LLLNZ Board Profiles

Director                              

Barbara Sturmfels

As Director, Barbara chairs the LLLNZ Board and overseas the affairs and business of LLLNZ. Barbara lives in Point Chevalier, Auckland with her partner Bill and their two teenage children. She has been a Leader since 1997 and her roles in LLLNZ have included Leader of the Central Auckland Group, Area Coordinator of Leaders and Area Board Member. Barbara is a member of the National Breastfeeding Committee and is active in the Auckland Breastfeeding Network. She has been largely out of the paid workforce since before the birth of her first child, during which time she believes she has gained more skills and knowledge, with more relevance and benefit to the community, than would ever have been possible in her previous corporate employment.

 

Incoming Director who is currently working as Co-Director

Alison Stanton .

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Administrator of Leaders

Carolyn Driver-Burgess

Carolyn has been a LLL Leader since 1995, when she joined the team of Leaders in Thames.  Since then she has worked first as a Coordinator of Leader Accreditation, and then as Area Coordinator of Leaders for Area 2, before becoming the Administrator of Leaders in 2005.  She lives in Thames with her husband Roger, and five of their six children (the eldest at university).  Most of her days are occupied with homeschooling the children, teaching being an almost equal passion with breastfeeding.

 

 

Administrator of Leader Accreditation

Eleanor Becker

Eleanor lives in Christchurch with Andreas and their 3 children.  Eleanor has been a Leader since 1996 and has been involved in the Leader Accreditation Department since 1997. She enjoys the work in the LAD as she feels it is a privilege to share the stories of committed mothers as they work through the accreditation process,  She was a Leader in the Malvern Group, based in Darfield. Before children Eleanor was a chemist and has done a small amount of work in this field since.  She now is responsible for the accounts of the family business as well as running a small business from home.

 

 

Administrator of Professional Liaison

Debra Graham

Debbie lives near Lake Karapiro, Cambridge with Tony and their 3 children, Debbie has been a La Leche League Leader with the Cambridge and Te Awamutu Groups since 1996. She has worked in the Leader Accreditation Department, the Leader Department and is newly appointed as the Administrator of the Professional Liaison Department. Before having children, Debbie worked as a nurse and midwife. Since then her enthusiasm to help mothers with breastfeeding challenges led her to further study and attaining her Lactation Consultancy qualification. She now works part time as a Breastfeeding Educator and aims to put all her skills and knowledge together to assist Leaders with their own learning.

 

 

Administrator of Communication Skills

Hilary Henderson

"I became a Leader in 1998 and have been active with the Mornington (recently renamed Dunedin Harbour) group in Dunedin ever since.  I have two children: a fabulous 17 year old daughter and a wonderful 12 year old son and a honey of a husband who has been extremely supportive of my La Leche League activities all the way through.  As Administrator of Communication Skills I am privileged to be part of a superb team of Leaders who are as passionate about adult education as I am.  My main paid work has always been in the world of finance and accounting, although I am also a Speech and Drama teacher. This is a second stint on the Board for me, but in a new role."

 

 

  

Administrator of Publications

Janine Pinkham 

As Administrator of Publications Janine oversees the preparation of LLLNZ publications and contributions to publications outside of LLLNZ. Janine lives in Kaiapoi, North Canterbury, is married with four sons who are in their teens or older. She has been a La Leche League Leader since 1993 and has had many roles within LLLNZ. Janine is active in the Canterbury Breastfeeding Network, works as a Baby Friendly assessor for the New Zealand Breastfeeding Authority and has been involved with Baby Friendly document reviews. Janine believes that every mother deserves the chance to find out all about breastfeeding and to have plenty of support to discover what it means to be a parent.

 

Area 1 Board member

Donna Henderson

Donna is married with four children and lives in Auckland. She has been a Leader for five years. Donna volunteers as the text message contact on the LLLNZ brochure, Are You Pregnant or Breastfeeding? She also writes the Breastfeeding Notes column for Parents Centre's Kiwiparent magazine.  As the Area 1 Board member, she provides a voice and face for the Area on the LLLNZ Board, and a liaison back to the Leaders. Donna is enjoying embracing technology as a new way of contacting and helping mothers.

 

Area 2 Board member

Kristina MaConaghie 

Kristina lives in Taupo with Stuart Hickman. They have two sons, Zachary (5) and Daniel (2), and another baby due in December. Kristina has been a Leader since April 2007 and she reactivated the Taupo Group in September of that year. Immediately prior to having children Kristina was a Lecturer in Health Care Ethics at AUT and she is currently a member of the Lakes District Health Board Research and Ethics Committee. As well as this job, and her La Leche League responsibilities, Kristina volunteers at Taupo Family Playcentre and Taupo Parents Centre.

 

 

Area 3 Board member

Lauren Luketina

Lauren is the Area 3 Board member (the lower third of the North Island).  She has been a LLL leader in Kapiti since 2005.  She has a daughter who was born in 2001.  Lauren is an Early Childhood Teacher who has a degree in Sociology.  Lauren lives in Waikanae and has an interest in supporting women who wish to breastfeed and she thinks it is important for women from all socio-economic situations to have access to support and hence the benefits of breastfeeding.

 

 

South Island Board member

Linda Dockrill

As Area Board Member for the South Island, Linda consults with the Area Staff and Leaders in order to fulfill this role. She lives in Christchurch with her husband and three school-age children.  Linda has been a Leader since 2001and also holds the position of Area Coordinator of Leader Accreditation for the South Island. She is an active Leader in the Christchurch Central Group and balances LLL work with contract work as a Midwifery Standards Reviewer for the New Zealand College of Midwives. Linda worked as a Social Worker before having children and finds there is great scope for her community development, social action, counselling, facilitation skills and interests within La Leche League. She believes that the power of mother to mother support creates networks and strengthens communities in a way that cannot be recreated by 'experts'.

 

 

Treasurer

 

Jill Allan

 

Jill is employed part-time at the LLLNZ Office as Treasurer, which gives her a non-voting position on the LLLNZ Board.  She enjoys the accounting part of the work, as it has reawakened skills she learnt years ago, before she and her husband started a family. However she doesn't think that she would enjoy part-time work so much if it was not for an organisation that she believes in. 

 

Jill became a Leader in 1995 and as well as Group work during the 1990s has filled several voluntary Editing positions in the Publications Department.  Her principal hobby is - you guessed it! - reading.

 

EDITORS

 

Editor of Mosaic, LLLNZ Leaders' Journal

Liz Lightfoot

As well as soliciting articles from NZ Leaders themselves, Liz's role as Editor involves gathering articles from LLLI international publications that may be of interest to NZ Leaders. Her aim is to provide up-to-date information and encouragement to Leaders and Leader Applicants in the invaluable and often sacrificial work they undertake in order to support mothers and babies in their local communities. Liz has been a La Leche League Leader in the Waikato since 2004 and lives with her primary school aged daughter and son.

 

 

Website Editor

Fran Crossland

Fran retired in 2008 from 16 years as LLLNZ Office Administrator and now continues her work for LLLNZ in a voluntary capacity, as she did when she first became a Leader in 1978. With three grown children and two grandsons, she is proud to be part of an organisation which has mothers and babies at the core of its focus.