Mike Gould (Chairperson)

Mike had the privilege of being raised in small-town New Zealand (Ohakune) in the 1940s and 50s prior to gaining a Massey degree in agricultural science in the early 1960s.  He learned about farmers and their ways while working for eight years as a MAF Farm Advisory Officer on the South Island's West Coast which was a good introduction to his next job as Agricultural Attache, New Zealand House, London.  Following his return to New Zealand in the mid 1970s, Mike and his family took up residence in Lower Hutt while he built a career in MAF's Head Office, the last six years being Assistant Director General during the challenging last period of the Muldoon government and the early years of the Lange administration.  In 1987 Mike and his family shifted to Christchurch, where he worked in general management in the meat industry for a short period before buying a commercial glasshouse property on the edge of the Port Hills. Mike returned to Wellington in 1990 to take up a general management position in Tradenz for eight years and since that time he has managed a number of national projects working out of his home office on a lifestyle farmlet in Plimmerton.

During his career in both the public and private sectors, Mike has travelled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.  He was an 'early adopter' of computer technology and is a keen proponent of broadband internet technology for maintaining his contacts and keeping abreast of international affairs.

Jennifer Coote MA

Jennifer has been a "futures scanner" for over 20 years and was on the Board previously from 1992 to 2000.  She is the author of the "Futurewatch" section in Future Times and co-author of Futures Kit: A Manual for Trainers and Facilitators.  Jennifer has helped facilitate futures workshops and presented papers on future scanning at international conferences.

Her paid working career featured post- primary teaching and professional librarianship, followed by marriage and the raising of two now adult daughters.

For most of her working life Jennifer has been a "professional volunteer”, properly trained but unpaid, firstly as an interpersonal relationships trainer and then as a futures scanner. She as also "worked" as a community educator/activist in social justice issues such as human rights, peace/disarmament, and international development.

Jennifer is a member of the World Futures Studies Federation 

Yvonne Curtis MSc (Hons)

Yvonne has been active in chemistry tertiary education for over 30 years and involved with the New Zealand Futures Trust since 1982, as a researcher, a workshop facilitator, a writer for and editor of Future Times, and at various times has been on the executive and the Board. 

Yvonne is a member of the Federation of Graduate Women, an elder of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, and a member of the New Zealand Sea of Faith Network and has been involved in leadership roles in these organizations. 

As Yvonne’s three daughters were growing up she was actively involved as a parent in the school system in Parents Associations, as a parent helper in the library, school office and teaching assistant.  Yvonne was also on the Board of Scots College (an independent Presbyterian school for boys in Wellington) for eight years.

Dr. John Hinchcliff, MA (Hons.), Ph.D, ONZM

John has been Director of Auckland Technical Institute (ATI), Director of Auckland Institute of Technology (AIT) and Vice-Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology (AUT) as this Auckland Institution changed form over the last 19 years.  He taught philosophy, especially ethics at universities in Australia, USA and New Zealand.  He was Chaplain at the University of Auckland and Head of Department of Humanities at RMIT in Australia.

He has published articles and books on ethics, sport, philosophy, religion, the nuclear arms race and education.  Futures Studies has been an interest for many years being an early contributor to meetings of the Commission for the Future in the 1970s.  John organised a major conference on Futures in Auckland and won the award for the best paper presented at the World Futures Studies Conference in Helsinki.

Philip McCabe

Philip, a native of Wellington, graduated in law from Victoria University of Wellington.  He was awarded diplomas in Comparative Law after postgraduate studies in France and the Netherlands.

In 1975 he became a partner in the patent attorney firm West-Walker McCabe.  Shortly after that he formed a separate general legal practice and in 1995 he merged the two firms into McCabe and Company, Lawyers and Patent Attorneys.

Philip was elected President of the New Zealand Institute of Patent Attorneys in 1985 and 1986. He was a council member of the Wellington District Law Society for nine years up to 2002 and for two years a member of the Council of the New Zealand Law Society.  He is a member of LawAsia, Asian Patent Attorneys Association, Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia, Federation des Conseils en Propriete Industrielle, AIPPI, IBA, the International Trade Mark Association and a Past President of the VUW Alumni Association.

Gareth Moore-Jones

Gareth is Director of Civic Solutions Ltd – a recreation and community planning consultancy. He is also Founding Director of Global Leisure Group Ltd, an Australasian based consortium of leisure, open-space and sport planners.
Gareth’s career contributes significantly to his wealth of expertise across a wide range of leisure environments and enables Gareth to fully understand ‘work at the coal-face’ – positions including local government recreation planning, community events coordinator, executive director of New Zealand Recreation Association ( NZRA), and now as a leisure planning and management consultant.
Gareth is involved in community futures planning, working on a values-based planning model to ensure that developments and initiatives are not only sustainable and cost-effective but also, importantly, fair and equitable across the diversity of community members.

Ian Shearer

Ian is currently Programme Coordinator for the ICLEI Communities for Climate Protection programme.  This programme provides capacity building resources to local government staff to help implement their council’s climate change education and mitigation programmes.  ICLEI is an international NGO working to support local government implementing environmental initiatives in more than 50 countries.

For the last 10 years Ian has been a consultant  developing, promoting and providing renewable energy and energy efficiency services. He has more than 30 years experience in the design and construction of industrial energy and power systems, generation and distribution of electricity (ECNZ), energy efficiency programmes and renewable energy projects. He has a strong interest in the promotion and use of renewable energy services and energy efficient technologies, particularly the use of wind energy for electricity generation and solar energy for space and water heating of residential, commercial and institutional buildings.

Ian has been Project Manager for insulation upgrades in low-income housing in Wellington, a Board member of the Sustainable Electricity Association (SEANZ) (formally the Photovoltaic Association), supporting the development of the small distributed  electricity industry in NZ (solar, wind, micro-hydro).  He was Office Manager, and an executive member of the Sustainable Energy Forum for many years.

Ian also has a strong interest in energy and engineering education and training issues and he chairs the Engineering Associates Registration Board and WELTEC advisory panels. He was made a Fellow of IPENZ for services to the sustainable energy industries.

Ian is a long-time member of the NZFT and most recently was a member of the Energy Workgroup.  Ian was active in futures visioning as a resident of Wellington city involved in the “Our City, Our Future” process, and a more recent pilot planning exercise in the Wadestown area.  Having an interest in sustainability, and sustainable energy in particular, has required a futures vision – and a lot of patience – while trying to move society toward a more sustainable energy future.

Livia Hollins (co-opted)

Livia Hollins is a policy adviser with the Ministry of Research Science and Technology. She has studied ecology and economics at Canterbury University, worked at the Ministry for the Environment in policy development, and was recently seconded to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s office. 

Livia has been involved with futures thinking through the State Services Commission’s Futures Thinking Forum. She has also worked with Landcare Research to help facilitate a future scenarios workshop for the Ministry for the Environment, and with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment to develop possible health and energy scenarios.

Her voluntary activities include various youth projects such as contributing to establishing ‘Intersect’ www.intersect.org.nz and ‘The Long Song’ www.thelongsong.com.

Livia is a new member of New Zealand Futures Trust and is interested in contributing to and enabling a sustainable future.