Meet the Ministry of Education's Leadership Team
Acting Secretary for Education and Chief Executive: Peter Hughes CNZM
Raised in Wellington, Peter has had a 30-year career in the New Zealand state sector, encompassing policy, operations and organisation development across a range of senior executive roles. He is currently on secondment from Victoria University of Wellington where he is Professor of Public Management and Head of the School of Government.
Peter has a Masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business and Administration, Massey University and a Bachelor of Arts (English Literature), Victoria University of Wellington.
Peter began his career with the Department of Social Welfare. Over the next ten years he was promoted into senior policy and operations roles, and later moved into executive management.
In 1995 Peter became Deputy-Director General of Health and in 2000, Peter was appointed Chief Executive of the Health Funding Authority, managing New Zealand's $7 billion health and disability services budget. He was appointed Secretary for Internal Affairs later in the same year, and in 2001 was then appointed Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development. Peter was named Government Department CEO of the Year by TransTasman magazine in both 2010 and 2011.
Peter is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management and the New Zealand Institute of Public Administration. He is also an accredited member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors, and was made a Hunter Fellow of Victoria University of Wellington in 2010.
Peter currently serves on a number of boards, including the Government's Better Public Services Advisory Board, the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust and the Earthquake Commission (EQC).
Deputy Secretary Corporate and Infrastructure: Kristine Kilkelly
Kristine joined the Ministry of Education from Capital and Coast District Health where she was Director of Human Resources.
Kristine is from Invercargill and still identifies strongly with Southland. She attended Otago University and from there joined the Department of Trade and Industry as part of their graduate intake. She has worked for the Department of Internal Affairs and the Health Funding Authority, and held Trade Commissioner and Vice Consul roles in New Zealand and Australia.
She has made her career in the public sector, the last nine years of which have been in health, and sees strong parallels between health and education. Both have increasingly expert consumers and a strong focus on being able to measure outcomes and reducing disparities.
The Corporate and Infrastructure Group is responsible for communications, human resources, finance, legal services, information systems, internal audit, school infrastructure and shared services.
Deputy Secretary Tertiary, International and System Performance: Anne Jackson
Anne Jackson is Deputy Secretary – Tertiary, International and System Performance in the Ministry of Education. The focus of this role is the development of strategic direction for the education system, including linkages with economic policy, skills and innovation.
Anne’s previous role was Deputy Secretary - Schooling, where she was responsible for curriculum, assessment, teacher employment, industrial relations, school funding and school infrastructure.
Originally from England, Anne Jackson joined the Ministry in 2005 as senior manager for the tertiary education outcomes and strategy group. Before this she was general manager of the Centre for Social Research and Evaluation at the Ministry of Social Development.
She has been manager of strategic projects at the Education Review Office and an education advisor with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has an MA and BA (Hons) from the University of Cambridge.
Deputy Secretary Early Years and Learning Support: Rawiri Brell
Rawiri, of Te Arawa (Ngāti Whakaue - Ngāti Rangitihi), trained as a teacher in Hamilton and is a graduate of the University of Waikato and Victoria University of Wellington.
He specialised in bilingual education as a principal and senior lecturer and became Head of Māori Studies at the Hamilton Teachers College in 1990.
He spent three years as a senior policy analyst in the Ministry of Education's education management and organisational policy section before an appointment as education manager in the Office of the Race Relations Conciliator.
In 1992 he was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to study teacher education policy and multiculturalism in England, Scotland and Wales. Rawiri returned to the Ministry in May 1994. In 2001 Rawiri participated in the Henley Management College's Executive Development Programme.
The Early Years and Learning Support Group comprises early childhood education and policy areas relating to our priority learners - special education, Māori education, Pasifika education, and Parents, Families and Whānau. The group also focuses on learners from low socio-economic backgrounds along with being the Ministry's lead on social sector engagement.
Deputy Secretary Performance and Change: Apryll Parata
Apryll was appointed to the role of Deputy Secretary Māori Education in late February 2007, bringing a wealth of experience in education to this position. In April 2012, Apryll took up the role of Deputy Secretary Performance and Change. This group is charged with organisation-wide performance measurement, monitoring and improvement .
She has taught and held management positions in a number of secondary schools on the East Coast and in the Wairarapa.
Apryll has a BA in Māori Studies from Waikato University and a Diploma of Secondary Teaching. As well as being a teacher she has been Principal of Ngata Memorial College in Ruatoria, a Private Secretary to a Minister of the Crown and has also been the Director Education Practice at Gardiner Parata Ltd since 1997.
Some of her work as a consultant has included working in the area of Māori medium education, and facilitating reviews of planning processes at Te Puni Kōkiri.
Apryll has tribal affiliations with Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tahu.
Deputy Secretary Student Achievement: Rowena Phair
Rowena was appointed to the role of Deputy Secretary Student Achievement in June 2012 . Originally from Auckland, Rowena has lived and worked in Wellington for nearly 30 years and has a post-graduate degree in economics.
Most recently, Rowena was Chief Executive of the Ministry of Women's Affairs. She has held policy leadership roles in The Treasury, Ministry of Education (1997 – 2004) and Housing Corporation New Zealand. Rowena has also worked in the private sector as a senior consultant for KPMG, and as a trainer.
In her role, Rowena is responsible for raising student achievement levels, with a priority focus on achievement levels of Māori learners, Pasifika learners, learners with special education needs, and those from low socio-economic backgrounds. She will also have key accountability for managing the Ministry of Education's sector-wide relationship with key stakeholder groups.
Deputy Secretary Regional Operations: Katrina Casey
Katrina was appointed to the role of Deputy Secretary Regional Operations in July 2012.
Prior to this Katrina was General Manager Community Probation Services at the Department of Corrections, leading 2,500 staff across 220 locations to manage offenders serving community sentences and orders. Katrina joined Corrections as General Manager Strategic Development when it was formed as a new Department in 1995. She had previously worked in the Inland Revenue Department and the Ministry of Works and Development.
Katrina holds a Bachelor of Science from Canterbury University and a Masters in Regional and Resource Planning (with Distinction) from Otago University.
In her role as Deputy Secretary Regional Operations Katrina is responsible for ensuring all support to the sector and operations and programmes provided directly to learners focus on maximising learner achievement. Regional Operations was newly formed in early 2012 bringing together the Ministry’s service delivery functions into one place. The key challenge now is to examine how it can operate effectively. Also a critical priority is the significant Education Renewal Programme in Christchurch which will provide considerable learning opportunities for the rest of the country.
Deputy Secretary and Director of the Chief Executive's Office: Andrew Hampton
Andrew joined the Ministry in January 2013 in the new role as Deputy Secretary and Director of the Chief Executive's Office. This followed 17 years in the Justice and Treaty of Waitangi sectors, the last 12 in senior management roles.
Immediately prior to joining the Ministry Andrew was Deputy Chief Executive at the Crown Law Office where he oversaw a comprehensive change programme following several external reviews. As Deputy Secretary for Courts he lead the Ministry of Justice's earthquake response and also oversaw the introduction of digital transcription services to the court system and the building of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.
Andrew spent eight years at the Office of Treaty Settlements, four as Director. In that time he negotiated settlements with iwi in Taranaki, Bay of Penty and the central Northern Island.
He has a BA (Hons) and MA (Dist) from the University of Canterbury and has attended the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme.