Our Board

Carla Moore

Flourish is a culmination of everything I have dreamed about combining for most of my big girl thinking life!  

I decided I’d become an educational psychologist while I was still at school because the idea of working with families - children and parents together, to best support families, made so much sense.  After travelling, nannying, and doing every parenting course I could find, I completed my MA in Educational Psychology and then quickly realised I needed to gather my own experience of whānau. Four children later, I’m still learning and loving what having strength through self-empowerment, having the courage to be authentic, being able to share in vulnerability and the push for connectedness, can ultimately bring to our community.  

With my constant desire for connection, a natural tendency towards positivity and a real curiosity and empathy for others, I have a strong sense of well-being and a desire to make a difference.  

When I’m not thinking big, I love to run with our Labrador and friends in our beautiful park, or along one of our beaches, or a riverside. I try to keep up with my family on a mountain bike and love it when we get packs on and find some tracks to go walking for a few hours. My family and friends are vital to my wellbeing, and a good card game, puzzle or book in front of the fire with a nice wine and some great chocolate works too! 

Look at where big dreams can take us! Let’s do this together and help our Taranaki community to truly flourish. Please come and meet me and share your story.  

Jana Dunnet

Being a part of Flourish with my inspiring team mates just “fits the bill”.

Having managed the Toy Library since 2013 and having made lots of great memories over the years, I am always amazed at how supportive our community is. I love seeing the joy that toys bring and seeing families spend quality time together while playing. Play is such an important part of children’s learning and development, and I love how the Toy Library enables families to do this in a financially and environmentally sustainable way. 

I know how much work goes into setting up and improving community organisations, and I am grateful for the difference that we have been able to make over the years, with a lot of collective help and effort! It is the desire to remain “with the times” that is important for me, and to make sure that we are just as successful in the future. My motivation for co-founding Flourish and being a part of this future, is in these charitable organisations being able to better focus on the actual great work they do, rather than worrying about the future of their organisation. The sharing of space, knowledge and manpower is definitely the way to go to futureproof.

I bring to Flourish my “can-do” attitude, the power of positivity, and my love for connecting and helping people. Having chosen New Zealand as my residence of choice after growing up in East Germany, I absolutely enjoy making a difference in my community.

In my free time, you’ll find me exploring the outdoors with my family, reading, board-gaming and gardening.

Fiona Lal

I have been excited about the idea of Flourish from the moment I first heard about it. I've often thought what a difference Flourish could have made to me during my children's very early years, and I truly believe that the smaller but vital community groups in our region can achieve so much more through working together, than we can on our own. 

It is humbling to work alongside such hard-working, selfless people who continue to enrich the lives of children, their whanau and our local community.

Raised in South Taranaki, I studied at Victoria University of Wellington, and then travelled widely with my now husband. Together we have worked in a number of countries, and I have had a varied career mostly in Accounting and Systems Analysis, which has given me a strong diversity of skills.

Having children abroad, we found the pull to return to Taranaki and ultimately family, irresistible. I have been in the fortunate position of giving my family priority when considering career options, and while being a co-director of local consulting company CodeFluent Limited, I am grateful to be able to contribute to our local community with trustee positions for the Taranaki Toy Library, the Taranaki Gifted Community Trust, and now also as a founding trustee of Flourish.   

My amazing family inspires me daily and I have seen my children benefit first-hand from the amazing work that these trusts do. I love to read widely and enjoy good coffee and a great board game. I also enjoy exploring our beautiful region in my downtime.

Katy Quest

Flourish, as a collaborative space where parents, caregivers and families can come together really excites me! When I look back at my own family’s journey, with highs and lows, a place like Flourish would have been such a great help.  

My passion for supporting community and other people on this crazy parenting journey all started when I first became a Mum in 2006. My background up until then had been in banking and finance, with a stint in a more creative role as a Production Manager at a London Advertising Agency. I spent 9 years in the UK before stopping over in Australia on my way back to NZ, where I met my partner (of 18 years now) and he followed me home.

I found my flock of birthing women through Active Birth Taranaki and this group quickly became my ‘family’ and support network, lifelong friends, and revealed to me the power of belonging and support. I now have 2 teenage sons, and not only has becoming a Mum reshaped my view of the world, but it has ignited the fire in my belly around supporting other parents while on their own journeys. This road can be amazing and fulfilling, but it can also be lonely, frustrating, and just downright hard sometimes. 

Alongside years of Playcentre and school committees, I have been providing Parenting Education and support for the last 8 years via SPACE Taranaki, and through the “Incredible Years” Parent and Toddler programmes. I feel very privileged to have been asked to be part of this fabulous team of people, and to help get Flourish off the ground so that our community can be the best that it can. 

I fill my own cup by being in my garden planting, growing and nurturing kai for my family or building outdoor furniture and undertaking landscaping projects. I am a creative person so usually have something on the go. Sometimes you may find me onstage, dressed up and singing ‘80’s hits with a Ladies choir for fun too when I’m not hanging with my family.

Kevin Nielsen

I believe in the philosophy of Flourish which aims to bring together a variety of support services, information, and resources for Taranaki people raising children in a comprehensive virtual and physical space.

A born and bred “Taranakian” I spent 36 years working at Taranaki Newspapers, with the last 16 as General Manager, and then 15 years as the Chief Executive of Hospice Taranaki until my retirement in 2017.

Serving as an elected member of the Taranaki District Health Board for 8 years has provided great insights into the health system along with increased frustration with a lack of focus on primary care and the insufficient acknowledgement of the importance of the first 1000 days of life.

The arrival 10 years ago of grandson Zak who lives with a disability has driven a strong interest in the disability sector and I am currently President of New Plymouth Riding for the Disabled, a Board member of the Conductive Education Taranaki Trust, and a Life Member of Hospice Taranaki.

Married to Karin for just over 50 years with 3 sons and 5 grandchildren I believe the importance of family (whatever form that may take) is essential to raising happy and successful children.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to put my experience, time, and energy into achieving the Flourish goal.

Annalese Sharrock

I love a journey, and the fantastic people that you meet along the way! I’ve invested in the Flourish vision, and for me, getting involved was about assisting where I can and with my skills, to bring this journey to life!

After finishing school in Taranaki, I headed to Victoria University in Wellington and funded my studies in Law, HR, and Criminology by working in the hospitality sector, and then went on to spend 13 years with Inland Revenue as a Specialist Investigator where I added my accounting and forensic review skills. Always partial to having multiple jobs and roles on the go, I now lead the Macfarlane Hospitality Group and consulting firm, Strategy Collective with business interests across New Zealand.

I have a passion for people, leadership and transformational thought. Everything about business and community is fostered upon establishing and nurturing relationships. No one individual knows the answer to everything, and in working collaboratively, we can achieve more together, while always striving for a better outcome.

With 3 young children, and a shift-working husband, some would say a fairly crazy busy schedule. It’s all about organisation and being effective when you’re in something. When not at work, I try and manage a few games of squash each week, and love getting out and about on a hike be it in Taranaki, or further afield. Definitely partial to the odd gin, or espresso martini, you’ll definitely see me making the most of Taranaki’s festivities and great outdoors.

Krystal Burrell

The kaupapa of Flourish truly feeds my wairua and enhances my sense of who I am as wahine Māori.   

For over sixteen years I have worked in the kaupapa Māori, health, education and family/whānau sector in Taranaki, as a social worker, project manager and general manager. I now run my own company, KJB Consulting Services Ltd which I started after discovering a real need for evidence based, hopeful parenting programmes. I came across and trained in the “Incredible Years” parenting programme, which offers clear, manageable tools to add to the parenting kete, in a supportive and caring environment. We now deliver this throughout Taranaki and have extending our services to offer Play Therapy and small group children’s treatment programmes.  
 
My vision of KJB Consulting Services fits perfectly with that of Flourish, giving caregivers and children the skills they need to enjoy whānau life together, for us and our children, and communities after us.  
 
I care deeply about whakawhanaungatanga - my established connections and relationships, alongside the knowledge and experience I have gained from living my own colourful life, raising 3 precious children in central Taranaki, and now my first Mokopuna. I am looking forward to bringing my best self into this space, starting off with a commitment to my own wellbeing, supported by my love for rongo, nature, te Ao Maori in general and getting out there and moving and improving my own physical health. 
 
I fill my cup by reading, listening to podcasts, spending time in the ngahere and most importantly hanging with my whanau, and especially my moko tuatahi.

Tracy Abel

What a pleasure and privilege it is to have the opportunity to a part of Flourish. Each member of the board and the entire team brings their own brand of ‘clever’ with the shared goal of creating a space where every parent has the support they need to help every child FLOURISH.

Being involved with Flourish is a natural fit for me. Adding value where I can, promoting constructive outcomes for all and working hard to ensure that with collaboration, the results are bigger than the sum of all parts are the things that drive me. Knowing that together we can provide support, education and eventually a one stop shop for whanau, parents, children and caregivers is a vision worth working for.

My professional background has been in adult education, leadership development, communication and team building. I construct and facilitate workshops in this space as well as offer one on one coaching to encourage people to truly inhabit their lives. I have also always been involved in the health and well-being space and currently own a boutique pilates studio. I have previous as well as current board experience that I’m excited to add to the mix.

I survived growing my 4 children up with only one more to go so I am well aware of the challenges in the parenting space!

Let’s now get excited about creating an amazing opportunity for whanau in our community to truly FLOURISH.

Anne Bridges

Flourish is new to me, and I am new to Flourish.   
  
My day job for the last 30 years or so, has revolved around technical aspects of the Dairy Industry and more recently freelance Project Management. I also enjoy offering my time (and hopefully skills) in volunteer roles in various community groups and so when an opportunity to join the Flourish whānau came along, I thought why not? If I can help even just a little bit in making Flourish successful and see Taranaki whānau benefit from a collective sharing of ideas’, programmes, support and general wellbeing, then that will make me happy. 
  
Having a scientific and process driven brain may seem an odd fit with the rest of the Flourish team who are so beautifully creative, love sharing their feelings and can imagine big things, however, here I am co-opted onto the Flourish Board and loving the creative environment I find myself in. 
  
Tennis, walking at the beach with our crazy spoodle, donning my RedBands on our little farm block, planting native trees, chilling with my husband and teenage boys, and then sharing a gin & BBQ with friends also makes me very happy. 

Sophie Bunlee

Upon hearing about Flourish I had to get involved! Flourish to me provides the connection and space for families to access support no matter where they are at on their parenting journey.

I moved to Taranaki with my husband and son in August 2020 and have since welcomed the addition of our beautiful wee girl. I’m community minded and know that when people have the support and space to connect then great things can happen. Being early on in my parenting life myself I can already see how there is no ‘right’ way to parent but if we all have a village then our tamariki will be better off for it.  
 
As a Wellingtonian, I studied at Victoria University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Social Policy and Sociology, and worked for an NGO before moving into government health and social contracting, procurement and service development. 

In my downtime I spend hours at various playgrounds around town (Fitzroy is the family fave! Playgrounds, coffee and beaches are a winning combo), on the coastal walkway on my bike or at Pukekura Park. We love having friends and family come to visit New Plymouth to show off our awesome region.