Our Board

Here at the Nelson Regional Development Agency we are proud of the extraordinary capability of our Board of Directors.

Led by our Chairperson Meg Matthews, each board member brings with them a wealth of business skills and knowledge to the table, enabling us to identify and maximise on regional development opportunities. Our directors are appointed by Nelson City Council for a term of 1-3 years, ensuring that a culture of fresh thinking and new perspectives is supported and embraced at a strategic level.

Meg Matthews

Meg is the chair of the Nelson Regional Development Agency and brings with her a breadth of skills and knowledge from previous roles.

A former World of WearableArt (WOW) CEO and Head of Marketing – Australasia for Air New Zealand, Meg started her career at the national airline as an accountant in 1996 after beginning her trade with Deloitte. She is a qualified accountant with diverse experience across key business disciplines of finance, human resource management, strategic planning and marketing.

Meg is a Director on the boards of Cawthron Institute, MEVO and Halberg Disability Sports Foundation.

Alan Dunn

Alan is an experienced corporate leader. He was CEO and Chair of McDonald's Restaurants New Zealand before moving to Chicago to become Vice President of Operations. He later became Regional Vice President in the Nordic region and Managing Director of McDonald's Sweden.

Alan's professional director career started in 2009 and he is currently on the boards of Z Energy and Burger Fuel. He also serves on the TDC Commercial sub-committee as well as consulting to several small private companies.

Marina Hirst Tristram

Marina is Managing Director at Tasman Bay Food Co, a business that manufactures and markets a wide range of food products both domestically and in export markets.

Marina has a background in sales and marketing for Australasian food and beverage businesses and is qualified with EMBA (University of Sydney) and BCom, BPhEd (Otago University).

Marina is a chartered member of the Institute of Directors.

Martin Byrne

Martin Byrne is an experienced Senior Executive, having spent the last 30 years in the Maritime industry working in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.

From 2004- 2019 he served as Chief Executive of Port Nelson Ltd and has been a Director of the Nelson Regional Development Agency since the merger of Nelson Tasman Tourism and the Economic Development Agency in 2016.

He has previously served as a Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters Nelson Tasman, and as Vice President representing Asia Oceania on the International Association of Ports and Harbours. He is also a member of the National Steering committee of the Business Leaders Health and Safety Forum.

Jeremy Banks

Jeremy is the founder of Plink Software and his experience includes growing and managing software companies.

Currently on the boards of Wakatū Incorporation, Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust and The Network for Learning. Jeremy whakapapas into Te Tauihu through Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne ki Wairau and Ngāti Kuia.

Sarah-Jane Weir

Sarah-Jane is a director of infrastructure providers Nelmac and Network Tasman, a trustee for the Rata Foundation and the Cawthron Trust Board and the local branch chair and national councillor of The Institute of Directors. Her professional career was as a commercial lawyer and partner at Anderson Lloyd.

She and her family live close to Nelson City Centre, where they enjoy access to both the cafes and the city, and the tracks and trails around the Grampians, the Maitai and the Centre of New Zealand.

David Johnston

David is Ngāti Porou and whānau is his foundation. He has extensive experience in leadership and management and has a strong background in banking and operations management. He was runner up in the local 2013 Duncan Cotterill Aspiring Directors award and was selected for the Institute of Directors Mentoring for Diversity Programme for 2015.

David has a history of community involvement in local non for-profit boards including the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust and Nelson Tasman Kindergartens Board.

David is the General Manager for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Kuia Trust. In his spare time, you can find him on the ocean on board a waka ama.

Our Board

Meg Matthews

Alan Dunn

Marina Hirst Tristram

Martin Byrne

Jeremy Banks

Sarah-Jane Weir

David Johnston

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