Our team

Elke Thompson, Programme Manager

Elke Thompson is the Programme Manager for Te Korowai. With a career spanning central and local government, tourism, regional economic development, cultural heritage and tertiary education, Elke brings expertise in stakeholder management, leadership, and business development.

Her work is deeply people-focused, and she understands the unique challenges and aspirations of councils across Aotearoa, New Zealand. Committed to ensuring Te Korowai provides meaningful support to local government, Elke aims to empower councils, helping them succeed and positively impact their communities.

Toby Stevenson, Independent Assessment Board Chair

Toby Stevenson is the inaugural Chair of the Independent Evaluation Panel.

He is a Consulting Director with economics consultancy Sapere where he focuses mainly on energy markets, decarbonisation initiatives and infrastructure businesses.

Toby is a Chartered Director. In his corporate career he established the electricity trading function at Contact Energy and previously worked in the banking sector.

Albert Brantley, Independent Assessment Board Member

Trained as an engineer and geologist, over the past 45 years Albert has led the construction, commissioning and operation of large scale oil and gas, mining and utility assets throughout the world. Until August 2018 he was the Chief Executive of Ōtākaro Limited, the Crown Company responsible for the post-earthquake rebuild programme for central Christchurch, and was the Chief Executive of Genesis Energy for eight years before that. In New Zealand, he has held similar executive roles at OceanaGold Ltd and L&M Mining Ltd.

A Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors, Albert has provided Board level governance for the past 30 years, specialising in the primary production, construction, energy and transport and logistics sectors. He has served on the Independent Assessment Board of Local Government New Zealand since 2016.

Adam Feeley, Te Korowai assessor

Adam Feeley is a seasoned lawyer who's held top roles in both public and private sectors, including being CEO at Queenstown Lakes District Council, the NZ Serious Fraud Office, and the Eden Park Redevelopment Board.

Adam’s approach to assessments is to make them constructively challenging and rewarding, involving active engagement from all parts of the council. He fosters open discussions by raising initial strengths and challenges early, ensuring no surprises and achieving a mutual understanding on enhancing performance.

David Moore, Te Korowai assessor

David Moore is a Managing Director of Sapere Research Group, an Australasian consulting firm. With a strong public finance background, David has held numerous governance positions and ministerial committee appointments. Before consulting, David was a senior manager in New Zealand’s health sector and worked in an investment bank, a consulting firm in London, and at the Treasury.

David's assessment approach involves thorough research, questioning, careful listening, and active reflection. He values open and direct communication and enjoys tackling complex local government issues, integrating expertise in funds management, strategy development, spatial planning, biosecurity, and business processes.

Robert Buchanan, Te Korowai assessor

Robert Buchanan is a retired lawyer and governance consultant. His career began in the 1980s at the Office of the Ombudsman in Wellington, where he developed the Office’s approach to official information investigations. He later served as Director of the Law Commission and Assistant Auditor-General, Legal at the Office of the Auditor-General. From 2006 to 2022, Robert was an independent public law practitioner focusing on public sector good practice, governance, and accountability. Throughout his career, Robert has advised on various aspects of governance and conducted independent reviews in both the local and central government sectors.

As a Te Korowai assessor, Robert brings extensive expertise in governance, financial management, and conflict of interest management. He maintains a keen interest in council-iwi relationships, stemming from his Treaty-related work.

Toni Kennerley, Te Korowai assessor

Toni Kennerley is a Director at Planalytics NZ Ltd, a Wairarapa-based consulting firm, with an extensive background in housing and urban planning. Her work spans both international projects, including in the Middle East, and local engagements in New Zealand. She has served on the Boards of OffsiteNZ, a membership organisation for the offsite design and construction sector, and Trust House Limited, a community housing provider, and has contributed to BUILD magazine.

Since joining the assessor group in December 2019, Toni has brought a deep appreciation for local government and its impact on communities. She adopts an informal, approachable style, ensuring people feel comfortable and at ease during assessments. Her "listen and learn" approach fosters open dialogue and genuine engagement. Toni has seen great success with continuous improvement initiatives, particularly when leadership teams embrace assessments as opportunities for ongoing development. She finds it especially rewarding to engage with frontline staff and stakeholders who show a strong commitment to reflection and improvement.

Martyn Dunne, Te Korowai assessor

Martyn Dunne, CNZM, QSO, brings extensive experience in defence, diplomacy, customs, and primary industries to assessments. His notable roles include Director-General of The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), NZ High Commissioner to Australia, and CEO of NZ Customs. With 33 years in the New Zealand Army, including service with the NZ Special Air Service (SAS), Martyn commanded forces in East Timor and established a Joint Forces Command as a Major General. He holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies and chairs the NZSAS Charitable Trust and the Royal NZ Returned Services Association. Martyn aims for clear communication and a balanced approach in assessments.

Dave Brash, Te Korowai assessor

Dave Brash has over 30 years of experience in senior leadership roles in the public sector, focusing on collaboration between central and local governments. Notably, he led the government's recovery efforts for the Kaikoura earthquake and Whakatane floods in 2017. Prior to this, he served as Group Manager for Planning and Investment at NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and held senior roles in climate change and natural resources at the Ministry for the Environment and Treasury.

His approach to assessments is characterised by curiosity, respect, and genuine engagement. He values meeting people on the ground to understand their challenges and successes.

Bruce Robertson, Te Korowai assessor

Bruce has worked with many local authorities throughout his career as a public sector auditor and over the last 10 years in his own governance and advisory consultancy. He is currently an independent member of 12 Council Audit and Risk Committees (all but one as chair). Much of his advisory work intersects the key local government disciplines of financial, asset and strategic management as well as good governance. In his prior role as Assistant Auditor-General he oversaw the audit of the last for LTP rounds and reported extensively at sector level on the quality of forecasting and planning.

He also supports good practice through regularly presenting at Taituarā seminars and co-chairs a group of interested Audit and Risk Chairs in improving their and their Committee’s performance.

Bruce is a Fellow Chartered Accountant.