Jacki has worked in the Not for Profit sector all of her working life, predominantly in health and social services in community based organisations. She has a particular affinity for working with vulnerable communities including those faced with poverty, mental health issues or inequitable access to education or health services. She holds a number of qualifications including a Master’s degree with Honours, is a Fellow of The Institute of Management New Zealand and a Chartered Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. Jacki has been Chief Executive at Great Potentials Foundation since January 2017.
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John joined Great Potentials in 2018. His main responsibility is to undertake and deliver systematic evaluations of the three programmes that Great Potentials Foundation operates - HIPPY, Family Service Centres and MATES.
John has extensive experience in social research from his many years at Statistics New Zealand and more recently as a lecturer and senior researcher at AUT University. John's most recent research was the first ever Global Survey on Language Revitalisation run by Recovering Voices at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.
John is a PhD candidate with the International Centre for Language Revitalisation at AUT University. His thesis research investigates how spaces where Samoa language maintenance is statistically observed in Aotearoa-New Zealand, impacting on Samoa diaspora in Aotearoa-New Zealand.
Mark is a Community Development Specialist, who has worked with young people and communities to develop practical solutions to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable. He believes long term sustainable change takes effort and commitment from many and he is determined to play his part, holding close the whakatauki 'He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata', which translated means 'What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people'.
Mark has worked for both Government agencies and in the not for profit sector for the past 20 years and is a trained police officer having previously worked across Auckland and Northland. Mark joined Great Potentials as the National Director of HIPPY in 2018.
Deepika has worked with children and young people in the area of mental health and is a Domestic Violence Specialist, having many years of experience working for both Primary Health Organisations and NGO's in New Zealand and overseas, including Shine.
Born in North-East India, from a young age Deepika had a powerful role model in her Grandfather who spent his life helping those in need, particularly in the area of women's education and social justice.
Due to this influence, from an early age, Deepika began working with women and children who were living on the streets. She has carried that experience and motivation for social justice into her work throughout her life.
Her particular passion is working with children because, as she says, "Children are our future."
Connor started at MATES back in 2015 as a mentor in the Education 200 paper at the University of Auckland. He has been a coordinator at MATES Jr for the past 3 years seeing the introduction of Finlayson Park and Mangere East Primary to the programme.
Connor finished his Bachelor of Science majoring in Psychology in 2017 and more recently finished his Post Graduate diploma in Counselling theory in 2019, beginning a Masters of Counselling in 2020. MATES was the first place Connor found he could give back to the community and affect change in people’s lives through empowerment and education.
Through MATES Junior, Connor has seen amazing mentors become amazing professionals and talented students thrive in both high school and in life. He was appointed MATES Programme Manager in March 2021.
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