About Kate

Kate was elected as a Bay of Plenty Regional Councillor in 2025 and she is also President of NZ’s leading conservation organisation - Forest & Bird.

She is a conservationist and has a passion for the preservation and restoration of NZ’s natural environment. Her professional background includes legal advisor to the Western BOP District Council and several senior advisor environmental policy roles with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the (previously named) Ministry of Transport.

Kate has a particular interest driving policy adoption to build resilience to climate change and she is actively involved in a number of local Bay of Plenty pest eradication & forest restoration programmes.

Qualifications

Kate is a member of the NZ Institute of Directors and has a LLB (Law) & BA (History) from the University of Otago.

Governance Roles

Kate’s current portfolio of directorships & trustee positions are focused on environmental & conservation non-for profit organisations.