Meet our Board

As an independent Charitable Trust, Stepping Stone Trust (SST) is governed by a Board, which serves in the context of a 25-year history of dedicated and faithful service. The Board’s focus is on governing the organisation to ensure the business of the Trust is well run, financially viable, and that our work remains connected to the reason the Trust was originally formed.

To view the Calendar Year 2020 Annual Report please click here.

Steve

Steve Withington - a physician, works in Ashburton Hospital and for the University of Otago doing rural health research and training post-graduate Doctors. He chairs the board of elders at South West Baptist Church, and has worked abroad in global health and development leadership for over 10 years, with extensive experience of grant applications and management.

Steve Withington

Chairperson
David

David is a Commissioner working alongside the Ōtautahi - Christchurch City Council. He is a board member on several national regulators, the Southern Health Kura, and several community-based NGOs and trusts. David has a passion for special character education and has been a leader at both St Thomas of Canterbury College (Ōtautahi) and St John's College (Heretaunga). He has chaired the Boards of Haeata Community Campus and Te Whānau o Ōtūmatua - Halswell Residential School (for akonga with mild intellectual disabilities), as well as working for the Office of Parliamentary Ombudsman and as Legal Counsel. Sustaining good mental health is a constant for David and he has clear insight into the daily struggles and challenges of others navigating life.

David Ivory

Grant Rae cropped

Chartered Accountant, has been in public practice and served on Church and School Boards in a financial capacity and in organisations within the wider community; brings 35 years of financial knowledge and experience to Stepping Stones. He is married to Kaye; with three adult children and two grandchildren.

Grant Rae

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Rachael Green - is a Registered Social Worker and works as a Health Improvement Practitioner in Primary Mental Health for Pegasus Health. She chairs another board for Cross over trust that focusses on Community Development in local primary schools and has worked in a variety of roles primarily in the community mental health space over the last 20 years with the majority of those at Stepping Stone Trust.

Rachael Green

Geoff Siave

Geoff is Samoan and among other things spent three years as Principal of a school in Samoa. After 16 years as Principal of Shirley Intermediate School, Geoff has more recently been a facilitator with Tautai o le Moana, a professional learning and development pathway ‘by Pasifika principals, for principals of Pasifika learners' focused on changing educational outcomes for Pasifika/Pacific students. The vision is to strengthen leadership capabilities and improve outcomes for Pacific learners and contribute to linguistically and culturally sustainable practices and processes across Aotearoa NZ. Geoff is the Pasifika cultural advisor to Stepping Stone Trust and Tupuranga.

Geoff Siave

Matthew Tennant

Matthew is a psychiatrist providing community mental health care at Te Whatu Ora, Canterbury. He is an educational supervisor for newly graduated doctors on behalf of the New Zealand Medical Council, and he is a senior lecturer at the department of psychological medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch. Matthew has an interest in the treatment of mood disorders, recovery in chronic mental illness, medical education, and psychiatric ethics.

Matthew Tennant