Board Members

Athletics New Zealand is overseen and controlled by a range of governance structures at a national level, by an elected volunteer board.

Athletics New Zealand Board

The Board consists of seven members (4 elected and 3 appointed) and ex-officio the President of Athletics New Zealand and any New Zealand resident who is a member of the IAAF Council. The board members represent the interests of Athletics New Zealand Inc. and are entrusted to ensure Athletics New Zealand Inc. is soundly managed.

Each member is elected for a three-year term. (Refer Governance section of the Athletics NZ Constitution for further details).

The current Board of Athletics New Zealand

Cameron Taylor – Chair

Cameron was elected to the Board in August 2012. He is passionate about athletics, participating since his early school days and now as the father of two young daughters who are members of their local athletics club.

He is a member of the Waitakere City Athletic Club and represented the club and New Zealand from 1987 to 1994, including the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games (200m quarter-finalist), 1991 World Championships (200m quarter-finalist), 1991 World University Games (100m and 200m) and the 1990 World Junior Championships (200m semi-finalist).

After retiring from competitive athletics, Cameron was a volunteer coach assisting Waitakere club athletes in 1995 to 1998.

When not spending time with his family or engaged with sport, Cameron works with clients on strategic transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and securities offerings, as well as advising on corporate governance matters. Cameron is passionate about ensuring a safe environment for everyone in our sport and providing great experiences for all participants as well as coaches, officials, volunteers and spectators.

Cameron has a M.B.A. from London Business School specialising in Finance and Private Equity, an L.L.B. (Hons) from the University of Auckland and a B.B.A. (Finance) and B.A. (Economics) from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He is admitted to the bar in New York (2002) and New Zealand (1998).

 

Jo O’Sullivan – Deputy Chair

A collaborator, an athletics lover and a fighter for future generations. Jo was elected to the Board in 2018 and loves to RUN – albeit not quite so quickly these days.

In the past, Jo represented Southland, Otago and Canterbury at a provincial level – winning NZ Secondary School & National Junior titles and was privileged to represent New Zealand at Oceania level.

Having inherited Jo & her husband Sean’s passion for the sport, their three children are actively involved in athletics. You’ll often find Jo at sports grounds cheering them on, or trying to squeeze in some training for the next trail run or marathon that someone has roped her into!

Jo has lived, breathed and loved life around the world. She brings to the Board 20 years of experience creating vision and delivering strategy from the variety of senior roles she has held while living in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. A trail blazer both on the track and off, Jo is renowned for using her talents to shift the needle on the things that really matter.

Motivated to deliver NZ Athletics a strategy that focuses on participation, grass roots & creating sustainable income, Jo recognises this is no mean feat but believes that together we can bring this vision to life.

With an LLB and BCom (Hons) from the University of Otago, Jo is currently based in Christchurch as Global Head of Marketing for the Natural Pet Food Group.

When asked, Jo’s team said – ‘She’s a cool player. She’s a game changer. Stay close and keep up!’

 

Sharee Jones – President

Steeped in the sport of athletics for more than 35 years, versatile Sharee has been a stalwart athletics administrator, manager, official and coach in the Hawke’s Bay.

Formerly a top-ten New Zealand ranked thrower she became a committee member of Hastings AC in 1990 before later serving for a period as secretary with Hawkes Bay Gisborne Masters Athletics.

Chair of the Hawkes Bay Gisborne Children’s Committee from 2007 to 2018, Sharee also has extensive experience as a team manager with the Hawkes Bay Gisborne team.

Chairperson for her beloved Hastings AC for 12 years before handing over the reins earlier this year, she is a two-time Chair of the Hawkes Bay Gisborne Colgate Games LOC and also served as secretary to the 2021 and 2022 New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Hastings, successfully navigating two Covid-impacted events.

Secretary and officials’ co-ordinator with the Athletics Hawkes Bay Gisborne Management Committee, Sharee is also an A Grade jumps and throws official, IAAF Level 2 Throws coach and was recently awarded bronze level referee status.

A former vice-president of the NZ Children’s Athletics Association she is a life member of Hastings AC and is a former Sport Hawke’s Bay service to athletics award winner as well as Hastings District Council civic award winner.

Ian Olan 

Ian has been a board member of New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) – Counties Manukau Zone for seven years and the Chair since 2020. Ian is also appointed Chair of Accounting for Sustainability project – NZ Circle of Practice – sponsored by HRH Prince of Wales. He is currently Chief Operating Officer for UniServices, the research commercialisation and delivery subsidiary of University of Auckland. Previously, Ian held senior positions in finance, operations and transformation in New Zealand and abroad, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lear Corporation, Johnson Controls, Fonterra, BNZ, Auckland DHB, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Fletcher Building.

With an MBA and Bachelor’s in Accounting, and a Postgraduate degree in Auditing, Ian further specialised in venture finance and business sustainability management with Oxbridge. He is also a fellow and mentor of CPA Australia, mentor of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CAANZ), a Project Management Professional with the Project Management Institute. Ian has been the recipient of multiple awards, including Healthcare Excellence Awards 2011 and Chief Financial Officer Awards 2015 for financial innovation.

Ian is passionate about all sports, plays football and has completed three marathons, and aspires to qualify for the Boston Marathon. He believes sport is a game-changer for individuals and therefore societies, where the positive values and ethic learned from sport —grassroots to elite— are formative and indelible.

 

Catherine Rossiter-Stead 

Catherine has served on the Board of Athletics NZ since 2020.

Based in the Wellington Region, she has worked closely with a number of sports organisations including Sport New Zealand, New Zealand Rugby, the Central Pulse franchise and the British Basketball League, where she has gained a thorough understanding of the broader sporting landscape.

She has also organised a wide range of sporting events and appreciates the importance of creating exceptional experiences to ensure people are valued and engaged as participants.

As a Director of both Wellington Rugby Football Union and Central Districts Cricket Association, she continues to advocate for inclusion and equality in the provision of games, training opportunities and facilities, and brings this focus to Athletics.

She is extremely passionate about encouraging people of all ages and abilities to be physically active and recognises the huge potential of sport in bringing people together to help build strong, diverse and resilient communities.

Catherine hopes to break the two-hour barrier at next year’s Rotorua Half Marathon.

 

Genevieve Macky

Gen has served on the board of Athletics NZ since 2020. Gen loves the sport as there are few barriers to entry and that just about every body, literally, can take part.

Gen has been Chair of the Selection Sub-Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee for the past 3 years. She has contributed to ensuring the wellbeing of our athletes from grassroots through to High Performance along with supporting the organisations financial management.

Gen and her family have recently moved from Hamilton to Christchurch and she looks forward to introducing her son to the sport in the coming years.

 

Courtney Ireland

Courtney has a long history with athletics, representing New Zealand at several championships including the World Junior Championships, the World Cup (representing Oceania), the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games – winning a silver medal in the shot put in Victoria ’94.  Courtney has also coached a number of athletes, including formerly working with Jacko Gill, and his daughter is a member of the Waitakere City Athletics Club. 

He has a 20+ year career in senior management positions with multinational corporates in New Zealand and internationally (including BP, Chevron, Z Energy) leading operational and strategic activities, managing diverse, multi-channel initiatives with teams of over 400.  He has been on several boards, including serving as Chair. 

Courtney holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Marketing from Southern Methodist University (Texas, USA) and an M.B.A. from Otago University.

Courtney is excited at the opportunity to grow and foster athletics at both the community and high-performance levels.

Dr Chris Tooley

 Dr Chris Tooley is currently the Chief Executive of Te Puna Ora o Mataatua based in Whakatāne. Chris, who is Ngāti Kahungunu, has a strong connection with athletics, having been a member of junior teams for both Athletics NZ and New Zealand Secondary Schools.

Chris holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, attending on a prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. He was elected to the Gates Scholars Council and was an editor for the Cambridge Review of International Affairs. 

Previously he was a member of the Interim Māori Health Authority (Te Aka Whai Ora) (2012-2022), Co-Chair, Regional Skills Leadership Group, Bay of Plenty (2019-2023), the Senior (Chief) Ministerial Advisor to Sir Pita R Sharples, Minister of Maori Affairs, Associate Minister of Education and Corrections (2009-2014) and was Vice-Chair of the International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (2015-2019).

Chris has received a Blake Leadership Award from the Sir Peter Blake Trust, a Matariki Award, Waitī (Health & Science), Whakaata Māori, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland.