The birth of CIDANZ came from a place of determination to see our Cook Islands people becoming self-sustaining, financially free, culturally richer, and thriving in New Zealand. Although the vision and purpose for this place has remained the same, the people leading the great work we are doing has not.
The direction of our organisation has changed greatly, forcing us to reasses whether we had the skills or not to achieve our vision. This had led to us needing to recruit the skills of those we knew would enable our organisation to hit the ground running… at a faster pace. Today we officially welcomed on board four new staff members under the leadership of Chief Executive Rouruina Emil’e-Brown – Chris Arere (Manger of Youth Development), Johanna Chetwynd (Financial Controller), Dr. Gillian Stewart (Director of Research, Impact and Evaluation), and Elizabeth Fa’alili (Business Support Manager).
Chris Arere has been developing a youth programme that will herald a new youth leadership program. The program is culturally enriched with life and leadership skills for our young people. Johanna Chetwynd currently managers her own accountancy business. Believing in vision and direction of CIDANZ, Johanna brings a life-time of skills and wisdom to our organisation. Dr. Gillian Stewart had contracted with CIDANZ previously, evaluating our progress through the years, puling together our story, and the social impact we’ve had over the years. She has and will always be recognised as an invaluable asset to the organisation. Elizabeth Fa’alili comes to us from the Mental Health Foundation NZ. Our newest staff member, we’re excited to have her as part of our team, and look forward to witnessing the great work she’ll surely do while with us.
Thank you for being a part of this wave of change.