BOARD MEMBERS

John Coulam (Chairperson)

​John Coulam joins the Board of Catholic Family Support services, bringing with him a strong background in governance and leadership.

John’s background is in education, having been a Principal of Catholic primary schools for 30 years.  His current position is Education Support Manager for the Hamilton Catholic Diocese, looking after a network of thirty four schools, supporting Boards of Trustees and principals with governance, special character and HR matters.
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John’s current community involvement is as a director of Jubilee Catholic Early Childhood Ltd, a director of Harness Racing NZ, a trustee of the Graeme Dingle Foundation Waikato, Chairman of the New Zealand Education Equine Trust which oversees the equine Gateway programmes in High schools and he is a trustee of The Common Good Foundation, a charity that raises and distributes funds to community groups that support the poor and disadvantaged. 

Greg Schmidt (Treasurer)
Greg is the Diocesan General Manager at the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton and has been a member of the Board since 2004.
 
Greg has had many years of general management and financial experience in the commercial and not for profit sectors.  Greg is a qualified Chartered Accountant and he completed a MBA in 1997.

Daryn Goodall
Daryn has lived in the Waikato since 2000, and is a member of the Cathedral Parish. Daryn and his wife Louise have 4 adult children and one granddaughter.

Daryn has been working for the ANZ bank for 30 years in various lending roles within the farming division. Daryn has experience in governance, he also served on the Board of Trustees at Marian School, and Sacred Heart Girls' College.  Daryn is looking forward to using his knowledge & experience assisting CFSS provide its services to the community.

Ewen Macpherson
After completing his law studies in Australia, Ewen worked briefly for an Australian litigation and commercial firm. He then undertook a Master of Laws at the University of Auckland in 2017, graduating with Honours.  Since 2018 Ewen has worked for McCaw Lewis, a leading Waikato law firm, specialising in dispute resolution and problem solving. He is passionate about supporting the community by volunteering his time working with Waikato youth.
 
Ewen balances work with his outside interests, including volunteering with Education Sponsorship Trust, endurance racing events and music.

​​Niall Baker
Niall is a Senior Policy Planner. He has over 10 years’ experience as an advisor in the corporate and community planning sphere of local government including Long Term Plans, Annual Plans/Reports, bylaws, policy, community engagement, and iwi relations. 
 
He has an Honours degree in Social Sciences (First Class Honours), and Master’s degree in Environmental Planning. Niall joined the Board in 2018 and is enjoying supporting the good governance of Catholic Family Support Services. 

Peter Clarke

Peter Clarke celebrated 40 years in social work practice in March this year 2020.  He was a registered social worker at Oranga Tamariki and have undertaken the following roles: Social Worker, Social Work Supervisor, Practice Leader, Hui a Whanau Facilitator, Coordinator of training  for new staff and a Family Group Conference Coordinator.
 
He has supervised teams of social workers principally in Care and Protection since 1992 through to 2014.  He supported social workers by facilitating Hui a Whanau (Calling a meeting between the Whanau and the Ministry). He was contracted to provide practice leadership to staff as a Practice Leader in 2007 and 2008. Peter's principal role now is the Convening of and facilitation of Family Group Conferences.
  
Previous roles include:
Assistant Residential Social Worker – Dey St Girls Home, Hamilton.
Coordinator of the Youth Shelter at the Auckland City Mission.
Clinical Leader Social Work – Waikato Hospital.
Admission Coordinator and Social Worker for what was then Trevellyn Rest Home and Hospital.
 
Family: Peter has three adult children. Joshua is married to Kesha and they have two beautiful (He is a little biased) little boys, Beckett and Max. Peter has two daughters who both live in Wellington and both are in relationships. Joanna and Rachel. Rachel is to get married in July this year. Peter has a wonderful wife, my partner, Judy. We have been married for 36 years.

Peter is retired now and he has wanted to give back to the community in some way and see this in part as being a member of the Board of CFSS. Peter is happy to be a member of the Board so he can share the wealth of experience I have gained over the last 40 years.