Kyla Rayner

Advocate for Pacific Peoples and Chair

Kyla Rayner is the General Manager of Wellington Rape Crisis. She has worked in the survivor space across family and sexual violence for the past 15 years and holds two portfolios on the Tauiwi Caucus Paetakawaenga for TOAH-NNEST, these are the Support and Recovery Services for Survivors portfolio, as well as the Pasifika portfolio. Kyla is an active member of the Pacific Steering Group and is a strong and passionate advocate for Pacific-led community solutions for the prevention, response, and healing of sexual violence.

Stewart Eadie

Male Survivors Aotearoa  

Stewart holds the role of representing the 1 in 6 men impacted by sexual violence. Male Survivors Aotearoa supports a national network of Peer Support workers to support survivors and work in the area of prevention. Stewart is presently the CEO of DOVE Hawkes Bay and has a history of executive management. He has
a clinical background having previously worked with survivors in many different settings, and as result appreciating the complexity of life issues survivors often face.

Mojo Mathers

Advocate for Disabled People

Mojo Mathers holds the Advocate for Disabled People Portfolio on the Tauiwi Caucus. She is currently the Chief Executive of the Disabled Persons Assembly. Prior to this Mojo served as the first deaf Member of New Zealand’s Parliament from 2011 to 2017. She used her position as an MP to advocate for improved accessibility and access to political information for disabled people, for MoH funding for bilateral cochlear implants for children as well as raising awareness of the barriers disabled people face with accessing employment.

Jono Selu

Rainbow Portfolio

Ruth Liliana Tizon

Ethnic Portfolio

Ruth is a born Peruvian and is of Chilean, Angolan, Italian and German descent. In 2006 after eight years in the Middle East, Ruth and her family moved to New Zealand. Upon her arrival, she worked with pre-school children as a Montessori Porse Professional In-Home Educator. This work motivated her interest in child development. Ruth’s passion is children, youth and young adults’ well-being and she has a strong belief that this starts with prevention and education applying the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ruth also has a passion for supporting ethnic minority Migrants. She has supported the Auckland Latin American
Community by counselling and educating families about family violence prevention. In 2021, Ruth was appointed Justice of the Peace of New Zealand. Ruth joined the Tauiwi Caucus, Paetakawaenga TOAH-NNEST in August 2022 as the Ethnic Portfolio holder, after taking the position as the National Ethnically Diverse Advisory Group chairperson. Ruth’s favourite quote is: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” – John F. Kennedy

Debbie Tohill

Prevention Services Portfolio

Debbi is the Executive Director of Rape Prevention Education, an organisation which works in the prevention of sexual violence through its work in schools, alternative education, universities and communities in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her background is in mental health and addictions management. She is the Chair of Project Restore, which works in restorative justice for survivors of sexual violence. Debbi is passionate about ensuring people have access to good quality information and teachings about healthy relationships and consent.

Ann Kent

Support and Recovery Services Portfolio 

Ann qualified as a social worker in Western Australia in 1990 and completed her Master of Public Policy at the Australian National University in 1994 whilst working as a social worker in Canberra. Ann has worked in a variety of social work and policy roles in Australia and the United Kingdom, including health, defence, disability, and aged care before moving to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2006. For the last, almost, 16 years Ann has been manager of Abuse and Rape Crisis Support (ARCS) Manawatū. Ann is passionate about quality services being accessible to all affected by sexual violence and the need to work collaboratively to support each other to achieve this.

Ann was born and grew up in Noongar boodjar (Noongar Country) in the Southwest of Western Australia. She is the proud mum of two adult sons.

Kathryn McPhillips

Justice Issues Portfolio, Crisis/Early Intervention Services for Survivors Portfolio

Kathryn is the Executive Director at HELP, an Auckland agency serving survivors of sexual violence, their families, and friends. She instigated the Good Practice Guidelines for Mainstream Crisis Response project, back in 2012, and is passionate about both good practice and collaborative working relationships in the sector so that we do the best we can for survivors and to end sexual violence. Kathryn contributed several research papers to the Task Force for Action on Sexual Violence (2007-2009) and has been part of the development of good practice guidelines for restorative justice with sexual violence. Kathryn is one of the founding members of Te Ōhaakii ā Hine – National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together and an executive committee member of the Tauiwi Caucus. She is also a founding and executive committee member of Project Restore. She is particularly passionate about what we can achieve if we pay more attention to the needs of children and young people impacted by sexual violence.

Maggy Tai Rākena

Advocate for Children for Children and Young People

Maggy’s early work life was spent in Early Childhood Education including Creche, Day Care and Te Kōhanga Reo. Her lifelong passion has been supporting Children and Young People and their whānau to thrive. For 29 years she has been the Manager of START, an NGO Specialist service in Ōtautahi for children, youth and adults who have experienced sexual violence. Maggy has been involved in various aspects of TOAH-NNEST’s work for many years and holds the Tauiwi Caucus’ Advocate for Children and Young People Portfolio, as well as the Tauiwi Chair. Maggy has also been involved in a raft of other collective efforts both locally and nationally, numerous advisories and feels strongly committed to the value of working together for the greater good. She considers her mahi a privilege and loves the learning she has experienced en route. She is māmā to two adult children.

Jo Bader

Crisis Services Portfolio

Jo Bader is a registered social worker with 20+ years’ experience in a variety of social work roles including working alongside children and their parents, delivering parenting education to adolescent parents, working with young people, being on an NGO and Government collaborative operations team as part of the Canterbury earthquake recovery, and conducting parenting assessments. For the last nine years Jo has been working in the sexual violence sector providing support to parents whose children and young people have experienced sexual harm, providing consults to public and professionals and
conducting community education. Additionally, over the last three years, Jo has been part of a collective piece of work between the NGO and Government sectors working with a closed intentional community supporting those who have experienced sexual violence within their community. Jo is currently the Sexual Violence
Team Manager at Aviva in Otautahi, where we provide 24/7 crisis support and court support. Jo is the crisis services portfolio holder on the Tauiwi
Caucus of TOAH-NNEST. Jo is passionate about educating the public in sexual violence awareness. Jo is a mum to four beautiful daughters and a nana to two grandsons (so far).

Rasela Luapo | Vaisala, Gagaifolevao

Pasifika Lead

Rasela is of Samoan descent and is based in Wellington.  Rasela was born and raised in Porirua where she lives with her husband and their three children.  Rasela is a Coordinator for the National Family Violence / Sexual Violence Pacific Practitioner’s Forum.

Cecilia Bessie Vakameilalo-Kioa | Tongatapu, Vava’u, Ha’apai, Upolu

Pasifika Coordinator 

Cecilia is of Tongan and Samoan descent and is based in Auckland.  Cecilia currently serves the kaupapa of Leadership NZ as a group facilitator and programme connector, for The Mana Moana Experience (Community Service Leadership Programme), Tū Mau Mana Moana (Public Service Leadership programme) and the NZ Leadership Programme; and is now a Coordinator for the National Family Violence / Sexual Violence Pacific Practitioner’s Forum.

Georgina Dajevic

Relationship & Project Coordinator