Our Board
Marcel Fletcher, Tumuaki, Chair
An experienced professional with a strong track record across education, corporate, community, and government environments. Marcel brings governance experience from complex organisational settings, including tertiary, education and community organisations.
Bringing a disciplined approach to stakeholder-focused environments, and providing an understanding of balancing operational delivery with long-term strategic outcomes. Marcel combines commercial acumen with a deep commitment to community development and kaupapa Māori approaches. His work reflects a strong understanding of partnership with iwi, culturally grounded service delivery, and the importance of outcomes that uplift whānau and communities.
As a Board Director and Chair of Te Waipuna Puawai, Marcel provides leadership to an organisation focused on strengthening women, families, and communities through education, support services, and holistic wellbeing initiatives. His governance style is characterised by clarity of purpose, strong stakeholder engagement, and a focus on sustainable, values-driven impact.
Nicola Brehaut, Tumuaki Tuarua, Deputy Chair
A 5th generation New Zealander with a strong background in management, Nicola has been involved with many businesses and organisations across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Passionate about community-led development, she came to Te Waipuna Puawai keen to contribute to building stronger communities. Nicola is proud to support an organisation that's making a difference to the lives of women and their whānau.
Janine Roberts
Having worked with Te Waipuna in a professional capacity providing accounting support for a number of years, Janine is excited about the opportunity to be more involved as a board member. She is passionate about supporting young people, whether through financial education or providing an opportunity to get ahead through services provided by organisations such as Te Waipuna. Janine looks forward to seeing the community development continue.
Scott Russell
Having worked at the highest level in private practice, in-house roles and in the government sector. Scott started his career in private practice at Bell Gully, before moving to London and Hong Kong with Ashurst. Then he moved in-house as Head of Litigation at Virgin Media UK. On returning to New Zealand, Scott worked as Senior Legal Counsel at the Commerce Commission before founding Russell Legal. He has a strong academic background in both business and law having completed an LLB (Hons), a BCom (Economics) and more recently an MBA at the University of Auckland. Scott has a unique ability to solve complex legal and commercial problems gained from practical experience working on all sides of the table.
Bill Takerei, Manukura, Chief Executive
As Chief Executive of Te Waipuna Puawai, Bill bring 20 years of management experience to his role in assisting the board to achieve their strategic and operational objectives. Bill's fluency in his Māori culture and ability to foster strong relationships helps Te Waipuna Puawai retain itself as a strong community leader in its approach and space of community development. Te Waipuna Puawai is a community provider that has a heart and can reach the community in many ways, something that he's grateful and proud to be a part of.