Even though our name has changed a few times since 1893 as our services have adapted to meet the needs of our community…our passion and commitment to champion the safety and well-being of Aucklanders has remained constant.
Our founder, Henry Wilding set up ‘The New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children’ on 25 April 1893 to rescue vulnerable women and children from the Auckland streets. Much of the Society’s early focus was on lobbying for legislative change to help women and children who suffered from abandonment, domestic violence, and/or abuse. The Society was instrumental in the ‘Age of Consent’ being raised from 14 to 16 years (1896); the criminalisation of incest to a prosecutable offence (1900), and the establishment of the Youth Court (1925). We even took the SPCA under our wing in 1898 when they were struggling financially – a merger that lasted for 28 years.
Wingspan continues to make a real difference by delivering professional counselling services to reduce risk, increase safety, and improve emotional well-being and resiliency for anyone seeking support.
Shelley Anderson started in the position of Executive Director in March 2014; however, she is not new to Wingspan. Prior to this role, Shelley was the North Shore Manager of Home and Family Counselling for 8 years. Shelley joined Home and Family 11 years ago as one of the team of counsellors before moving into the management role. Shelley has worked predominantly in the Not for Profit sector as well as managing a small private practice for several years which provides Family Court counselling alongside the provision of counselling for individuals, couples, young people, and families. Shelley has also co-facilitated both parenting programmes and youth groups in schools. Shelley provides clinical supervision for students and practitioners and this will continue in her Executive Director position.
Shelley has a Bachelor of Social Practice with a major in Counselling and a Certificate in Supervision. Shelley is a member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC).
Alan is a retired senior Human Resources and Operations Director whose career involved him working in large New Zealand and Australian organisations in the private and public sectors. This experience and Alan’s commitment to playing a positive part in helping to make our communities safer, more satisfying, and enjoyable places to live, are reasons why he is the Chairman of Wingspan.
Alan has been Chairman since 2011 and is excited by the recent transformational changes to Wingspan, which he is confident will ensure it is able to deliver its mission of enhancing the safety and well-being of all families and individuals.
Christine is an experienced Executive Marketer with a wealth of knowledge of working across the globe with commercial entities seeking international expansion to increase scale and profitability. In this capacity, she has led the design and development of transformative marketing largely in the technology sector. Christine’s combination of skills is the result of a career portfolio that has included both the public and private sectors.
Christine began non-profit sector governance in 2010, which included (then) Home and Family Counselling - now of course ‘Wingspan’. She is a passionate advocate of counselling dedicated to ensuring the capability of our organisation continues to adapt and grow and meet the needs of our community.
Ian is a Chartered Accountant and also holds a BA. ( Hons) Business Studies – first class.
He is the Corporate Services Manager at Aktive – Auckland Sport & Recreation. He is the Corporate Services Manager at Aktive – Auckland Sport & Recreation, and his
recent past experience is as a Project Manager with ANZ and previously with PwC and Dresdner Bank in the Cayman Islands. He has been honorary treasurer of a number of sports clubs over the years.
Suren has over 30 years of general management, business development, strategy, and financial experience in New Zealand, the Middle East, and Sri Lanka. During the
1990s Suren was part of the strategy team at Television New Zealand Ltd (TVNZ) when the company was faced with the emergence of digital and increased competition. He describes this to be a major period of learning which saw him grow to become the Strategy & Projects Manager for the TVNZ Group. He either led or was part of, a number of strategic projects including the setting up of Asia Business News (Singapore, which today is CNBC Asia) Fiji TV, BCL – Australia, and Sky TV. Following TVNZ, Suren became a successful boutique strategy consultant to a number of high-profile organisations – TVNZ, BCL (now Kordia), Carter Holt Harvey Group, IRL to name a few. In the last fifteen years – he made the major shift to SME (Small to Medium Enterprises) by becoming
a co-owner of two successful businesses in the dairy and hydraulic engineering industries. Both businesses became highly profitable and are industry leaders by a significant margin.
Suren is passionate about giving back to the community, has extensive musical interests and plays cricket. He is a Chartered Accountant and also holds an Executive MBA from Otago University.
Jessica is a lawyer who has worked in the screen production sector for over 12 years.
Prior to that, Jessica practised in commercial and general practice law. She also holds a BA in anthropology, reflecting her keen interest in people and human relationships. Jessica is glad to be able to serve on the Home & Family Board, an organisation that fulfills a vital role in the community.
Carol is a counsellor with over 25 years of professional experience. She is a former National President of the NZ Association of Counsellors (NZAC) and is a Life Member of the Association.
Carol is a member of the NZAC’s National Ethics Committee and teaches courses on ethical practice for various counselling programmes. She has her own counselling and supervision practice.
She has been closely involved with Home and Family counsellors for more than ten years. She was elected to the Home and Family board particularly to provide guidance about the professional work of the counsellors but her contribution extends a very long way beyond that responsibility.
Our privacy pledge Counselling is based on a confidential relationship. When you use our services, you’re trusting us with your information. We understand this is a big responsibility and will work hard to protect your information. At Wingspan we take the privacy of personal information seriously and comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and Health Information Privacy Code 2020. Our Privacy Pledge briefly outlines what you can expect from us. To learn more about our privacy practices view our Privacy Policy.
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