Our People
Meet our team of food rescue superheroes and we’ll also introduce you to our honorary superheroes – our sponsors and partners who support what we do, every day.
Meet our team of food rescue superheroes and we’ll also introduce you to our honorary superheroes – our sponsors and partners who support what we do, every day.
Every day our drivers are on the road rescuing quality surplus food from our amazing organisations and are literally the faces of Fair Food out and about in our community.
Russell Miah
Russ works hard to save every bit of food he can! A valuable part of our rescue team, Russ is committed and super-friendly- he even bikes to work!
Vasene Pua
Vasene started as a volunteer but we quickly saw his potential to be out on the roads rescuing fresh kai for our volunteers to sort.
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.
Raymon Time
Meet our newest driver, Raymon rescues food across Tāmaki Makaurau over the weekend. Raymon is currently at film school to become an editor and documentary director. Come volunteer on Saturdays to get to know Raymon.
Christina Mamaku
The radiant Christina is one of our outstanding drivers and food rescue heroes. A love filled, passionate and hard-working wahine that embodies Fair Food’s values.
It takes all sorts of smarts and talents to keep our food rescue business on the go to make sure we’re recovering as much food as possible and nourishing our communities.
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 (aka Head Queen!) Born and bred in West Auckland, Tracey is a respected community leader with a background in sports, tertiary and mental health sectors. A revered coach, admin ace and people person, Tracey keeps us ship shape while we feed people, not landfill.
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
Fresh out of university, Maia found her passion for social justice and reducing food waste. She assists everyone in the Hub – you’ll see her posting on social media, cooking in the kitchen, answering emails, organising volunteers and rearranging the furniture!
Angel Prasad
Community Experiences Manager
Angel comes from a background of customer service and brings great people skills to her role. She loves working with people and believes that the volunteers are the heart of Fair Food. Food is an integral part of sustaining relationships, where Angel loves sharing kai around the table with her friends and family.
Sam Wright
Warehouse and Logistics Manager
As our jack of all warehouse trades, Sam has the awesome job of meeting and greeting our charity groups that arrive each day in dedicated slots to collect their food allocation, meticulously weighs all that has been rescued and records it into our snazzy, smart data portal so we can run reports and show impact. He has design flair (our named bread bins are his idea!) and can hold a darn good tune.
Corinne Tribe
Accounts and Payroll
Living life in the beautiful North West of Auckland, Corinne is our part-time accounts and payroll superhero!
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.
Alastair Campbell
Trustee
With over 20 years experience in FMCG supply chain including manufacturing, operations and project management, Alastair has been a vital member of the Fair Food Board for over seven years.
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.
Felicity Hopkins
Trustee
With oodles of strategic, financial management and governance experience across commercial and for-purpose organisations, Felicity is our essential minister of finance!
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.
Heather Tribe
Trustee
Originally one of our superhero food rescue drivers, Heather knows first hand the impact Fair Food has on the ground and brings a wealth of knowledge on food insecurity as a doctoral researcher at the University of Otago.
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.
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.
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. In doing so, they support community-based initiatives in Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau.
ProCare
ProCare services provide an accessible, equitable and supportive health and wellbeing experience for people in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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.
The Trusts
Supporting our people and helping us keep the lights on, The Trusts give us phenomenal support for all our critical resources.
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!
Perpetual Guardian
We are very proud to be 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, we have the pleasure of distributing in excess of $40 million into the community on behalf of our generous donors each year.
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).
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