Our board members

Suzanne Stew

Deputy Secretary, Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery, MBIE

Suzanne Stew is Deputy Secretary for Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery group, which provides critical functions and services that support businesses, employees and consumers to operate successfully in the market place.

Prior to joining MBIE in 2019, Suzanne was the Deputy Secretary – Corporate and Governance at the Ministry of Justice for a period of 4 years.

Suzanne joined the public service in 2011 as General Manager Internal Partners at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, where she led the delivery of corporate support services. Prior to that, she held senior management roles spanning diverse functions at TelstraClear and Wrightson.

Ross van der Schyff

General Manager Business and Consumer, MBIE

Ross van der Schyff is the General Manager of the Business and Consumer Branch in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Ross is responsible for the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), Consumer Services, the New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) and a number of small business-related services including business.govt.nz, Digital Boost, Regional Business Partner Network, and Business Connect.

Ross holds the statutory delegations as Commissioner of Patents, Trade Marks, Designs, Plant Variety Rights, and Geographical Indications and Registrar of NZBN.

Ross has more than 20 years public sector experience. During that time, he has also held roles including Official Assignee and Registrar of Companies. 

Ross has a B.Iuris and LLB degrees and was a partner in a law firm prior to joining the public sector. He is particularly interested in creating an environment where businesses thrive, and driving innovation and productivity.

Heather Finn

Manager, Business Improvement and Innovation, NZ Customs Service

Heather leads the Business Improvement and Innovation team at NZ Customs Service, Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa.

Customs has worked with Business Connect since it started and were the first agency to put a service on the platform. 

Heather is focussed on simplifying and digitising services for the travellers and traders that engage with Customs and excited by the opportunities for agencies to work together to deliver seamless experiences for businesses.

Mike Manson

Chief Executive, Association for Local Government Information Managers

Mike Manson is the Chief Executive of ALGIM (Association of Local Government Information Management).

He is passionate about bringing people and technology together to deliver better local government services.

Having had a long career in Local Government, Mike brings a wealth of experience to Business Connect.

Serge van Dam

Digital Start-up Investor

Serge van Dam is an active investor and director of going-global Kiwi software, digital companies, including; Montoux, Re-Leased, Tapi, Raygun and Cogo.

Originally an Organisational Psychologist, Serge is most interested in technology growth strategies, and has deep experience in software sales, marketing and distribution. He spent a decade as an acknowledged thought leader in fintech, having been part of the leadership team at M-Com – the world’s leading mobile banking and payments platform – which was acquired by Fortune 500 company Fiserv in 2011.

Steve Armitage

Chief Executive, Hospitality New Zealand

Steve is of Ngāpuhi descent with strong familial connections to Whangārei and the Far North.
 
He is currently the Chief Executive for Hospitality New Zealand where his vision is to lead a collaborative organisation which engages efficiently and effectively on behalf of the membership, delivers meaningful action through the insights of members, and continues to support, attract and develop capability for the sector. 

Prior to this, he has been Managing Director at Daylight, a strategic consultancy specialising in major events, tourism and business events for the betterment of local communities, visitors and businesses.
 
He was previously General Manager Destination at Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (now Tataki Auckland Unlimited), the region's cultural and economic growth agency, where he had oversight of tourism marketing, destination management, major events, business events and international education. 
 
Steve oversaw the development of Auckland’s major events portfolio, including the Cricket World Cup, 36th America’s Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup and Rugby World Cup. He also led the Auckland Convention Bureau to grow Auckland as a premium destination for business events in domestic and international markets.
 
Steve has previously worked in the New Zealand Government as a strategist advising the government on a range of portfolios, including tourism. 
 
He is also past-Chair of Business Events Industry Aotearoa and current co-Chair of the Tourism Data Leadership Group.

Terry Copeland

Chief Executive, Federated Farmers

Terry Copeland is the, having been in the role since August 2018. This role is responsible for 70 staff who provide the delivery of advocacy and policy development on behalf of farmers, continuing the development of the benefits of membership for 13,000 Federated Farmers members and for influencing rural leadership and community resilience.

For the previous 5 years, Terry was Chief Executive of New Zealand Young Farmers whereby he rejuvenated this next generation membership organisation into a talent attraction provider to the Primary Industries, specialising in school engagement and career focus as well as showcasing agricultural excellence to the wider New Zealand audience. 

From May 2021 to February 2023 Terry chaired the Food & Fibre Leaders Forum Chief Executive Group, 13 primary sector organisations with key issues of commonality to support engagement with Government Ministers.

For most of Terry’s career, he spent more than 2 decades in the wine industry working on wine quality improvement and developing key export markets. Terry has also been a highly respected and experienced international wine judge since the late 1990s. 

Rebecca Ingram

Chief Executive, Tourism Industry Aotearoa

Rebecca Ingram is the Chief Executive at Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA), New Zealand’s only independent association that represents all sectors of New Zealand’s diverse tourism industry, with 1200 member businesses from small owner/operators to large publicly listed tourism corporates and international hotel chains. Prior to joining TIA, Rebecca spent 7 years at Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), where she held various roles including General Manager of New Zealand and Government Relations.

She was previously responsible for TNZ’s PR and Major Events, leading a global team across 10 markets in highlighting the best of what New Zealand has to offer to visitors. Rebecca has 20 years of leadership, marketing and communications expertise, with proven experience delivering successful business strategies, engagement and advocacy programmes and leading complex transformation in her time at both Spark (then Telecom) and Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.