Adrian Orr is the Chair of the Fale Malae Trust. He is primarily of Cook Island and Irish descent and was born and raised in Taupō. He is married to Sue, a novelist, and they have three adult children.

Adrian is the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. He was appointed to the role in March 2018. Prior to this, he has held a number of important economic and financial management positions in New Zealand.

Adrian is also a board member of the Nikau Foundation. He has previously been awarded the Pacific Business Trust’s Pacific Business Person of the year.

In his spare time, Adrian enjoys spending time with whānau, fishing, and drawing.

Adrian Wimmers is the Deputy Chair of the Fale Malae Trust. He is a New Zealander primarily of Dutch descent. He is married to Sonya and has two teenage children.

Adrian is the National Industry Leader for the Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare sector at KPMG New Zealand. His professional career has been as a commercial/financial advisor to the public sector in New Zealand, the UK and the Netherlands specialising in infrastructure projects and project finance. He has twice worked in the public sector for the commercial arm of the Treasury and also undertook a long-term secondment to help establish the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission | Te Waihanga in 2019-2021.

Adrian has previously serviced on numerous trust and advisory boards including the Komiti Pasifika at Victoria University of Wellington and as Chair of Volunteer Wellington.

John Fiso, also known as Fiso John Fiso, holds the chief's title bestowed upon him by his father’s village in Samoa. Based in Wellington, he is a prominent supporter of school sports, community initiatives, and Pacific and Māori communities. A graduate of Otago University and Victoria University, John holds qualifications in Teaching, Physical Education, Economics, and Linguistics. With a diverse background in Education, Health, Economic Development, and the Wellness sector, he actively engages in the Pacific community.

Recognised for his contributions, John was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2016 for his services to Education, Sport, and the Pacific Community. He was also named Wellingtonian of the Year in the same year for his services to education and received the ANZ Pacific Business Awards in 2017. As the chairman of various boards, including the Independent Tertiary Providers of NZ and Pacific Education Private Providers, John is currently leading the Whitby Collegiate Proprietor’s Board, Pacific Health Plus, and the Fiso Investment Group. He has established the Fiso Investment Group, a private Pacific fund focusing on property development, health, education, hospitality, wellness, and imports/exports.

Kara is the Chief Executive Officer of Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o Te Ika, responsible for the social, economic, cultural, and environmental well-being of 20,000+ members. As a husband and father, Kara is dedicated to his whānau, iwi and wider community.

He has held senior roles in both public service and the private sector, focusing on improving outcomes for Māori. Kara earned a Master’s in Planning and Resource Management (with distinction) from the University of Otago, working in strategy, policy, environmental management, housing, and iwi governance.

In 2015, Kara joined the Asia Pacific Leadership Programme at the East West Centre in Hawaii, and in 2019, he was part of the Obama Foundation Asia Pacific Leadership Forum in Malaysia.

Previously, Kara was the Director of Economy and Development at Hutt City Council, overseeing housing, community assets, transport, urban development, and major projects like ‘RiverLink.’

Born and raised in Wainuiomata, Kara is of Te Āti Awa and Ngāi Tūhoe descent.

Les is a management consultant, prior to this he was the Chief Financial Officer of Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of New Zealand for six years. He has spent the majority of his career working with infrastructure.

Les is passionate about the positive difference that education can make, along with removing the barriers to achieving educational success.

In his spare time, Les enjoys spending time with his family, mountain biking, and DIY renovating.

Associate Professor Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban is Assistant Vice Chancellor (Pasifika) at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington, and is Chair of the Governance Board of the Pacific Public Service Fale.

Luamanuvao was a New Zealand Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2010, serving as Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, and Associate Minister of Social Development, Economic Development and Trade. She is a Board Member and Patron of a wide number of organisations including the establishment board for the National Fale Malae.

Luamanuvao is a university graduate in Social Work and Development Studies, and was awarded a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) from the National University of Sāmoa in 2023. Prior to entering Parliament, she managed development programmes throughout the Pacific Region.

Priscilla is a founding trustee of the Fale Malae Trust. She is the Deputy Director of the Pacific Justice Sector Programme, which supports Pacific courts, judicial officers, legal advocates and community-led justice providers across 15 Pacific countries.

Of Samoan, Italian and Maltese descent, Priscilla is an alumnus of Victoria University Te Herenga Waka, graduating with an LLB (Hons) degree in 2004. She was admitted to the bar that same year.

Priscilla has extensive public sector experience, having held prior roles as a policy analyst for the Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua, as in-house Legal Counsel for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and as in-house Legal Counsel for New Zealand Police Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa. Priscilla has also spent a number of years in private legal practice, where she specialised in constitutional and public law and Treaty of Waitangi matters.

Priscilla has fostered a wide range of strong relationships with senior Pacific leaders within the community and is a long-standing member of the Pasifika Komiti of Victoria University Te Herenga Waka.

Simon Tyler is a Trustee on the Fale Malae Trust. Simon is married to Joanne, they have three children and five grandchildren, two of which are Samoan.

Simon has spent nearly 40 years in the finance industry, working at National Bank; the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and spending 10 years as CE of the Government Superannuation Fund and National Provident Funds.

These days Simon is a director and advisor for several companies including being a Director for Heartland Bank, Palliser Estate Wines; NZ Bio Forestry; an Independent Advisor on the Booster Funds Private Equity Fund, Chair of the IHC Investment Fund; member of the IHC Board Audit committee and a Trustee of the Otago University Foundation.

Tina is the Chief Operating Officer at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. The Chief Operating Officer portfolio is a pivotal University role covering the Property Services, Digital Solutions, Legal Services, Health and Safety, Risk and Assurance, and Student and Campus Living teams.

Tina’s three decades of experience spans the public and private sectors and includes strategic and investment planning, marketing and product development, and operations and service delivery in business and technology contexts. Prior to joining the University, she was Deputy Secretary Corporate and Digital Services at the Ministry of Justice, where she was responsible for around 700 staff across Human Resources, Digital, Data and Information, Property, Commercial, Resilience and Assurance, and Health, Safety and Security, including Court Security. Before joining the Ministry of Justice, she held senior positions at the Department of Internal Affairs and Telecom NZ (now Spark).

Tina has a history of building high-performing corporate and digital teams that enable businesses to do their best work. She specialises in forging strong partnerships and transforming corporate functions by growing capability and focusing on customer outcomes.

She holds a Master of Arts (Massey), Master of Library and Information Science (Hawai’i) and a post graduate Diploma in Business Administration (Massey). She is a former Fulbright and East–West Centre scholar.

Vic O’Connor is an Executive Director of the Tonkin + Taylor Group which includes Geotechnics and all the New Zealand and Australian subsidiaries. His T+T Group governance role spans 23 years and he has 45+ years’ experience in the operation, management and leadership of civil engineering testing and instrumentation businesses. Vic was the Managing Director of Geotechnics for 30 years from 1990 to 2020.

His new role includes business development, mentoring and coaching, major project oversight and business to business relationship development for the wider group.

Vic has worked in the UK, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand on numerous major projects including an oil refinery, gold mines, motorway construction, mass concrete dams, tunnels, landfills and hydro-electric projects.

Vic specialises in quality systems, geotechnical and pavement testing, site laboratory project management, geotechnical instrumentation and was an auditor for International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM).