Stephen was originally born in England but moved to New Zealand in 2002 and considers Aotearoa his home. Stephen’s Hōhepa journey began after completing an honours degree as a Primary Teacher, working as part of a Behaviour Support Team and setting up I.E.Ps for disengaged youth before he came to New Zealand. Now, in his eighth year as Principal at Hōhepa Hawke’s Bay, he values the ability to empower staff and children to be the very best they can be. He sees helping the children find true purpose and meaning in their lives enables them to become life-long learners.

Rachel, Hawke’s Bay born, joined Hōhepa in 2009. Throughout that time, she has mostly worked with tamariki and rangatahi in a number of different roles across the organisation. As a registered social worker, she is passionate about helping people and appreciates Hōhepa’s alignment of values with kaupapa. Rachel works with a very passionate and experienced team in the tamariki service, working collaboratively with the school and other services to support and challenge the tamariki to achieve their aspirations.

Tasha’s lived experience in the health sector as an advocate for her younger brother, who has high and complex needs, helped her to find her passion for ensuring that every person gets to experience life to the fullest. Tasha first joined Hōhepa Hawke’s Bay as wake-over supervisor, before moving to house manager, and now service manager. Tasha’s drive and passion for the people we support is huge, and she spends each day committed to ensuring that everyone we support gets to live a live fully lived.

Hōhepa Hawke’s Bay became a part of Sandy’s life in January 2014, when she began her support of the Kahikatea Cluster. The fire that drives her passion in the care and support of the elderly was lit at an early age. Now, Sandy makes sure the Hōhepa values, vision, and mission are kept alive by making sure the people we support are enabled to live their life the way they choose, every day.

Patrick was born and raised in the Philippines, and joined Hōhepa Hawkes Bay in 2015 endeavouring to build stronger communication and relationships within the services. He has a strong commitment to supporting our people to live fully and working with our team members who want to advance and develop both personally and professionally.

Jen started at Hōhepa Hawke’s Bay in 2021 to support the dairy strategy and operations. She moved to a day-to-day operational role as Customer Experience Manager, overseeing the retail and wholesale operations and customer development activities. Jen has a broad range of experience in sales, marketing, customer experience, and operations, and has worked predominantly in the food, beverage and hospitality industry. She is driven by a clear purpose to doing better for the world we live in – with a focus on people, planet, and prosperity, and brings her similarly aligned values to Hōhepa.

Vriti was born and raised in India, and in 2020, she moved to New Zealand with her family. She has Master’s degree in Business Economics from India and a Master’s degree in Management (Level 9) from New Zealand. With extensive management experience, Vriti joined the Hōhepa team in 2021 as a casual employee supporting our elderly community. She fell in love with the people and the way of life at Hōhepa and early on, she decided she would want to develop a career in this special organisation. Caring for elders and empowering the youth is an important part of her culture. Vriti is committed to ensuring that Hōhepa’s vision, mission, and values are upheld, and work diligently for the betterment of all people in our communities.

Carol is passionate about working in Property and has over 20 years’ experience working within the Property Industry. She has worked in the public and private sectors in a variety of Property & Compliance roles, including time working in both the Health and Education sectors. She remembers as a child looking forward to the Hōhepa Hawke’s Bay fairs, especially the candle dipping and vibrant atmosphere. Carol is a qualified Primary school teacher and so Hōhepa and the Dr Rudolf Steiner approach resonates with her.

Joanne is an experienced IT Professional having worked in information technology since the 1990s. She has wide-reaching experiences of developing systems and supporting users with their IT needs in a range of different industries. Having only recently joined Hōhepa Hawke’s Bay in October 2023, Joanne is looking forward to getting involved positively in the work that goes on and supporting the amazing staff.