Current Directors

Phil Veal
Nicky Bell
Rob Cameron
Craig Donaldson
John Lumsden
Stefan Preston

 Phil Veal’s passion and drive to help New Zealand prosper has seen him elected as Chairman of Kea’s new board.
Phil has been involved with Kea as co-chairman of Kea North America, and as a mentor in Kea’s Venture Mentor Network since 2007, where he has helped connect New Zealand companies with key contacts and investors he works with in the US.
A partner at middle-market advisory firm Growfire in New York City, Phil works with Fortune 500 companies in the US and around the world to manage cross-border bankingmergers, helping them lead major strategic change to reinvent their organisations.
In 2008 Phil launched management consulting company PIPC into the Americas, building thecompany into a global project management firm within two years. PIPC was acquired by a NASDAQ-listed company in 2010. 
Prior to launching PIPC, Phil was a principal consultant for PA Consulting, a globalmanagement, IT consulting, technology and innovation consultancy. During his time with PA Consulting, Phil worked in Singapore, London and New York withstart-up ventures and large corporates to create and drive value for their businesses.
He started his career with global engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald, working in London and Hong Kong. Phil has a Bachelor of Engineering with honours from the University of Canterbury, and is a Director of non-profit education fund organization ANZA, the American New Zealand Association. He is also a member of ACG, the Association for Corporate Growth. View Phil's LinkedIn profile. 
 

 Nicky Bell’s passion for New Zealand has seen her return to New Zealand after 30 years abroad to share her international experiences with local organisations. Nicky has spent most of her career at the cutting edge of the advertising world and believes that creativity, properly applied, is one of the last remaining ‘unfair advantages’ in marketing and business. Returning to New Zealand in 2010 Nicky took up the role of CEO at renowned agency Saatchi & Saatchi, restructuring the company to become a smaller, more collaborative culture that is more conducive to generating creative solutions for clients. Nicky also sits on the board of the CAANZ industry body and the Middlemore Foundation For Health Innovation. 
Nicky has spent the last decade working in New York and the decade prior to that in Australia. She began her advertising career at Ogilvy & Mather in Sydney working on Unilever brands, American Express, Xerox and government health campaigns. After eight years there, she was transferred to their New York office. 
Over the next ten years, she earned a seat on the Ogilvy New York board (the youngest person to achieve this) and became a ‘global warrior’ roaming to London, Singapore, China, Brazil, BA, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, Budapest, etc., as Worldwide Managing Director on global brands like Motorola, Kodak, Avon and Dove. Nicky’s passion is for the power of creativity and insight applied to complex business problems. View Nicky's LinkedIn profile. 
 

 Rob Cameron is the executive chairman of Cameron Partners, a leading New Zealand investment bank. With more than 25 years experience he is recognised as one of New Zealand’s most skilled investment bankers and has led and advised on many high profile transactions. 
Before he became an investment banker Rob was a senior advisor in the New Zealand Treasury and was one of the principal architects of the New Zealand ‘SOE Model’ in the early 1980s. Rob has a BCA in Economics with First Class Honours from Victoria University and an MPA (Finance & Economics) from Harvard University. He is a Harkness Fellow, a Hunter Fellow of Victoria University and a Fellow of INFINZ. 
His past board memberships include Chairman of the Capital Markets Development Taskforce, Chairman of the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation, a member of the Board of Trustees of Special Olympics New Zealand and a member of the Advisory Board for the Victoria University Faculty of Commerce and Administration. Rob was also a member and Treasurer of the Council of Victoria University, Wellington.  View Rob's LinkedIn profile. 
 

 Craig Donaldson is well-known in the Kea network as the former co-director of Kea North America, and has now been appointed to the global Kea board. 
As the head of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s North America FX Global Financial Institutions, Craig has been running RBS North America’s FX Sales business (voted top 5 in North America by Euromoney) for the last five years, a business he helped to build up from his arrival. 
Craig’s previous work history and experience portrays extensive knowledge in global banking having worked for some of the world’s largest and well-regarded financial institutions including Deutsche Bank (and formerly) Banker’s Trust and Merril Lynch. View Craig's LinkedIn profile. 
 

 John Lumsden is the chair of the New Zealand Standards Council, Moxie Communications Limited, and Virtual Expos New Zealand Limited. He was President of the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce, and an establishment board member and director of Grow Wellington, the region’s economic development agency.
Until early 2007 John was chief executive of the Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited, a position he held from when it was established as a State Owned Enterprise in 1992. He was an elected member of the Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organisation. John’s work experience started with ICI in the UK, then Alcan in Jamaica and Canada, Unilever Canada, and Labatt Breweries of Canada.
In 2005 he set up Growlypaw Limited, a business growth advisory consultancy, while also being elected the chair of Aviation NZ, and becoming a member of the board of Windsor Engineering Group as well as serving on the board of Refugee Aoterora Services Inc. from 2007 to 2009. View John's LinkedIn profile. 
 

 Stefan Preston, heralded as one of New Zealand’s most successful CEO’s, is the co-founder and director of Ingenio, an investment and management company that assists and invests in New Zealand start up companies. With a career history of successfully turning around numerous retail, apparel, and design companies’ fortunes in Europe, North America, Middle East and Australasian markets he brings a wealth of experience to the Kea Board. 
Stefan operates through private company Ingenio - which is co-owned by his wife Leslie (a fellow Stanford MBA). Prior to starting Ingenio Stefan was the Chief Executive Officer of Brendon in New Zealand, from April 2002 to 2007, and the CEO of Pacific Retail from 1991 to 2001. In 1997 Stefan took on the role of managing director of Whitcoulls and was responsible for the overall management and leadership of the organisation.
Stefan’s skills lie in helping companies in their branding and identity, design, retail, sourcing, strategic planning, and leadership. A Stanford University MBA graduate, Stefan also has a B.E. (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Auckland. View Stefan's LinkedIn profile. 

Ex-Officio Directors

 Scott Brown is the chair of Kea China and the founder and managing director of REDFERN Associates, a Shanghai-based advisory and corporate services firm. On a day-to-day basis Scott’s business is to assist companies wanting market access into China and provide situation analyses and information to companies preparing to launch into the Chinese market.
Scott’s experience in China began in 1997 with investment projects including China’s largest aquarium and Shanghai SOE leather tannery joint ventures for VC and a publicly listed company. He furthered his career as China CFO, then managing director of a multi-national packaging group, Asia development director for an NYSE publicly listed talent company, and later as director of finance and board chairman for a leading European measuring equipment company.
Scott was key note speaker on China strategy and market entry for New Zealand’s historic China FTA, he holds accounting and post graduate finance degrees from the University of Otago, and is a professionally qualified and registered member of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants. View Scott's LinkedIn profile. 
 

Richard Dellabarca, based in London, is Chair of Kea UK and Chief Financial Officer, Chi-X Global Inc. He is the former Chief Financial Officer and co-founder of Staccato Communications Inc (formerly Artimi), a venture capital funded wireless semiconductor company that raised over $90m in six years.
Prior to this, Richard was an investment banker for a number of years with BZW and then ABN AMRO, working in both New Zealand and Australia in M&A and Equity Capital Markets. He also spent two years at Coopers & Lybrand working in Corporate Tax. Richard has an MBA from Cambridge University and is qualified as a barrister and solicitor, and chartered accountant. View Richard's LinkedIn profile. 
 

Mark Smith is based in Sydney and has been a director of Kea in Australia for the past 5 years. Mark owns and operates the commercial law firm ANZ Lawyers, which operates in both Australia and New Zealand. He has an LLB and an MBA (Hons) from the University of Canterbury.
Mark’s legal practices include acting on a broad range of commercial legal work. Mark’s specialist areas of work include capital markets work and mergers and acquisitions, particularly for small and medium sized businesses. Mark has a special interest in assisting NZ-based businesses to raise equity capital outside of NZ. View Mark's LinkedIn profile. 

Founding Directors

 Sir Stephen Tindall is the former Chair of Kea. He is the founder of The Warehouse Group and co-founder and trustee of The Tindall Foundation. The Warehouse is New Zealand's largest non-food retailer with over 7,500 employees and revenues of NZ$1.7B. The Tindall Foundation seeks to fund not-for-profit organisations, assist New Zealanders in reaching their full potential, and help grow a stronger New Zealand. It is the largest private foundation by capital measurement in Australasia. Stephen co-founded the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development in 1999. He served on the Prime Minister's Enterprise Council during the Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley governments, then worked with Helen Clark's government on the Science and Innovation Advisory Board, and chaired the Growth and Innovation Advisory Council. Stephen is a founding and current board member of The New Zealand Institute. He holds honorary doctorates from AUT University and Massey University, and has received numerous awards including: NZ Herald 'Business Person of the Year' 1997, Deloitte/Management Magazine 'Executive of the Year' 1998, Peter Blake Leadership Award 2006, and the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in 2009. Through his investment company K1W1, Stephen has invested in over 100 New Zealand start-up companies focused on export through innovation and clean technology. 
 

 Professor David Teece is the Tusher Professor at the University Of California, Berkeley. He has an MA (first class honours) from the University of Canterbury and a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He is on the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania as well as on several corporate boards. David has held teaching and research positions at Stanford and Oxford Universities and is on the Accenture list of the world's top 50 business intellectuals. He has received numerous prizes, and four honorary doctorates, in recognition of his scholarly research and institution building contributions. He is Executive Chairman of the Berkeley Research Group, an expert services firm which he co-founded in 2010. His most recent book is “Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management,” Oxford University Press 2009. David is involved in several New Zealand ventures in farming, forestry, viticulture (Mt Beautiful), engineering, and natural resources.
 

Former Directors

Sharon Fraser (Ex-Officio, former Chair of Kea China). Based in China and the World’s largest and fastest growing municipality of Chongqing since late 2009 as General Manager of the Intercontinental Chongqing Hotel, part of IHG Greater China management team. Prior to that Sharon was in Shanghai since 2005, where she took up the role of Chair in 2008. Her focus has been on helping Kea to get a strong foot hold in China by focusing on connecting Kiwi’s and “Friends of New Zealand” in this dynamic market place. Originally from Auckland, Sharon has also lived and worked in Beijing, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia and NZ in various International Hotel Management positions. When not managing the Hotel and involved in Kea activities, Sharon volunteers with various local communities and organisations that focus on helping China’s less privileged.

Bridget Liddell, based in New York, is General Partner of Fahrenheit Wellness Fund, a company which invests in food, beverage and personal care businesses in the US and in Australasia. She chairs the NZTE North America Beachhead Advisory Board, which offers mentoring and consulting support to New Zealand businesses seeking access to the US market. Bridget is a Director and investor in a range of small private companies in the US and New Zealand. Bridget was formerly a Director of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and, prior to her departure from New Zealand, was CEO of University of Auckland Development, inaugural Chair of The ICEHOUSE, and a Director of listed companies, Fisher & Paykel Appliances and Sky City. She was a Harkness Fellow in 1998.
 

Chris Pickrill is the New Zealand Managing Director of The Shannon Company, a behavior change communications company. He has nearly 40 years’ general management, marketing and research experience in major New Zealand corporates and the government sector, including 15 years’ teaching and mentoring within the SME sector. Chris has an MA (hons) in economics from the University of Canterbury and is a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management and an Honorary Fellow of the College of Practitioners in Economic Development. He chairs the Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust,  is a Trustee of the Untouched World Foundation and  a Board Member of the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce.
 

Kerry Prendergast was Mayor of Wellington from 2001 to 2010. Since leaving this position she has moved into commercial governance. She is Chair of the new Crown entity, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA); Chair of the Tourism NZ Board; Chair of Netball Wellington Region; Executive Chair of the NZ International Arts Festival, on which she was a Trustee for 20 years; a Trustee of the New Zealand Community Trust; a member of the advisory board to the Auditor General. She is also on the board of the Wellington Phoenix Football Club and publicly-listed Kirkaldie and Stains Ltd. Kerry has an MBA from Victoria University. She was given VUW’s inaugural MBA Leadership Award in 2010 and received a Distinguished Alumni Award from VUW in April 2011. In the Queen’s Birthday Honours she became a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Before becoming Mayor, Kerry served on the Wellington City Council from 1989, including six years as Deputy Mayor. She was Vice President of Local Government New Zealand for 5 years. Kerry’s other Council appointments included Wellington International Airport Ltd, the Joe Aspell Trust, the Wellington Mayoral Forum and the Regional Land Transport Committee for Wellington Region. As Mayor, Kerry was patron of a large number of organisations including: NBR New Zealand Opera, Netball Wellington, Parent Help, Wellington Youth Orchestra, Skylight, Capital Vision Trust and Wellington-Xiamen Association.
 

John Stace joined Wright Stephenson & Company in 1965 serving in various New Zealand provinces and the UK. He established Harlock Stace Andrewes in 1975, an insurance broker based in Wellington. John moved to the UK in 1980 and established Stace Barr Limited in 1986, a company that subsequently became the then largest capital provider to Lloyd’s of London, managing £1 billion (circa 9% of Lloyd's market). John was a founding member of Lloyd's Market Board, member of the Council of Lloyd's 1995-1996, Deputy Chairman of Lloyd's in both years, and also spent time as a member of Lloyd's Regulatory Board. As founding CEO of Angerstein Underwriting Trust plc (now Amlin plc), John was Vice Chairman of Amlin plc when he retired from the Lloyd's Market in 2004. He returned to New Zealand in 2005 and now sits on the Board or holds directorships in: Triplejump (Deputy Chairman); Data Insurance Licensing Ltd (Chairman); 3R Group (Deputy Chairman); New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) Board Member, Equestrian Sports of New Zealand; World Class New Zealand (Advisory Board); The Tank Museum, Bovington, UK (Trustee). Previous directorships include: Genesis Energy and Methodware (Chairman).