New Executive Director for the Health Promotion Forum of NZ

May 16, 2012

New Executive Director for the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand

Sione Tu’itahi has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand Runanga Whakapiki Ake I Te Hauora o Aotearoa.

An educator, author and public health professional, Sione has been the Deputy Executive Director of the Forum for the past four years.

“We are delighted to have Sione with his wealth of professional experience and leadership in the education and public health sectors over the last 18 years,” says Donna Leatherby, Chairperson of the Forum.

Sione joined the Forum in 2005 after six years as Pacific Manager at the Auckland Regional Public Health Service. He has also taught at a number of tertiary educational institutions. For more than ten years he led the building of Pacific capacity at Massey University. A former journalist and broadcaster, Sione is the author of a number of books, academic papers, and children’s stories. As a voluntary community worker, he is a member of the Pacific Peoples’ Advisory Panel to the Auckland City Council.

“I am honoured and delighted to work with a great team at the Forum, contributing to the hauora and holistic wellbeing of all peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand,” says Sione.

“Building on the great work of those who came before us, our team will continue working together with other public health organisations to address inequities and the underlying determinants of wellbeing, and to ensure that hauora is everyone’s right.”

Sione takes over from Dr Alison Blaiklock who successfully led the Forum for eight years before she resigned in order to take up further studies in tropical medicine and public health with James Cook University, Australia.

Established in 1988, the Forum is a national non-governmental organisation (NGO) that builds leadership, relationships, sector development and the workforce in health promotion consistent with the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Ottawa Charter. The membership of the Forum is made up of over 130 organisations committed to improving health.

ENDS

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