Paul Collins (Chairman)
Paul Collins is chairman of Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC). He has been governor and chairman of the New Zealand Sports Foundation during the period 1986 to 1999. In 2005 he was a member of the Rugby 2011 World Cup Bid Committee which won the hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup. He is chairman of the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust and of the Hurricanes, and is a director of Wellington Rugby Ltd.
The former chief executive of Brierley Investments has served on the board of more than 50 listed companies in New Zealand and overseas.
He is executive director of Active Equities Ltd, and is a non-executive director of Team Talk Limited and Masterpet Corporation Ltd.
Mark Weldon
Auckland-born Mark Weldon is a former Olympic swimmer. He competed at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, in the men’s 50m freestyle and the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay. He also competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. He has served on the board of the New Zealand Olympic Committee.
He has been chief executive of New Zealand Exchange since June 2002. In that time he has led it through its transformation from a mutual to a listed company.
He has worked as a senior adviser to CEOs of a number of Fortune 500 companies, and as an attorney for a leading New York law firm.
Hamish Carter
Hamish Carter ONZM was a professional athlete for 19 years during which time he won the gold medal in triathlon at the 2004 Olympic Games, the bronze at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, won the triathlon World Cup in 2006, won two bronze and one silver in the World Championships, and won 12 International Triathlon Union World Cup races. He retired as an athlete early in 2007.
Carter was honoured with the Office of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005 for services to sport particularly triathlon.
He works for Lion Nathan as sales capability leader, and is a director of SportConnect, an initiative which sees Sky Television donate some of the advertising money it gets from businesses to the organisation to distribute to athletes. He has worked for global software company Xero in the role of business relationship/development manager.
Bill Birnie
Bill Birnie is on the board of SPARC. He is chairman and managing partner of private equity firm Birnie Capital Partners Limited. Birnie holds a Bachelor of Laws and is a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.
He is a trustee of the James Wallace Arts Trust and deputy chairman of the New Zealand Film Commission. Birnie is also chair of the KidsCan Charitable Trust.
He is a past chairman and director of New Zealand’s largest fruit exporter, ENZA, and has been director of the Screen Council of New Zealand, director of New Zealand Equestrian Sports, and commissioner of the Hillary Commission. Bill was a founding trustee of the Wellington Stadium Trust.
Katie Sadleir
Katie Sadleir is on the board of SPARC and is General Manager, Injury Prevention at ACC.
She competed for New Zealand at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and won a bronze medal in her sport of synchronised swimming at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
In 1994, she was deputy Chef de Mission for the New Zealand team at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, and was a member of the New Zealand Olympic Committee Athletes Commission from 1993 to 1998.
She has 17 years experience working within the private and public sector. She has worked at the New Zealand Sports Foundation, and has held senior leadership positions at both the Hillary Commission and SPARC.
Don Mackinnon
Don Mackinnon is on the board of SPARC and is a partner at specialist employment law firm Swarbrick Beck Mackinnon. He has more than 22 years’ experience in employment law and industrial relations, in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Mackinnon has a Master of Laws from the University of London, majoring in International Labour Law. He acts for a number of major sporting bodies including Emirates Team New Zealand.
He was a director of Netball New Zealand for nine years, the last three as chairman, and was part of the Independent Advisory Panel which recently conducted a major review of rugby league in New Zealand. He also assists the New Zealand Rugby Players Association.
See also