The Sir Peter Blake Trust

 

Trustees

The Trust was formed in consultation and with the full support of Pippa, Lady Blake. The Governor General, His Excellency The Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO is the Patron of the Trust and its creation was strongly supported by the Prime Minister and Government of New Zealand.

Day to day operations are managed by the Trust’s Executive team.

The Trustees are:

Pippa, Lady Blake

Pippa, Lady Blake

"Peter was known as a yachtsman and environmentalist but he was always an enthusiastic educator and motivator, particularly of young people. The aims of this Trust, set up in Peter’s name, have their foundations in the environment, education and leadership and my children and I fully support the programmes that are being developed for the young men and women of New Zealand. We are delighted that the memory of a much-loved husband and father will be perpetuated by the Trust". Pippa, Lady Blake.

Pippa was born in Portsmouth, England 1954 and educated at Downe House School, Berkshire, UK. She studied Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art in London between 1972 and 1976 gaining a First Class BA Honours degree in Painting. She went on to work for the Arts Council of Great Britain and as an assistant to a Museum Designer based in Chelsea, London.

Pippa met Peter Blake at the end of 1978 and they were married in August 1979. Their first adventure followed with a three month journey to Sydney to deliver the yacht Condor of Bermuda for the Sydney Hobart race 1979. They then moved on to New Zealand where Pippa worked in the organisation and liaison for Ceramco NZ and many subsequent races and expeditions.

In 1993 Pippa resumed her painting career and has since held several solo exhibitions in UK and Auckland and exhibited widely in group shows mainly in Sussex, Hampshire and London. Her paintings explore the relationship between human made objects and the natural environment and she works from her studio at home in Emsworth, a small village on the Chichester Harbour on the South Coast of England.

Pippa’s talent as an artist has attracted attention and praise. She was an inaugural award recipient and participant in The Flux Project, a residential artist’s programme with an innovative on-line web portal. She was also a recipient of an award to participate in the National Oceanography Centre of Southampton’s "Ocean’s Project" where artists are matched with marine scientists during an oceanographic voyage.

She is the patron for a variety of organisations including The Devonport Yacht Club here in New Zealand, the Blue™ Climate and Oceans Project based in the UK she serves as a founding Trustee for the Sir Peter Blake Trust.

Ross Blackman

Ross Blackman

Ross moved from Dunedin in 1972 and has sailed and worked extensively in the marine industry in many parts of the world. Since 1988 he has been involved in the management of New Zealand’s America’s Cup campaigns in roles ranging from sailmaker to Chief Executive. He was one of the founding managers, along with Sir Peter Blake and Alan Sefton, of Team New Zealand in 1993. He is a keen sailor, fisherman and musician.

Steven Carden

Steven Carden

Steven Carden is an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company in Auckland. Prior to joining the New Zealand office in early 2007, Steven spent three years serving North America’s largest companies out of McKinsey’s New York office.  

While working at McKinsey, Steven wrote a book about New Zealand called New Zealand Unleashed: The Country, Its Future, And The People Who Will Get It There. It was published by Random House in 2007 and has provided the opportunity to speak to groups throughout the country about the opportunities and challenges facing New Zealand.

Steven is also the founder of the First Foundation, an innovative non-profit that for the last 10 years has provided New Zealand’s most talented, but financially disadvantaged secondary school students with work, mentoring and funding from New Zealand’s largest companies.

In 2003, Steven received an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was awarded a Knox Fellowship and a Fulbright scholarship. He also holds an LLB and a BA from the University of Auckland. Steven was one of the inaugural winners of a Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader award in 2005.

Sir Ron Carter

Sir Ron Carter

Sir Ron has a successful engineering business background which led to him becoming Managing Director of Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Limited in 1986 and Chairman of Beca Group Limited in 1995. Sir Ron was knighted in 1998 for his contribution to engineering and business administration and in 2001 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering by the University of Auckland. He has been Chairman of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. He is currently a director of the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited, Rural Equities Limited, Cabletalk Limited and TrustPower Limited. Sir Ron is Chair of the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards Selection Panel.

George Frazis (Chair)

George Frazis is Chief Executive of Westpac New Zealand.  He is highly experienced in the financial services industry, and was formerly Group Executive General Manager at NAB, based in Sydney.  Prior to that, George was a senior executive in CBA’s Institutional Banking Division and has also been a Partner at Boston Consulting Group.

George holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Electronics Engineering with Honours from Curtin University.  He also sits on the Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and on the Advisory Board to the School of Economics and Business at Sydney University.   

Professor John Montgomery

Professor John Montgomery

Professor John Montgomery holds a Personal Chair in Biological Sciences, and is the Chair of Marine Science at the University of Auckland, and Director of the Leigh Marine Laboratory. His scientific work sits at the interface of marine science and neuroscience and he has published extensively on fish sensory behaviour and physiology. Current work includes studies of larval settlement and work with pelagic species such as tuna and billfish.  His work has been recognised by an International Brain Research Organisation Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship and the New Zealand Physiological Society Gold Medal. As Director of the Leigh Marine Laboratory, Professor Montgomery takes a keen interest in Marine Conservation and sustainability. 

Dr Paul Reynolds

Paul joined the Ministry for the Environment as its Chief in July 2008.  Prior to that he worked at the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (1998 - 2002) as Chief Policy Adviser and then from 2002 -2008, led the Policy Group at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. 

Before arriving in Wellington, Paul had a scientific research career, first with the then Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and then with the Crown Institute, HortResearch.  Ho holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Otago. 

Karen Sewell

Karen Sewell

Karen Sewell is the Secretary for Education and Chief Executive of the New Zealand Ministry of Education.

From 2001-2006 she was the Chief Review Officer of the Education Review Office, with responsibility for reviewing and reporting on the quality of early childhood services and schools throughout New Zealand.

Karen’s background is in education. Before she joined ERO Karen was principal of Green Bay High School, a large coeducational secondary school in Auckland. She has been President of the Auckland Secondary Schools Principals’ Association and between 1994 and 1996 she was Chairperson of the Principals’ Council of the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association.

Karen has held a teaching fellowship at Victoria University of Wellington, and a Nuffield Bursary for study at the Institute of Education, University of London. She has delivered keynote addresses and seminars at national and international educational conferences.

In June 2005 Karen took on the role of Acting Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. She returned to her role as Chief Review Officer in May 2006. 

Glen Sowry

Glen was selected for Sir Peter Blake’s 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race campaign onboard Lion New Zealand. Subsequently, Glen sailed onboard the victorious Steinlager 2, helmed the back up boat for the New Zealand Challenge for the America’s Cup in 1991/92 and was then selected as a watch captain by Grant Dalton for the 1993/94 Whitbread onboard New Zealand Endeavour.

During these campaigns Glen took the initiative to write a number of columns for newspapers and magazines. This led to co-authoring two best selling books on the Whitbread. He also helped write and produce television documentaries on sailing as well as the ‘This Is Your Life’ programme for Sir Peter Blake.

Since making the transition from professional sailing to business, Glen has managed public affairs for Telecom, TVNZ and Air New Zealand. In all of these roles he has shown an outstanding ability to build teams and contribute to the success of each organisation.

Glen served on the Yachting New Zealand High Performance Committee and was an Olympic Selector for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. He was also a member of the 2000 New Zealand Olympic Sailing Team.

Since wining the Award, Glen has transitioned into senior general management roles at Air New Zealand and is currently General Manager Tasman Pacific Airline, with accountability for all of the airline’s shorthaul international operation and commercial performance.

Sarah Trotman

Sarah held the role of Chief Executive for Business in the Community for three years, recording a 70% increase in the number of businesses benefiting from their free business mentor service. A respected Small Business Sector Specialist Sarah has established Small Business Expo Ltd which runs the largest event held for business in NZ, successfully bringing together both private and public entities to deliver a network of much needed support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the backbone of the New Zealand economy.

Sarah created the Excellence in Business Support Awards, a robust framework which recognises the best of business support offered in NZ, she conceived and produces a useful publication for business owners, ‘Your Business, Your Way’.

She mentors a number of business owners and individuals, has demonstrated leadership within the Territorials, is a Director on a number of not-for-profit boards, and has mentored young women under the YWCA Future Leaders Programme. Sarah has demonstrated a strong ability to lead people from different backgrounds and with different objectives towards one shared goal.

Sir Peter Blake

"Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation."

Learn about Sir Peter Blake and his journeys around the globe