ISANA New Zealand

ISANA NZ Executive Committee 2017-19

More about our executive committee members

Terry McGrath   Lesley McDonald   Sherrie Lee   Anne Henwood   Chris Beard   Carla Rey Vasquez

Terry started as chemistry teacher before moving into a pastoral care role. Currently he contributes to international student chaplaincy at Massey University, Palmerston North; consultancy as immediate past National Director for International Student Ministries of NZ (ISM NZ); and Asia Pacific regional facilitation for the Lausanne movement’s ISM Global Leadership Network. This latter role is advisory in nature, influencing and facilitating capacity building and development of services and leadership in international student missions and pastoral care initiatives. Terry’s interests include development and research involving international students and migrants, and professional development in international education arena where he is currently the President of ISANA NZ.         Lesley is the National Team Leader Accommodation and Welfare at Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE), Massey University and is immediate past president of ISANA NZ and has been the Co-Chair of International Education Manawatu (IEM) since 2013.  In her current role Lesley is responsible for managing homestay accommodation across three campuses for Massey University together with the pastoral care of students studying at PaCE. Lesley is passionate about the benefits that international education brings to New Zealand ranging from the social and cultural to economic. She strongly believes that quality pastoral care is crucial for a positive student experience so that students return to their home countries as Ambassadors for New Zealand education. As current Vice-President, Lesley’s involvement with ISANA NZ provides an opportunity to promote ISANA NZ regionally and to allow the voices of both the student and international student support staff to be heard within the contexts of those working on international student policy and the international education strategic planning framework.       Sherrie is from Singapore and an international PhD student at the University of Waikato. She is also active in the postgraduate student community, and was a former president of the Postgraduate Students’ Association at the university. Her doctoral research investigates the informal learning practices among first year international tertiary students in New Zealand. Prior to coming to New Zealand, Sherrie taught business communications at a polytechnic in Singapore. As the international student representative, Sherrie in keen on facilitating the student voice of international students and advocating for their concerns. Sherrie additionally oversees the communication channels of ISANA NZ, including its Facebook and LinkedIn pages. She is also interested in creating opportunities for dialogue between researchers and practitioners in the field of international education. She brings her administrative and organisational skills to her role as Secretary of ISANA NZ.         Anne is the Director of International Students at Pakuranga College, a high school with over 220 International students. Previously Anne worked at Rosehill College as the Director of International Students.  Before that she has worked at the University of Auckland, firstly as International Admissions Manager and then as the Associate Director, International Student Support. For Anne the pastoral care and support for the International students is a critical part of the international program in New Zealand. She serves as the school sector representative and SIEBA liaison for ISANA NZ.         Chris has worked in international education for more than twenty years. He has experiencing teaching in the secondary, tertiary and PTE sectors and has also lead pastoral care practice on university-based foundation studies programmes. Chris instigated the development of New Zealand’s first postgraduate course in International Education (with an export education focus) and currently co-teaches on this course, which is offered by Victoria University of Wellington’s Masters of Education programme. He has experience liaising with government officials and education leaders on behalf of ISANA NZ. He continues his government liaison role, together with being the university sector representative for ISANA NZ.         Carla is the Organisational Development Specialist at AFS New Zealand. She has a Masters degree in Cultural Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington. Carla began her career in cross-cultural communication lecturing and tutoring Foundation Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington and the Open Polytechnic. She then worked in the fields of cultural consumer behaviour in Latin America, and gender research in New Zealand, before moving into her organisational development and intercultural learning roles at AFS New Zealand in 2013.