Our People
Meet our team of food rescue superheroes who make sure nothing goes to waste.
Meet our team of food rescue superheroes who make sure nothing goes to waste.
Every day our friendly drivers are on the road rescuing quality surplus food from amazing organisations and are the faces of Fair Food out and about in our community. They’re our food rescue superheroes rescuing great kai from going to landfill.
Aram Wu
Meet Aram, our weekend driver, a fun and bubbly community worker of many years, who has a passion for growing kai and setting up maara kai everywhere he can!
Gerald Goff
Meet our newest driver G! He’s got decades of trucking experience so we’re super lucky to have him on the roads rescuing healthy kai for our community.
Matt Naber
Matt started as a volunteer but we saw his potential straight away! He progressed to Warehouse Assistant before hopping on the road and being one of our star drivers.
Sidney Shaigan
Another volunteer hire! Sidney’s calm and kind nature makes him a fantastic charity liaison. You’ll see Sid at the back of the warehouse allocating the kai to our charity groups and chatting with them when they pick up to ensure the kai makes it way to our home community.
Sonny Wade
Sonny is a cheerful and vibrant addition to our team of drivers and has worked across the West Auckland community for a while so knows the difference food makes to our local whānau.
Vasene Pua
Vasene started as a volunteer but he was quickly hired when we saw how hard he worked! You’ll often hear Vasene laughing before you see him, his fantastic people skills and knowledge make him a wonderful food rescue superhero.
It takes all sorts of smarts and talents to make sure we’re recovering as much fresh food as possible to nourish our community.
Michelle Blau
General Manager
Meet Michelle, our passionate upcycler and zero waste enthusiast. Michelle brings a background in community advocacy, having worked on social justice campaigns around the world for the past 20 years. After spending time in many different countries, her family’s chosen West Auckland to be their permanent home. She believes if you’ve got more than you need, you should build a longer table not a taller fence.
Deborah McLaughlin
CFO
Meet Deb, our part-time CFO and food sorter extraordinaire who brings a wealth of knowledge from the food industry. Passionate about food and using it ALL up, Deb is a self-confessed geek at heart who does IQ tests for fun! She’s our biggest advocate for team quiz nights.
Tracey Pirini
Head of Operations and Relationships
Ko Mahuhu-ki-te-rangi me Horouta nga waka
Ko Maungakiekie me Hikurangi nga maunga
Ko Waitemata te moana. Ko Waiapu te awa.
Ko Ngati Whatua Orakei me Ngati Porou nga iwi
Meet Tracey Pirini, our Head of Operations and Relationships. Born and bred in TAT North, Tracey’s held leadership roles in the sports, tertiary and mental health sectors. She’s the backbone of Fair Food and has a Kiwibank NZ of the Year Local Hero medal to show for it.
Adele Duncan
Conscious Kitchen Manager
Adele is passionate about sustainability, waste minimisation, and food justice. She’s spent two decades perfecting zero waste recipes with top chefs around the world and is excited to share her skills with our community. She leads our Saturday sort and our kitchen experiences.
Maia Gallagher
Operations Assistant
Maia has a passion for recycling and reducing food waste. She assists everyone in the Hub – you’ll catch Maia posting on social media, cooking in the kitchen, doing payroll, organising volunteers and rearranging the furniture!
Waiata Tucker
Volunteer Manager
Waiata has a passion for sustainability, food and nutrition. She was looking to find a creative and purposeful way to help tackle food insecurity in her home community. If she offers you for a cup of coffee, take it! – she brews the best one at Fair Food!
Nickie Waddell
Corporate Partnerships Manager
Meet Nickie, our Corporate Partnerships Manager. With a background in the not for profit sector Nickie is passionate about supporting families in need. When she isn’t chasing after her three small children she is here at Fair Food creating exciting partnerships with great kiwi businesses and planning one-off fundraising events!
Sam Wright
Warehouse and Logistics Manager
As our jack of all trades, Sam has the awesome job of greeting our charity groups that arrive every morning to collect kai. He organises everything and everybody in the warehouse to keep us all in shipshape. He’s got a great eye for detail, so he’s always the right guy for the job. You can count on hearing Sam singing before you see him!
Michele Eickstaedt
Collaborations Broker for Kai West
Michele is passionate about community wellbeing and local food systems, where it’s easy for people to access kai that is good for their health and the environment. Her role revolves around connecting and facilitating collaborative efforts for local food systems to thrive and support communities meeting their needs holistically. When she is not working on community kai projects, she cherishs time in nature with her family, drawing inspiration from the outdoors.
If you’d like to be an honorary food rescue superhero, join us at the next volunteering session or express an interest in working with us.
Thanks to the loyalty and hard work of our volunteer Trustees, Fair Food has remained an enduring service for our community.
Melissa Crawford
Chair
Experienced lawyer, foreign policy adviser and our Board Chair, Melissa joined Fair Food as a Trustee in 2019 and is a huge advocate for Fair Food’s work in the community.
Kiri Hannifin
Trustee
Kiri brings experience in human rights, policy, and public relations. She is passionate about community wellbeing and its connection to sustainability.
Bennie Hendricks
Trustee
A stellar career in both the food industry and governance roles, Bennie brings his international experience to Fair Food to further our mission to feed people, not landfill.
Matt Preece
Treasurer
Through his experience in risk management, programme analysis and business viability, Matt brings a passion for creating organisations with enduring sustainability.
Tapuaī Fa’amatuainu Fa’amalua George Tipi
Trustee
Malua brings extensive networks in the business, community and sporting sectors. A teacher at heart, he gives back to the community through his role as Director of the Leataata Preschool, Education and Wellbeing Hub in Massey.
Venus Rangi
Trustee
Vee has served our West Auckland community for many years through roles in the public sector and community groups. You’re as likely to find her whānau at the netball courts as at our kai tables.
Natalia Sexton
Trustee
Natalia (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Rongomaiwahine) has advised and held leadership positions with Iwi, Hapū, Government, NGO’s and Philanthropy. Proud mum of three, loves a good coffee and is passionate about all things Ao Māori including kai, taonga pūoro and whakairo.
Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro
Patron
Her Excellency, The Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, GNZM, QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand has chosen Fair Food for Vice-regal patronage to further our shared love of local kai.
Fair Food has some of the most outstanding and generous supporters a charity could ask for.
Auckland Council
Auckland Council: Auckland Council was one of the founding members of Fair Food back in 2011. Since then, they’ve been powering our mahi with grants projects in the waste and climate change space. They also join us on the Steering Committee of Kai West.
Aussie Butcher New Lynn
Aussie Butcher New Lynn have always led by example, investing in and giving back to the local community they are part of. Through this partnership Fair Food will be able to share over 75,000 meals to the community as well as receiving thousands of dollars worth of meat to distribute to those in need.
Foundation North
To enhance lives, Foundation North provides funding and support to initiatives large and small to respond to their communities now and for generations to come including Fair Food.
J R McKenzie Trust
The J R McKenzie Trust is a philanthropic family trust that has been grantmaking in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1940. Known for funding groups and initiatives that often struggle to get grants elsewhere, we distribute allocated funds through a variety of approaches and mechanisms to organisations that align with their vision of a socially just and inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ministry of Social Development
Huge investment to support food secure communities, MSD invests in food rescue and has recognised the sector with the establishment of Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance (https://www.afra.org.nz) (AFRA).
Perpetual Guardian
Perpetual Guardian is New Zealand’s pre-eminent provider of philanthropic services with a long history of structuring and honouring clients’ charitable intentions. With over 500 charitable entities under management, they distribute in excess of $40 million into the community on behalf of our generous donors each year.
Potter Masonic Trust
The Potter Masonic Trust is part of the Freemasons. Their generosity is improving the health and wellbeing of children in our community through cooking skills and access to fresh kai.
The Tindall Foundation
The Tindall Foundation is a family foundation that seeks opportunities to support innovative, forward-thinking initiatives that make a positive difference for Aotearoa New Zealand, in areas of whānau/families, community and environment. They’re helping expand the network of charities we help.
The Trusts
Supporting our people and helping us keep the lights on, The Trusts give us phenomenal support for all our critical resources. The Trusts West licensing group and TTCF are both huge supporters of Fair Food.
West City Auto
Big ups to John Blewett and the team for sponsoring and looking after our crucial fleet of vehicles. With three trucks, a van and a Suzuki Swift, our fleet of waka are always in tip top shape and ready for action – thanks John!
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