Meet the Vocational Rehabilitation team

Andrew is the National Programme Manager and comes to us with an extensive background in the field. He was formerly the CEO and Board Chair of the NZ Spinal Trust and was instrumental in establishing our current programme.

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Meika, our Senior Vocational Consultant, joined the vocational rehabilitation team in early 2007 after working for many years as a laboratory technician in a fishing company. Meika herself has a spinal impairment and brings to the team the insights and experience of having trained for and developed a career with paraplegia.

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Deb, our Senior Vocational Consultant, joined the team in July 2011. Deb is an experienced career coach with over 20 years’ experience of working with people from a variety of backgrounds. She started her career in the New Zealand Air Force as a psychologist and formerly worked for the New Zealand Employment Service as a Special Projects Advisor.

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Noretta joined the team in March 2014 as a Vocational Consultant and is based at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit. Noretta has had extensive experience providing vocational rehabilitation services for people who have sustained injuries, which has included working as a self-employed Vocational Consultant in the South Auckland area. She has also had previous experience as a Recruitment Consultant – specialising in co-ordinating placements within the Industrial sector.

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Kate is one of our Vocational Consultants based at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit. She joined the NZST in November 2019 and her background includes working with ACC where she was identifying and preparing clients for post-injury work roles. She also worked at Workbridge (a nationwide not for profit agency) for 6 years assisting people with disabilities into work. This involved identifying individual skills and supporting clients vocationally into sustainable employment.

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