Introducing the Board

Jo Learmonth (Board Chair)

Jo has been on the Board of Ignite Wanaka since 2020 and has been the Chairperson since early 2022.  Jo has over 25 years in business management including owning her own businesses in retail and consultancy, specialising in business performance at SME level, and has held management positions in large scale corporates such as Fonterra, Sealord, and Cadbury.  She is currently the Head of Infrastructure Delivery at Queenstown Airport. Jo has also held several governance positions for both not-for-profit and commercial organisations, worked with local and central government, and undertaken capital fundraising for community projects.  A native Otagoite, Jo is keen to continue her involvement in the Wanaka business community and build its resilience and relevance in this growing region through the collaboration of Ignite and its members.

Celia Crosbie (Vice Chair)

Celia Crosbie is Managing Director of award-winning communications consultancy Scope Media. Scope Media exists to be opportunity-makers for brands and people: enabling communities to thrive through meaningful connections, strategic thinking and the power of storytelling. Scope Media’s team of communications and digital marketing consultants work with clients locally, throughout New Zealand and in Australia, helping brands grow awareness and build reputations across a variety of channels.

Celia is a big-picture thinker who believes in collaboration and working as a team to create sustainable outcomes and improved performance. She thrives in high pressure environments and takes care to consider all perspectives when making business decisions. She holds an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), is a member of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (MPRINZ) and the Institute of Directors and she is also a board member of Te Kupeka Umaka Māori ki Araiteuru - Southern Māori Business Network (KUMA).

Celia (Kai Tahu) has lived in Wānaka since 2005. She is married to Hamish and they have two young children. An Ignite Wānaka board member since 2014 and current vice chair, she is passionate about helping businesses tell their stories, connecting people and supporting economic vitality across the Queenstown Lakes District.

Andrew (Howie) Howard

Howie moved to Wanaka in 2005. His wife, Jodie is principal of Te Kura o Take Karara and his three daughters attend Mount Aspiring College. Over the years he has been Chair of Montessori Children’s House, Wanaka Primary School and Ignite boards.

Howie is currently People, Culture and Capability Manager for Mitre 10 Mega Wanaka. In this role he is responsible for the HR, Health and Safety, and Training and Development, for a team of over 130 people. Combining this work with his experience on various boards means that he has a good understanding of some of our community's key business issues like, workforce supply, worker accommodation, mental health, infrastructure, planning for growth, etc.

His key qualification is a passion for Wanaka , its people and the environment, and a desire to be a part of fostering a dynamic, resilient, and creative community.

Howie spent 2 ½ years travelling the world with his wife and decided that there was nowhere as great as Wanaka to live. He enjoys, hiking, climbing, skiing, and mountain biking. Although there is never enough time to do it all!

Jackie Boyd

Jackie Boyd is a Qualified General Insurance Broker obtaining her Level 5 Certification in 2020, well before the industry required.  She set up her own Insurance Broking business in 2009 in partnership and later bought them out to be the Sole Owner of beSure – Tailored Insurance which grew to employ 5 people, until she sold her business to Crombie Lockwood Insurance Brokers in November 2020.

Jackie currently holds the position of Business Development Manager with Crombie Lockwood Insurance Brokers, where she is responsible for developing new relationships and assisting potential clients understand their risks along with working on how best to use Insurance as a solution for those risks.

She is a team player with a passion for business and community groups as well as supporting her clients through the risk management and placing an insurance programme to ensure they are positioned to survive any insurable event.

This passion spills into her desire to support the business community through the Wānaka Business Chamber.

Jackie has been a member of the Wānaka Business Chamber since 2009 and has held many volunteer positions in the Upper Clutha region during her 29 years living in Wanaka.  She is currently the Chair of Wānaka Watersports Facility Trust and their Management Committee.

Her largest most rewarding role is being the mother of two daughters that have been bought up in Wānaka and now pursuing their futures through tertiary education.  Now her girls have grown up there’s more time for Jackie to pursue her own interests which is primarily tramping or biking in the hills around our magnificent region.

Bronwyn McCarthy

Bronwyn started Mighty Efficient in 2012, identifying the Wanaka region's need for a quality, reliable, bookkeeping service using new Xero accounting technology.

Mighty Efficient has been the area’s number one booking service for a number of years, just ask a local. This is due to Bronwyn’s work ethic and ability to relate with everyday kiwis involved in business, just like she is.

She is the Otago Regional Director for the Institute of Certified New Zealand Bookkeepers, which brings new and experienced bookkeepers together to socialise and talk all things bookkeeping.

Bronwyn’s background is in event management, she is the current financial controller of the Wanaka A&P show, a huge local event that brings in over 27 million annually to the town. She is also involved in her husband’s hunting and tourism business, Lake Hāwea Hunting Safaris, assists various local non profit organisations free of charge and is Mum to four amazing girls which means being time efficient is a necessity for Bron!

Once the tools are down you will find her out on the lake with her family, a glass of wine in hand, paddle boarding, at the gym, or running kids around.

Laura Hedley

Snow sports has been part of Laura’s life since before she could walk. Growing up in a family passionate about skiing, it was destined to be a career direction she would find herself in.

Starting out as an instructor, she moved into events management working for Cardrona Alpine Resort and Winter Games NZ on events ranging from local events to World Cup level.

Experienced General Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the leisure, travel & tourism industry. Skilled in Operations management, Human Resources, Recruitment, Training, Customer Service, Retail and Event Management. Strong human resources professional with a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) focused in Marketing/Marketing Management from University of Otago.

Laura’s passion for the sport is a driver for her to be part of helping the success of our industry, from community participation through to success on the high-performance stage.

Raphael van Workum

Moving to Wānaka in Sept 2020, Raphael adores this town. She is passionate about bringing together communities and has a business, government and governance background that she would like to share to support Ignite Wanaka and help it grow.

Raphael has served on the Board of Dress for Success Wellington from 2017-2020, has experience as a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant, and created the Fire and Emergency Community Committees for the North Island and Chatham Islands to bring local voices to the Board of FENZ in her last contracting role.

Raphael now works privately as a Consciousness Coach and Holistic Counsellor and am passionate about supporting mental health, stress management and anxiety. I would like to join the board to bring a Millennial voice to the Board and encourage more business owners 25-35 years to join Ignite to expand the reach in the community and create more opportunities for collaboration and networking. Additionally, I would like to share knowledge on Diversity and Inclusion and other areas of governance and mental health to support Ignite and members.

Tyson Walker

I am currently living and working in the heart of Wanaka. I am passionate about Wanaka and the surrounding region of Central Otago. I believe Wanaka is the best little town in New Zealand and I am a huge advocate for the benefits it brings living in a town like this. 

I have had a wealth of experience in consumer banking. I am an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) and have had approximately 20 years of banking experience and accounting expertise, including senior institutional and retail banking roles for Westpac, BNZ and HSBC (in the UK). Throughout my banking career I have watched interest rates and margins but this in turn led me to focus my attention to first home buyers and question how do we get them into the NZ housing market? I am very interested in technology and how we harness this within the real estate marketplace. So, in 2015 I started Proppy.co.nz. https://www.proppy.co.nz/ New Zealand’s first and only fully digital real estate agency. It has grown from a start-up idea to a small national business and I am very proud to run this business right here from Wanaka. It also proves to me a national business can be run easily from Wanaka and not just the big metropolitan cities like Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. I have a staff of approximately 35 professionals across NZ and 5 locally right here in Wanaka.