Brent Eastwood: Libby Jones appointed chair at Sport Northland

Libby Jones has been on the board since 2016

Libby Jones from Paparoa has been elected to the chair of the Sport Northland board at the trust's first board meeting following the recent AGM.

Libby has been on the board since 2016, initially as the representative from Kaipara District Council, and for the past two years has served as the deputy chair. Her election is a significant milestone for the organisation, becoming the first female chair of Sport Northland.

With a successful professional career in health and social services behind her, Libby is currently the manager of Jigsaw North Manaaki Whānau Services in Whangārei, as well as joint owner of a beef farm near Paparoa in the Kaipara district.

Governance-wise, Libby has been a director on the Northland District Health Board for eight years and has been a key contributor in the alignment of NDHB and Sport Northland over the past five years. Other governance experience has included a term as a Kaipara District Council Councillor and board roles with Rural Support Trust Northland and Volunteering Northland, as well as many years' experience on school boards of trustees.

She has a strong commitment to, and experience in implementing Te Tiriti o Waitangi in a variety of roles and organisations and has knowledge of wider equity issues and how they impact on Māori whānau in Tai Tokerau. She is extremely excited by the recent board structure changes which has allowed Sport Northland to step into the Māori co-governance space.

In her local community of Paparoa, Libby is the chair of the Paparoa Sport and Recreation Association Inc, which works to promote sport and active recreation for all ages in the local community.

The other appointment was Tony Morris of Whangārei as deputy chair. Tony has been on the board for four years and has previously been deputy chair before relinquishing the role when he took on a short-term consultancy role in 2020 to transition Northern Rescue Helicopter.

He is a previous board member of Hockey NZ, is currently on the Board of Hockey Foundation and has also held a number of other school and community governance roles. As a chartered accountant, Tony heads up the board's Finance and Risk Sub-Committee.

The board regretfully farewelled the previous chair Nigel Brereton, as well as board members Tui Marsh and Mark Meyer.

Nigel has been on the board since 2014, the last three as chair, with Tui and Mark both joining in 2018.

Both Nigel and Tui were instrumental in leading and guiding the board into the Māori co-governance space after trust deed amendments were passed at the recent AGM that will see a 50 per cent Māori representation on the board going forward.

Board interns Lian Tovine-Passmore and Carina Dickson were also farewelled by the board after completing their 12-month internship. Sport Northland has now completed three internship programmes in recent years, resulting in six graduates gaining invaluable knowledge and skills, with many of them having since secured board roles with regional and district sports organisations.