Sue Westbrook (AAPNZ Associate, AAPNZ Cert. BMM, DipMS, DipMA)

With 20 years experience in senior administrative roles, I have been employed by Lakes District Health Board for over 11 years. My current role is Personal Assistant (Kiri Awhina) to Phyllis Tangitu, General Manager Maori Health. Maori Health division works at the executive level with Chief Executive, Planning & Funding, Corporate, and Board divisions. Lakes DHB is ‘building a culture of success’ for its staff. I value the opportunity to work with fantastic administrators, managers, in fact all staff to achieve our organisation’s vision, mission and objectives.

Apart from working in an industry to improve health outcomes for the community, I also hold positions on Maori trusts, runanga and kohanga reo.

AAPNZ involvement:

Involved since 1999 when AAPNZ was The NZ Society of Executive Secretaries, I am pleased to have grown personally and professionally through active participation on various projects and committees of AAPNZ.  Starting from the "grass roots” and working through the various levels, ie member, committee member, northern leader, group president, 2^nd vice president, then 1^st vice president provided for me the institutional knowledge to help strengthen the association in my role as National President.

Positions held during my membership include:

• 1999             Joined the Rotorua Group of NZSES
• 2001-04        Rotorua Group Membership Secretary
• 2002-04        Rotorua Group Secretary
• 2003-05        Northern Regional Leader
• 2004-05        Rotorua Group Vice President
• 2005-06        Rotorua Group President
• 2005             Became an Associate member
• 2005             Gained AAPNZ Certification
• 2006-07        Rotorua Group Webpage Administrator
• 2006-07        National 2nd Vice President 
• 2007-08        National 1st Vice President
• 2008             National President

It is with pride and honour that I accepted the nomination of National President for 2008-09, to steer the association forward with a fantastic team of  dedicated individuals. I am excited about the future for the association and ourselves as members, and look forward to promoting the uniqueness and choice of opportunities available through membership of AAPNZ.

Angela Ambler

I joined AAPNZ in 2003 as an inaugrual member of the Porirua City sub group.  Throughout the years I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Porirua group and the friends that I have made through AAPNZ. Unfortunately this year, due to dwindling numbers, we had to disband the group and join up with Wellington Group.

I also belong to the Lions Organisation, their meetings are the same time as the Wellington Group – so it is going to make for a bit of juggling. I initially joined AAPNZ in the hope of meeting other admin professionals throughout the Porirua area and to get a bit of networking going. We had a great management team that stuck together for around five years and I made some good friends through this. I have been in the management team since we started – holding positions of Secretary, Vice President and President over this time.

In my working life, I started as a typist for IRD back in 1977 in Dunedin. I then transferred back home to Oamaru and worked in the Ministry of Works and then the Waitaki Freezing Works as administration / reception jobs. I married in 1983 and moved to Wellington. My husband Rex works for VIP transport – a division of Department of Internal Affairs and has the pleasure of looking after all those Ministerial Cars and their chauffeurs throughout New Zealand.  We have two children – Lauren who has two daughters – Olivia and Mackenzie, and John who works for Beaurepairs. Whilst raising children I worked for a Real Estate Company and then went part time at Palmers Gardenworld in Mana. This was a great job and my garden never looked so good as when I was working there. I started with Capital & Coast District Health Board the day after Princess Diana died back in 1997.  I have been in several positions with the CCDHB – Typist for the Child Adolescent & Family Service, then Administration Co-ordinator for an Adult Mental Health Team, then to the Inpatient Rehabilitation administration, I am now back to my original beginning with the Child Adolescent Mental Health Service, this time as the Administration Co-ordinator, managing a small team of five Administrators over two sites.

Out of work Rex and I also run/own a backpackers on SH 1 Mana Esplanade called Stillwater Lodge. We have had this business for 18 months and really enjoy it. We have met many wonderful people travelling through NZ experiencing what NZ can offer. The majority of our travellers come from Europe so on our recent OE it was great to be able to go and visit their countries. Our travels took us to the World Golden Oldies Rugby Festival which was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1 – 8^th September this year and also five weeks of tripping around Europe and Singapore on the way home. 

On the hobbies side of things I enjoy pottering in the garden, spending time with my family, walking with my walking group and travelling around NZ doing various walks. I also love photography, so the camera is with me most of the time.  One day I would like to get back in to golf, also back in to patchwork quilting and/or scrapbooking.

I look forward to the challenges within AAPNZ over the next two years and look forward to working with our hard-working NEC group. 

Sandy Inwood

A little about myself – I have been married to Mike for 32 years and we have two children – Kerri (31) who is currently living in Queensland with her partner Jason, and Hamish (28), married to Stacey and living in Blenheim – they have our first ‘grandbaby’ due in August!  Aside from work and AAPNZ I manage to fill my time in with family, knitting, sewing, reading and travel.

My administration career started in the mid 80’s when I took a part time position as School Secretary at Rotherham School in North Canterbury, (the school that five generations of my family attended – including my two children!).  We moved to Marlborough in 1989 for Mike’s work (farming) and after a couple of part time jobs in retail, in 1992 I was employed full time as an administrator for MBM (Master Butchers Marlborough Ltd) where I learnt everything from Reception to HR/Payroll.  I worked for this company, with many changes to my role along the way, until 1999 when Mike and I took the plunge and went on our OE.  We applied for a job living and working on a sheep farm in New York State about two hours north of New York City – and were successful.  We said goodbye to our children and off we went for the next two years.  A wonderful experience which allowed us to meet many varied and interesting people as well as giving us the opportunity to travel extensively for five months before heading back home to New Zealand – to look for jobs again! It was with surprise (and relief) that I was offered a position of PA to the General Manager back at MBM, where I stayed until the company closed in 2005. I was then offered the position of Receptionist/Accounts Payable with Aotearoa Seafoods – the position I am still in today.

I joined AAPNZ in January 2004 and became one of the founding management team members of Marlborough Group in November of that year.  I have been a member of the management team ever since, carrying out a variety of roles. I value my AAPNZ membership for the opportunities it has given me to not only extend my professional development, but to also put me in contact with other administrators in Marlborough and from throughout New Zealand.  I look forward to taking up the position of Southern Regional Leader and will do my best to liaise between the four South Island Groups and NEC.