Siobhan O'Malley
CO-FOUNDER
Siobhan O’Malley and her husband Christopher have been sharemilkers all over the South Island, and hop growers and beef farmers in the Motueka Valley. In 2017, while living in Mid-Canterbury, they were crowned NZ Share Farmers of the Year at the NZ Dairy Industry Awards. Siobhan has several private business interests outside of the Ag sector and runs social media platform - Pukeko Pastures. She is currently sharemilking near Hokitika.
Wayne Langford
CO-FOUNDER & BOARD MEMBER
Wayne Langford and his wife Tyler are dairy farmers from Golden Bay, milking 250 cows once-a-day. Wayne sits as the National Dairy Chair for Federated Farmers, Golden Bay Feds President, Primary ITO Stakeholders Council, Rural Service Centre Vice Chairman, and Te Whare Mahana Board Member. He is also known as the YOLOFarmer, a social media platform with a following of over 125,000 people.
JULIA JONES
BOARD CHAIR
Julia Jones is passionate about inspiring confidence and new thinking; she believes adaptation will ensure long term human, planet and economic wellness for our rural and urban communities. Her 6 years with KPMG fuelled her understanding of global trends and the opportunity they brought to NZ and this led to her new role as the Head of Analytics with NZX.
She has experienced a series of highlights over her career, which include completing the Harvard Agri Seminar in China 2010, Te Hono boot camp at Stanford University 2017 and graduating the AWDT Escalator Program 2012.
Greg McSkimming
BOARD MEMBER
As Silver Fern Farm's Agribusiness and Strategic Solutions Manager, Greg has a huge passion for the success of agriculture. He’s also fully aware of the challenges and opportunities in front of us as an industry. Anything he can do to improve SFF's awesome products, and create value sustainably for our farmers and industry, is what drives him. At SFF, Greg, their executive and board saw the vision Wayne and Siobhan had in setting up Meat the Need. They didn’t hesitate in bringing the help needed to create a supply chain of red meat from farms to families in need. It doesn’t sit right with Greg that although our farmers produce a lot, there are families in NZ that can’t put nutritious red meat on the table. He feels privileged to be a part of the team and to be able to bring value wherever he can to this cause.
CHEYENNE WILSON
BOARD MEMBER
Cheyenne was raised on sheep and beef properties in the heart of Southland and has been working in the dairy industry for the past 7 years. She is currently studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce in Agriculture majoring in Accounting at Lincoln University.
She intends to work with rangatahi and enlighten them to the many opportunities in the primary sector and ensure they are supported and successful. As an Agri-Women’s Development Trust Next Level Graduate she thrives supporting industry organisations and initiatives.
Nicki Mackay
BOARD MEMBER
Whilst Nicki was born and raised in Dunedin, she has spent more than 28 years working and living in and around rural communities. She’s always been in the financial services sector, most recently as the Head of Claims & Digital Assessing for FMG. Her collaborative leadership style, operational expertise, and ability to influence others have seen her become a central figure in leading large operational teams, business change and building people capability across the FMG’s national footprint. Nicki loves to bring a fresh perspective and challenge the status quo to ensure our rural sector continues to lead innovation tomorrow as well as it does today. As an Agri-women’s Development Trust Escalator Graduate in 2016, she thrives on getting involved and supporting organisations across the Agri-sector.
Shaheen Junge
BOARD MEMBER
Shaheen was born in Auckland and has spent the last 7 years working at Fonterra in various people focused roles. Her passion to support communities has led her to a new role leading Community & Social Investment for the Co-op. Shaheen has a conjoint degree and has worked in various roles & industries across Australia & NZ. Her leadership style is collaborative with a bent to making things happen!
Jo Hay
BOARD MEMBER
Jo Hay is a sheep and beef farmer in North Otago, where alongside her husband Ross and three children, they run 6000su. Jo prides herself on being a food producer who takes care of people and the planet while producing high quality, nutrient dense protein. With an earlier career in Education, Jo understands the importance of good nutrition on learning and would love to see a food system in NZ where nobody is left behind. Jo is currently on the Board of North Otago Irrigation Company, a Steering Committee member of North Otago Sustainable Land Management and a Central South Island Farmer Councillor for Beef + Lamb NZ. An Agri-Women’s Development Trust Escalator graduate in 2021, Jo loves to make a difference and thrives on working collaboratively with people, for people, to grow flourishing communities and a strong primary industry.
Nick Fisher
BOARD MEMBER
Nick hails from Dunedin and was involved for a number of years in the meat industry before shifting to marketing and media. Currently, he is Head of Rural for Mediaworks NZ, driving and building the commercial success of their Rural Exchange products. He has an in-depth understanding of commercial partnerships and sponsorships, and is a leader in the rural marketing and advertising field. He thrives in numerous working environments with an outgoing and positive approach, coupled with a keen desire to succeed. He loves challenges and problem solves by thinking laterally, leading by example and being compassionate to others. He enjoys working with boards that allow collaborative thinking to ensure they get the best results.
Zellara Holden
GENERAL MANAGER
Originally from South Africa, Zellara is now a proud New Zealand citizen, residing in Hamilton with her husband Lawrence and their 3 children. With a robust financial background and 12 years in the Agricultural sector, Zellara has cultivated strong relationships with farmers and industry stakeholders. She understands the challenges that charities and not for profit organisations have and the opportunity to think about things in a different way. She loves collaborating and bringing ideas to life, this allows her to demonstrate her inclusive and creative approach. She is dedicated and passionate about driving positive change and making a lasting impact on New Zealand communities by reducing food insecurity.
Sarah Gagliardi
NATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGER
Sarah was born and bred in Christchurch and now lives in sunny Tasman. Although she doesn't come from a farming household, growing up she earned pocket money working in shearing sheds on cousins' farms. Sarah has a master’s degree in the health sciences and has spent the last decade in education and healthcare roles. One of her career highlights has been working in schools across Africa, India and Nepal, facilitating teachers' professional development, policy and curriculum design. Outside of work, Sarah is a Refugee Support Volunteer for the Red Cross, is learning sign language and te reo Māori, volunteers on a local governance board and loves exploring the great outdoors!
Sandra Alfeld
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER
Sandra grew up on a sheep & beef farm in Northland. She now resides in North Canterbury with her husband and two children, where she is Managing Director of Glenhope Station. Their farming operation includes beef cattle, deer, manuka honey, eco-tourism and a carbon farm. Prior to her time at Glenhope Station, Sandra studied at AUT completing a bachelor’s degree in sport and recreation and a postgraduate certificate in business, majoring in marketing. Sandra went on to develop her career in Perth, specialising in sponsorship, commercial sales and corporate relations management for several large corporate entities. Sandra has always been a health and wellness advocate and through her partnerships work with MTN, she looks forward to helping more Kiwi families put high quality protein on their tables.
Sustainable Business Awards Finalist
Meat the Need is a 2020 Sustainable Business Awards Finalist! The Awards are designed to showcase and highlight the fantastic contribution we are making towards sustainability in New Zealand.
High fives all round!
NZ Food Heroes 2020 Finalist
Meat The Need is a finalist in the NZ Food Hero as part of the 2020 New Zealand Food Awards. To all our farmers donating to the programme, thank you for all your hard work helping Kiwis during lockdown!