1.3 trustees and their role
MAX PARKIN - Chair
Max brings vast experience and a life-long involvement with the dairy industry. A former CEO of Southland Dairy Cooperative and General Manager of Kiwi Dairy Products. Max was also the Group General Manager Manufacturing and Milk Supply for Fonterra. With numerous directorships including Hubbard Foods, Taura Ingredients Ltd, Combined Technologies, and New Image Group, Max was appointed a Distinguished Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science in 2010.
VERN WHITEHEAD - Founder
Vern has lived on Waiheke for almost 30 years and is the publisher / director of Auto Media Group which produces the authoritative electric vehicle magazine/website EVs and Beyond, for New Zealand and Australia. Vern is a former long-term president and life member of the Waiheke Island Rugby Club and and for 10 years raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Waiheke Homecare Hospice as a leader of the annual Hospice Garden Party team.
Electric Island Waiheke Trust is legally registered as a charitable organisation. It includes the following trustees as members of the board which provides governance and policy for the Action (Management) Group.
DARLEEN TANA
Director of Ecycles NZ Ltd is a creative and entrepreneurial business professional who helps companies realise their power through the talents of their people. Experienced working in large organisations (15,000+) with lead responsibility for diverse domains spanning talent management and strategic change programs. Darleen is particularly skilled at getting buy-in across all stakeholder groups and driving work through to results.
ERIC PILLING
Eric returned to NZ two years ago after nearly 20 years as a global executive based in Switzerland, UK, Dubai, & Singapore. He has led multiple global mergers, acquisitions and integrations, and transformational change programs. His focus as a trustee will be all about relevance and connecting with people to share our vision.
DOUG WILSON
Doug is retired and living with his wife Cushla on the Island having had a property here since 1999. With a degrees in Maths and Computer Science, he spent most of his career in the technology sector as the CEO and senior executive of medium to large organisations including Wang, Gen-i, Gateway , Microsoft and EDS. He finished his career at the New Zealand Automobile Association (NZAA) where he was responsible for their innovative technology solutions.
He is an enthusiastic owner of a Leaf and was a main mover to convince the Waiheke Golf Club to purchase an electric mower.
DON SHERIDAN
Don and his wife Debbie have lived on Waiheke Island for ~25 years and they consider this is paradise! He is a retired Associate Professor of Information Systems at the University of Auckland Business School. He was the co-developer of the world's first learning management system, CECIL. Cecil supported >500K learners at the University of Auckland for 21 years. Don has a great interest in innovation of all sorts + the happy owner of a MiEV van.
