Meet our Tutors



Sue Taylor

Ko Te Maipi räua ko Tararua oku Maunga
Ko Wairaka räua ko Waiwiri oku Awa
Ko Takitimu räua ko Tainui oku Waka
Ko Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa räua
ko Nga Rakawa ki te Tonga oku Iwi
Ko Ngai Tumapuhia-a-rangi räua ko Ngāti Kikopiri toku Hāpū
Ko Hiwaru Kahu Paku oku matua
Ko Sue Taylor taku ingoa

Sue is a company director of T&T Consulting Limited.  She has a background in training, facilitation and co-ordination primarily in Māori Tobacco Control and smoking cessation.  Before moving into the tobacco sector she worked in AOD and Social Services.  Her involvement with hāpu and iwi development is of paramount importance as is spending quality time with immediate and extended whānau, particularly mokopuna.

Sue lives in Horowhenua and favourite R&R is spending time at her marae at Riversdale Beach located on the Wairapapa coast.

Dawn Gourdie

Originally from Dunedin, Dawn currently lives in Christchurch and works for the local District Health Board. For over 30 years she has been employed in a variety of roles, including as a registered nurse, nursing tutor, quality coordinator and a health services auditor. On attaining her Masters in Public Health, Dawn took up a position in health promotion, and then moved into a Smokefree Coordination position. Dawn is now an evaluator of public health programmes and projects.

Dawn has a passion for sharing her knowledge and supporting individuals and communities. She has a particular empathy for those with disabilities, with whom she can identify.

In her spare time Dawn enjoys the bush, the beach, gardening, multiple crafts and time with whanau, especially two Birman cats.

 Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi

Brian MacKenzie

Nau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora ai nga iwi

After working in social work (probation), community education (at Northland Polytechnic) and health promotion (with the Northland Area Health Board) In 1993 Brian worked in the UK as Head of Health Promotion in Dorset.  In 1998, he was regional co-ordinator for the government's teenage pregnancy strategy in the South West Regional Office of the NHS Executive, and at Bournemouth University he ran an inter-professional education programme for public health practitioners.  He has an MSc in Social Intervention for Public Health from the Imperial College, London, where he looked at the links between ecotourism and health improvement.

Brian returned to New Zealand in 2002 to establish a centre for ecotourism education at Tai Poutini Polytechnic, Greymouth, where his wife ran a homestay business.  In 2009 they relocated to Tauranga.

Ruth Gerzon

Ruth lives and works in the Eastern Bay of Plenty with her family.

She was a social worker and trainer in the disability field before becoming involved in health promotion ten years ago through the Like Mind Like Mine Project. She used a community development approach to help reduce stigma and discrimination facing people with mental illness.  In 2007 she managed the Whai Oranga Health Promotion Project which used whanau and peer support models to improve the health of vulnerable populations.

Ruth is chair of Pou Whakaaro a disability/mental health service promoting inclusion. In 2009 she helped set up a timebank and is currently exploring ways this can be used to improve health of marginalised people. In 2010 her focus is on a movement to restore local democracy in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

Ruth has also been involved in production of resources such as DVDs, and handbooks on issues of rights and social change.

Ruth has a Masters in Social Policy and Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work from Massey University and a Diploma in Teaching and Bachelor of Social Sciences from Waikato University.

Christine Roseveare

Christine started work as a health promoter in the early 1990s and since then has worked in different areas of public health including injury prevention, alcohol promotion, and communicable disease. More recently she has focused on planning, evaluation and training. In her working life she has also done a variety of other things including being a teacher, radio programme producer, and student union worker. She has a Masters in Public Health a teaching diploma and a postgraduate diploma in education training and development. Christine loves music and has played in a number of bands although over the years. Her current band performs a mix of folk classic rock country and jazz quite different from the new wave punk she used to play as a student! She currently lives in Petone and works for the Wellington Regional Public Health service.