The Prince's Trust team
Meet the Board
Andrew Williams
CHAIR OF THE BOARD
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Andrew is a Partner, Executive Board Member and Co-Chairman at Alvarium.
After founding Alvarium in 2009, he served as Chief Executive Officer until 2017. Andrew directs Alvarium’s real estate investment strategies and oversees all of the group’s real estate investments.
He is Chairman of the Investment Committee for Real Estate and sits on boards and investment committees of a number of Alvarium’s Joint Venture Partners. Prior to setting up Alvarium, he was Managing Director of Cushman & Wakefield Residential and Chairman of Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, having transacted on more than $11bn of acquisitions. Andrew has worked in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and has concluded private, public, corporate finance and property transactions in more than 30 countries over the past 25 years.
Jennifer Gill ONZM
DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE BOARD
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Jenny has had extensive experience as a trustee and chair of a number of national philanthropic trusts including Philanthropy New Zealand and the J R McKenzie Trust.
Her career in philanthropy began in 1985 when Sir Roy McKenzie employed her as the Executive Director of his personal foundation. This was followed by ten years as the Director of the New Zealand Fulbright programme. She is currently Chair of the newly established MAS Foundation and is also a trustee of the Vodafone (NZ) Foundation and a Director of the board of Water Safety New Zealand. She retired in 2019 after 15 years as the CEO of Foundation North.
In 2017 Jenny was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to philanthropy and was the inaugural winner of the Philanthropy NZ - Perpetual Guardian Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy Award.
James Robinson
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James is the founder and Co-CEO of Tend Health (alongside his wife Cecilia), one of New Zealands’s leading start ups. James was previously the Co-founder and Co-CEO of My Food Bag – NZ’s third largest food retailer at the time.
James has run the marketing, digital and finance teams of each start-up and is well versed in M&A transactions having led the sale processes for My Food Bag as well as the recent capital raises for Tend Health.
The father of three young children is also a mentor to young entrepreneurs from The Prince’s Trust, Jesse and Kawiti Waetford, guiding them as they grow and accelerate their business, Modern Rituals.
As a guest speaker, James has shared his vast business knowledge and experience with young people taking part in the trust’s Enterprise Programme.
Along with Cecilia, and as part of the Robinson Duo, James is a generous donor to He Kākano, the trust’s $2M seed fund for young entrepreneurs.
Pare Keiha QSO
TE WHĀNAU-A-TAUPARA , TE AITANGA-A MĀHAKI and RONGOWHAKAATA
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Pare QSO is a New Zealand academic whose research is in the areas of Māori development, corporate governance, competition law and policy, and intellectual property law.
He is Māori, of Whānau-a-Taupara / Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Rongowhakaata descent, and as of 2019 is a full professor, pro vice-chancellor and dean at the Auckland University of Technology.
Rukumoana Schaafhausen
NGĀTI HAUA, WAIKATO TAINUI
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Rukumoana, named after her marae in Morrinsville, is a dynamic leader who has carried her passion through roles as a lawyer, mother, director - whether in marae or boardrooms.
She is the current Te Arataura Chair and Kaahui Ariki Māori King’s Representative, as well as the longest standing trustee of Waikato Tainui. She is both humbled and privileged to hold these roles and has always carried a message of kotahitanga, manaakitanga and prosperity for the people of Waikato and New Zealand.
Rukumoana is also a trustee of the Tindall Foundation, the Princes Trust NZ, and has carried multiple public and private directorships in Genesis Energy, Agresearch, Miro Berries Limited, and recently received the Sir Peter Blake award for leadership.
Ben Gough
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Ben is the Founder of the Gough Family Office and Managing Director of Gough Investments Ltd.
The Gough Family Office brings Ben’s family, commercial and philanthropic interests and enterprises together in one place. His commercial vehicle, Gough Investments Ltd. invests in and develops selected businesses by providing the expertise, patience and support to transform their vision into commercial reality.
Gough Investments Ltd. is also a shareholder in Alvarium Investments (NZ) Limited that provides a platform for like-minded family investors from NZ and around the globe to invest in uniquely New Zealand opportunities to grow Kiwi businesses, infrastructure and export development potential.
A prior recipient of a Prime Minister’s scholarship to attend Harvard University in the USA, Ben has considerable entrepreneurial expertise founded on a long-standing commercial family legacy. His business acumen also drives the strategic philanthropy and measurable impact focus of The Ben Gough Family Foundation.
Ben and his wife, Penny, know the importance of opportunities for experiential education and unique experiences that help each young person to recognise their individual high-performance & leadership talent in sport, business or community— and are committed to unleashing each generation’s potential to lead and participate fully in their community and their future.
Sam Johnson
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Sam leads the SVA Foundation and is most well- known for founding the Student Volunteer Army after the Christchurch earthquakes.
The SVA Foundation engages over 50,000 people in their programs each year across New Zealand focused on volunteerism, guardianship and mentoring. Sam is a member of Westpac Bank Sustainability Panel and an Adjunct Fellow in the School of Education and Leadership at the University of Canterbury.
