Our board

Pacific Inc, trading as Le Va, is an organisation with charitable status governed by a board of trustees from culturally diverse backgrounds with extensive experience across the youth, health and social sectors.

Julie Nelson

Co-chair

Chair Te Pou board
Joint chief executive, Wise Group
Chief executive, Link People

Julie has an extensive background in the development of community based solutions.

Julie’s experience at a governance level has seen her hold multiple appointments as a director or chair across both the public and private sector. In addition she has worked on numerous national committees.

Dr Francis Agnew

Co-chair

Consultant psychiatrist/service clinical director, Pacific Islands Mental Health and Alcohol & Drug Services, Waitemata and Auckland DHBs

Francis is a New Zealand-born Cook Islander, who grew up in Porirua, near Wellington. He attended Victoria University and graduated with an MSc (Hons) majoring in zoology. He spent six years living in the UK and Africa before returning to New Zealand to study medicine, and has worked in the mental health sector for more than 20 years as a clinician.

Francis wants to convey both clinical and Pacific Islands perspectives to the deliberations of the Pacific Inc board.

Dr Mary English

General Practitioner
Founding member, Pasifika Medical Association

Dr Mary English is a general practitioner who lives in Wellington, where she works in and manages her own practice. She is of Samoan descent.

Mary was a founding member of the Pasifika Medical Association and has previously run school clinics in a Porirua secondary school as well as providing mentoring for young Pacific Island students.

Mary is a current member of the Wellington Accident and Urgent Medical Centre and a past board member of the National Society on Alcohol and Drug Dependence.

Caren Rangi

Meet Caren

Josiah Tualamali'i

Meet Josiah

Shelley Campbell

Meet Shelley

Caren Rangi

Arts Council of New Zealand Deputy Chair
Pacific Homecare Services Trustee
Radio New Zealand Governor
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Board member
Pacific Co-operation Broadcasting Ltd DirectorBroadcasting Commission board member

Caren is a proud Cook Islands Maori, whose family hail from the islands of Rakahanga, Manihiki, Rarotonga and Aitutaki. Caren is an experienced governance practitioner, with a governance career that spans 18 years on boards in the broadcasting, health, arts and education sectors. She is a qualified chartered accountant and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. Her current NZ Board roles are listed above, and she is also a Director of the Cook Islands Investment Corporation in Rarotonga. In addition to her Board roles, Caren is an Associate of the Centre for Social Impact.

Caren’s service to governance and leadership was recognised with the awarding of a 2016 New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award, and the 2018 Linden Estate Hawke’s Bay Business Leader of the Year. In 2018 she was conferred with an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to governance and the Pacific community.

Caren is passionate about leadership development, particularly in our Pacific communities. She has facilitated the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs’ Pacific Senior Managers Leadership Development Programme and contributed to Le Va’s Le Tautua Emerging Leaders and Alumni programmes. She has also undertaken the Global Women Breakthrough Leaders Programme to further develop her own leadership and is an alumni of the inaugural Emerging Pacific Leaders Dialogue.

Josiah Tualamali’i

Chair, Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Charitable Trust (PYLAT)
Member, Ministry of Youth Development Youth Advisory Group

Josiah is a New Zealand born Samoan who grew up in Christchurch and Dunedin. At 14 he was the Prime Minister in the Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation Parliamentary Simulation (2010). Through this experience he learned how important it is for young people to be able to access mentoring, and that being able to contribute to decision-making at all levels is an important way to support development, success and the potential to thrive.

A year into his leadership journey, the Canterbury Earthquakes struck, and PYLAT worked with other young people to support the recovery and rebuild. PYLAT has and continues to advocate for Pasifika young people to participate in and be supported to engage in our democracy as well as working to alleviate barriers to social inclusion. In 2013 Josiah took on the role of Chairperson. Since then PYLAT has become a Charitable Trust having a more cemented presence in Christchurch and is growing to have national influence.

Josiah sits on a number of boards to support Pasifika youth engagement and youth participation but also for young people more widely. He also studies Political Science and History at the University of Canterbury.

Shelley Campbell

Chief executive officer, Waikato Bay of Plenty Cancer Society
Te Pou board member

Shelley Campbell is currently the CEO of Waikato Bay of Plenty Cancer Society and is responsible for implementing its leadership development and environmental programmes throughout the country. Prior to taking up her role in 2010, Shelley was overseeing the Better Sooner More Convenient health business cases for the Minister of Health’s reforms in Auckland. She is a former chief executive of Waikato Primary Health that provided health services to 315,000 people across the central North Island.

Shelley is a member of Cancer Council NZ and chaired the Minister’s National Bowel Cancer Screening Taskforce. She was a member of the New Zealand delegation to the World Health Assembly in 2008 and has examined health systems in Canada and the UK.

In 2007 Shelley was awarded a Sir Peter Blake emerging leader award and was the first person of Maori descent to ever win the award.