Team at Volunteering NZ

Michelle Kitney is the Kaihautū Chief Executive of Volunteering New Zealand, where she has been part of the senior leadership team since 2018. Michelle is passionate about working collaboratively and with impact in the for-purpose sector.

Throughout her career she has worked in a range of sectors including social enterprise, within the public sector and the publishing industry. She has a range of experience including regulatory and compliance, mar-coms and social marketing, engagement, and research. She has also volunteered extensively in community organisations that provide services and support to whānau and children, and is currently the Chair of Bellyful New Zealand.

Margaret McLachlan joined Volunteering New Zealand as Communications Manager in May 2021.

She has over 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications with local and central government and not-for-profit organisations, most recently with Activity and Nutrition Aotearoa and Zealandia ecosanctuary. She’s a volunteer matchmaker with the Community Comms Collective.

Margaret is passionate about using her communication skills to support volunteering and further the goals of Volunteering New Zealand.

Bryony started out as a volunteer policy analyst with Volunteering New Zealand, and is now our Research and Policy Co-ordinator. Bryony graduated with a degree in social policy and sociology at Victoria University, she has a real passion for research and analysis, with a particular interest in ensuring inclusivity and social equity are a key part of Volunteering New Zealands NZ’s. Bryony is in charge of dissecting a variety of policies and reports; creating comprehensive overviews and providing critique of where VNZ can strengthen their course of action.

Heidi has a real passion for volunteering. She brings a wealth of knowledge of volunteer management, including the deployment of national IT platforms to support volunteer activity. With solid experience in national volunteer management, Heidi brings expertise to her project based work at Volunteering New Zealand. In her free time, you’ll find Heidi…volunteering! Her current roles are with the SPCA and the IHC.

Johann is Director of Research at Volunteering New Zealand, leading the organisation’s research agenda. Johann brings expertise in humanities and social science research, and translational research that links academia with policy. Johann has over a decade of experience in the community/voluntary sector and has been the principal researcher and author of several flagship VNZ publications, including the industry-leading State of Volunteering reports and the MBIE-funded Recent Migrant Volunteering Strategy. 

Johann is currently a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Oxford, where he is also a Rhodes Scholar and doctoral candidate pursuing a DPhil/PhD in political philosophy. He holds a BA (Philosophy and Politics) and BHSc (Population Health) from the University of Auckland, and an MPhil (Political Theory) with Distinction from the University of Oxford.

Kenzo has more than 10 years experience in business and financial support and accounting processing. She gained a degree with double majors in: Accounting and Finance in 2006. Kenzo’s first job was as a Business support officer at Quotable Value then various roles with Vehicle Testing New Zealand, Public Trust, other private companies as an account officer, plus work for non-profits. Kenzo joined Volunteering New Zealand in 2019 and looks after VNZ’s accounting and finance.

Taylor is the web developer for VNZ working on the VNZ website, InvolveMe, Student Volunteer Week, National Volunteer Week, the annual VNZ conference and many more projects. Taylor is a professional freelancer with a degree in Computer Science. Taylor’s website: www.taylorhamling.com