The Board
The primary role of the Board is to ensure that Oxfam Aotearoa serves the needs of its partners, donors, staff and other stakeholders, particularly those in the developing world, with honesty, openness and accountability.
The Board provides leadership regarding the vision, mission and core values of Oxfam Aotearoa, making sure that the organisation is strategic and effective and that plans are consistent with the mission.
They provide leadership and support for ongoing improvement of programme, advocacy, communication and marketing work. They ensure that Oxfam Aotearoa fully complies with applicable laws, standards and sound practices.
Ngila is a human rights lawyer with international advocacy and litigation experience in Aotearoa, Australia, Africa, the UK, and Europe. She is an expert in the UN Treaty Body system and former Co-Chief Executive Officer of People with Disability Australia. Her areas of interest include mental health, preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, and indigenous self-determination.
Ngila is a professional director and independent advisor to government and the not-for-profit sector. She brings skills in strategy, policy, risk, and assurance. She holds a BscEcon and MscEcon in international relations and critical security, an LLB, and is a barrister of the Middle Temple.
Sarah Rennie is a business strategist and systems change leader who whakapapas to Scotland, Ireland, England, Samoa and the Cook Islands, with her family remaining closely connected to her home island of Rarotonga. With over two decades of commercial experience, Sarah is a founding director of Oyster Workshop — a B Corp-certified consultancy she built alongside her business partner — and a co-founder of the wider Oyster Ecosystem, a three-entity, Kaupapa Māori and Pacific economic infrastructure dedicated t economic self-determination of Māori and Pacific founders, with a particular emphasis on women-led enterprise. Across seven years and multiple sectors including health, education, housing, creative industries, social services, and economic development the Oyster Ecosystem has provided advisory support to over 219 Māori and Pacific enterprises across Aotearoa, and was recognised in 2024 with the inaugural Judith van Unen Practitioner Award by SEAANZ for excellence in Māori and Pacific SME support.
A Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors (CMInstD), Sarah brings rigorous governance capability alongside deep relational practice to her leadership roles. She is also a founding Director of KoLab Consulting, a digital consultancy established in the Cook Islands with a focus on building capacity and delivering quality digital infrastructure across the Pacific. Her work — in Aotearoa and across the Moana — is driven by a sustained commitment to equity and economic self-determination, bringing both relational depth and strategic rigour to her role as Deputy Chair of Oxfam Aotearoa.
Eleanor has a background in human rights and international development. She completed her Masters research in Development Studies on disaster risk mitigation in vulnerable Pacific communities and is now training for the UNFPA Pacific Surge Roster, to be deployed as required in the profile of Gender Based Violence in Emergencies.
Her interest in human rights stemmed from her time with Amnesty International Aotearoa and she has since focused increasingly on children’s rights, taking on roles with the Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute, Youthtown and Pacific Discovery.
Eleanor is passionate about the environment and strongly believes in the interconnectedness of human rights, environmental protection and secure livelihoods, leading to her give an intervention at the UN Environment Assembly and participate in the UN Committee for the Rights of the Child closed session.
After working in Southeast Asia, Eleanor studied human trafficking and is currently the Director of ECPAT Child Alert, working to end child trafficking and sexual exploitation of New Zealand children.
Toleafoa Schuster is director and owner of Tutulumanulagi Ltd. He brings more than two decades of dedicated service in the Pacific region and Aotearoa New Zealand.
His service to the Pacific has been characterised by a strong emphasis on the development of regional policies, sustainable development, and effective development cooperation, particularly in the context of the Pacific Islands. He led the facilitation of multi-stakeholder policy dialogues on issues of development effectiveness, the promotion of mutual accountability, and the assurance of effective collaboration between governments and development partners, at both national and regional levels.
He currently chairs the Pacific Advisory Group to Volunteer Services Abroad - Te Tūao Tāwāhi (VSA) and was recently appointed to the VSA Council. Toleafoa hails from the villages of Samata, Salimu, Malie and Alamagoto in Samoa.
Dr Philippa Smales is currently a Lecturer in Development Studies, at The University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr Smales has worked in the International Development sector for over fifteen years focused mainly on Asia and the Pacific. Her recent experience includes Director Stakeholder Engagement at Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) Aotearoa New Zealand, Business Development and Member Engagement Manager at the Council for International Development Aotearoa New Zealand (CID), and managing the Research for Development Impact Network (RDI Network) for over five years, in partnership with the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID). Dr Smales was previously a Steering Committee member of the Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies Network (DevNet), and was a Founding Executive Committee member of the Development Studies Association of Australia (DSAA). She continues to be the Deputy Chair of the board of Engineers Without Borders New Zealand (EWBNZ), as well as being Chair of the People, Culture & Safety Committee of Oxfam Aotearoa.
Rohini is a Partner at Ernst & Young New Zealand, has worked previously at Inland Revenue, and is a tax expert.
She is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, India NZ Business Council, NZ Asian leaders, Middle Eastern Business Council, and the ASEAN New Zealand Business Council. She is also an EY Ambassador for Auckland University.
Rohini has an interest in giving back by creating opportunities in our communities and developing the next generation. She has a particular interest in South Pacific nations, mainly in developing and coaching people.
