Dr. Juliet Rumball-Smith - Chair of Wāhine Connect Trust Board

Juliet is a public health physician and epidemiologist. Her medical and research career has allowed her stints in multiple countries, exploring equity, data-driven insights into health quality, and international health policy.

Juliet founded Wāhine Connect in mid-2017, and is thrilled to see it has helped so many women already. Juliet currently lives with her family in Wellington, and spends her free time refereeing the children and walking her poorly-behaved dogs.

Sarah Dalton - Wāhine Connect Trustee

Sarah knows what burnout, bullying, and employment disputes really look like, and the impact they have on those going through them. She is Executive Director at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – working as an advocate for senior doctors. She helped establish the ASMS women’s network, and the NZ women in medicine Facebook group. 

Sarah is an educator-extraordinaire, with degrees in literature and NZ History, and worked as a history researcher before qualifying as a secondary teacher. After nearly fifteen years’ teaching, she left the role of Assistant Principal at Aotea College, in Porirua, to work at PPTA – the secondary teachers’ union – where she held policy and industrial roles. 

Sarah lives in Wellington, where she works on her current hobbies - exploring the world of graphic texts, and learning to skateboard. 

Koren Cryer - Wāhine Connect Trustee

Empowering women to thrive and succeed is a passion of Koren’s. She has been involved in the healthcare industry for over 18 years, and has developed a genuine love for the field. As a working mum of two, she understands the unique challenges we face and firmly believes that fostering a supportive network of like-minded peers and witnessing the success of others is instrumental in achieving personal and professional growth.

In her current role as the VP of Marketing at Orion Health, she holds the responsibility for shaping global strategy, brand development, communications, and content creation. She values the power of collaboration and uplifting others, and is driven by a deep-rooted commitment to making a positive impact not only within her organisation but also in the broader community. Outside of work, she spends most of her time wrangling my boys, squeezing in exercise, boating, and reading where possible! 

Joanna Burrell - Wāhine Connect Trustee

Jo is wāhine Māori (Ngati Pahauwera, Ngati Kahungunu) and trained as a Medical Radiation Technologist.  As a professional herself and māmā to three adult daughters, she has first-hand knowledge of the hurdles and barriers that women in the workforce face, particularly our Māori kaimahi, which has allowed her to cultivate a genuine aroha for empowering and uplifting wāhine.

Jo has a well-developed professional kete, including operational, strategic, governance and senior leadership experience across both private and public sectors.

While Jo’s whakapapa is to Ahuriri, she currently resides in Poneke. She enjoys the outdoors, travelling, hanging out with friends and whānau and when the capital’s weather allows, fishing with her husband Glen.

Nicola Hollyer - Treasurer of Wāhine Connect Trust Board

Nic has had a hugely varied career. She initially trained in Physiotherapy and Sports Medicine, and practiced as a physio in NZ and the UK for a decade. However, she then took a left turn into business, including owning and operating a shoe store in Christchurch, and now the New World in Motueka. Nic is all about respect and trust in the workplace, and with responsibility for 97 staff, she truely understands the importance of working as a team.

Outside of work, Nic enjoys making the most of her time with her family and two young boys.

Vanessa Gascoigne - Wāhine Connect Trustee

Vanessa is Country Manager for Merck Sharp and Dohme in New Zealand, with a background as a Pharmacist. She is experienced in governance, a member of the NZ Institute of Directors, a board member of Medicines NZ and previously represented the NZ medical industry on the Association of NZ Advertisers. 

Equitable health outcomes for all New Zealanders is a key passion of Vanessa’s and she is committed to helping drive this through better access to medicines in priority populations.

Outside of work, Vanessa is a mother of 3 busy school kids. She enjoys travelling with her family, keeping active and eating good food.

Charlotte Foley - Wāhine Connect Trustee

Charlotte spent her early years in the UK and France before arriving in Aotearoa to attend boarding school. She trained as a Medical Laboratory Scientist before moving into Quality and Risk, where she discovered her passion for healthcare improvement. She currently works from her Rotorua home as Senior Quality Improvement Advisor. She has volunteered with the Royal NZ Foundation for the Blind, Parents Centre and roles within her son's school PTA and BoT. Charlotte was one of the first mentors to sign up with Wāhine Connect’s pilot program, seeing a real need for such support and believes its needed now more than ever.

On the weekends she can be found running the dog or biking the trails of the Whakarewarewa Forest, and in summer paddleboarding on the local lakes.

Wāhine o Aotearoa

This is an award-winning team! The mentors of Wāhine Connect took out the Community Team Award at the 2020 Minister of Health Volunteer Awards.

Thanks to those who contributed to the set-up of Wāhine Connect Charitable Trust, and continue to support our mahi across the motu.

We invite you to join us - if you would like to contribute your time or jump onboard as a sponsor, we’d love to chat! Get in touch with us.