lana Jackson
Facilities Manager

Lana brings her expertise in event management, admin, and purchasing to the important work of looking after The Flagship and our other facilities. Growing up, Lana was never too far from the ocean, and her favourite beach is Waihi. Lana loves learning dance, and any exercise where she can be outside and enjoying nature, such as tramping and trail running.

image2

Teresina Robredo
International Volunteer Manager

Teresina loves challenges, cold swims and good coffee. Her background is in environmental engineering, and she has experience in waste minimization, community engagement, environmental education, and citizen science. She is passionate about permaculture, equity, and the interconnection between the elements, the awa, and the moana. Teresina likes to step back to see things from a holistically approach before making changes and taking decisions.

Part-time team members

Paice's iphone 132

Paice Vaughan
Event Assistant

Raised out at the wild beaches of West Auckland, Paice grew up with sand between his toes. A deep thinker and avid presenter, Paice is always asking questions about how our natural world works and he loves sparking that same curiosity in others.

Bronwyn Graham 2

Bronwyn Graham
Engagement Facilitator
Murihiku Southland

With a background in resource management coastal planning, and environmental education, Bronwyn has joined us part time to coordinate the Litter Intelligence programme in Southland. Bronwyn’s happy place is the outdoors and loves tramping, camping and exploring anywhere new. She’s passionate about connecting people with their environment and taking a holistic approach, as everything is connected. She believes that taking action to look after and improve our environment is key.

Board of Trustees

Edwina Merito copy

Edwina Merito
Chair

Edwina is a specialist in Māori development, strategy, planning and relationship management. Her extensive experience across the public sector and with iwi and Māori organisations and communities enables her to connect te ao Māori to many environments. Edwina envisions a New Zealand where an inclusive, equitable and sustainable future is possible for everyone. Her specialty is building trust and confidence in people and organisations to rise to the challenge.

Grant Biggar

Grant Biggar
Vice Chair

Having spent several decades building investment and fin-tech businesses around the world, Grant is now based in New Zealand and is focused on improving New Zealand for future generations while also remaining active in early stage private company investing. Grant has a passion for watersports and the coastline and currently serves as chair of the finance, audit and remuneration committee.

Sam Judd

Sam Judd
Trustee

Sustainable Coastlines co-founder Sam helped to grow the charity into a globally recognised movement. He is also co-founder of Te Mahere Whakauka, and is passionate about capacity development work and finding pathways to rehabilitate offenders. He has served on several non-profit boards, and has worked with the UN to help spread effective solutions to marine litter. He remains passionate about the ocean and enjoys surfing, spearfishing, and swimming with his daughter, Juliette.

Fei Bian Goh

Fei Bian Goh
Trustee

Fei Bian has 15+ years of experience in research, analytics, data and product leadership. He is currently a member of Stuff’s executive leadership team, where his role is to scan current and future horizons to identify strategic opportunities and threats as they relate to the business. In his previous roles, Fei Bian designed and implemented the product strategy to drive Stuff.co.nz’s growth to become NZ’s most visited news website, established Stuff’s data analytics, data advertising and product management functions, and has been integral in the digital transformation of the business.

Natasha Whiting (+ husband Rick) copy

Natasha Whiting
Trustee

Natasha believes in getting behind the important work of restoring Aotearoa’s coastlines. She brings over 25 years of experience across many sectors, with a focus on creating high-performing, supportive, and flourishing cultures at organisations from Auckland Transport, to DB Breweries, NZ Post and Spark. Her happy place is Matapouri Bay on the Tutukaka Coast.