Our People
Te pā harakeke ō Partners Porirua
Our team, trustees and youth representatives are committed to helping rangatahi develop their talents and achieve every success they want
Our Team
Ā mātou whānau i te mahi
Our team work alongside rangatahi to develop their talents and achieve success by providing opportunities for them to grow through education and training.
Salā Henry Samia
General Manager
Henry now leads our team after working in every area of the organisation since joining Partners Porirua in 2008.
He has always been passionate about working with young people, gaining a Bachelor of Education even though he didn’t want to be a classroom teacher. Instead, he has spent years supporting, mentoring and helping young people achieve their goals whether that be further education, training, work or honing life skills.
Prior to joining us he worked in both the education and government sectors.
Born and bred in Porirua, Henry is an active member of the community through his church and networking groups. He is a Board member of various trusts that have similar interests to Partners Porirua, and also plays piano in local band; 2Twenty.
e: henry@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 229 9208
John Lafaele
Contract Services Manager
John leads the team of Youth Service and Tupu Aotearoa Coaches. John has a social work and education background with life-skills that include living and working overseas. As an education and training advisor John has supported many young Porirua residents with their career pathways.
John who is of Samoan decent, is married with three children and is well connected to our community, schools and religious circles. These relationships and connections enable John to reach out and engage with our youth and their fanau in many different spaces in an effort to help benefit young lives.
e: John@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 021 0887 5900
Jacqui Edwards
Partner Relationships Manager
Jacqui is focused on working with partners, employers, businesses, college staff and rangatahi to ensure they benefit from being involved with the Porirua Youth 2 Work Movement.
One of her main focuses is “Preparing youth for the working world’ connecting the business world and employers with rangatahi, who are learning about who they are, what they can do and the expectations of the workplace.
Jacqui spends her time outside of work attending the Hosanna Baptist Church in Cannons Creek and enjoys spending time with her whanau.
Te Ātiawa
e: Jacqui@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 021 0260 8404
Raylene Hull
Senior Office Administrator
Ray is our Senior Office Administrator, coordinating and overseeing the day-to-day running of our office.
Born and raised in Porirua, Ray comes from a background of 25 years in administration within various sectors. She is passionate about helping our community in all areas, but especially our youth and getting them to where they want to be.
Rays’ downtime activities include spending time with her friends and whanau, walking the trails with her puppy dog and eating Korean food.
Ngati Pikiahu-Waewae, Ngati Tuwharetoa
e: raylene@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 242 2560
Dave Roche
Youth Coach
Dave has a background working with children and teenagers, previously as a teacher aide and sports coordinator/coach.
He is passionate about helping young people to recognize and reach their potential and especially loves using sport, recreation and team based activities to achieve this.
Dave has lived in Porirua for most of his life and currently lives in the beautiful Titahi Bay with his wife. In his spare time, Dave loves surfing, playing sport and spending time with his friends and whanau.
e: Dave.Roche@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 242 5959
Alo Pau’u
Youth Coach
Alo loves working with rangatahi, listening to their stories, hearing what they want for their future and then helping them towards their goals.
He comes from a teacher aide background having spent seven years at a local primary school.
He says working with young people is awesome and doing it in his own Porirua community is even better… “it’s a great fit for me!”
His role involves engaging with young people and helping set them up for their future education pathways or job. He says it’s about seeing what interests them and taking them in a way that follows their passions.
“I’ve come into something special here at Partners Porirua – it’s a great team and we’re all working towards the same goals.”
Outside of work Alo loves spending time with family and can be found at any occasion that involves food!
e: alo@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 268 5575
Wesley Timoteo
Drive 4 Life Coordinator
Born and raised in Auckland and then Australia, Wes moved to Porirua in 2008 and now calls it home.
Wes has a long-time passion for working alongside and mentoring youth. He is passionate about sports and has a background in coordinating youth events and has coached in both rugby codes at school age and club level.
Wes attends the Samoan Methodist Church in Porirua and is heavily involved in the local Samoan Community Mafutaga.
In his spare time Wes loves to travel, spending time with family, singing, playing sports and diving.
e: Wesley@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 214-1177
Josiah Foua
Youth Employment Service Facilitator
Josiah is supporting our young clients into education and employment, creating pathways for their future.
Prior to joining Partners, Josiah held a variety of roles supporting many young jobseekers into employment.
He goes about his mahi in the spirit of generosity, as he is passionate about helping young people where there is a need.
On the weekends Josiah enjoys running around after his three daughters and eating pistachio gelato.
e: Josiah@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 539 0243
Jennie Wang
Youth Coach & Education Pathways
Jennie is originally from Taiwan, she immigrated to New Zealand 22 years ago. Jenny has significant experience working with young people and she has a Bachelor of Youth Development from Weltec. Her background was as a kindergarten teacher in Taiwan, she has worked as a faith-based youth worker, and as a mentor for International students living in New Zealand.
In her free time Jennie loves to read books, knit and spend time with her two teenage daughters.
e: jennie@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 214 4339
Theodora Kome
Navigator Coach
Theodora (Dora) is a Navigator working with Pacific youth in the Tupu Aotearoa service, helping to ensure that they have the right resources to transition into education or employment. Dora graduated in Business Management (major in Sales and Marketing) and then worked for a community health organisation. Dora is now excited to be working with youth and to share her knowledge.
Born and raised in Porirua, Dora is passionate about bringing out the best in our young people and creating opportunities for them to flourish and succeed in whatever pathway they are willing to pursue.
Dora enjoys reading and spending quality time with family and friends.
e: theodora@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 539 0240
Ruby Sei
Communications and Projects Assistant
Ruby is our Communications and Projects Assistant. She helps with project coordination and marketing which involves updating our website and social media platforms.
Raised in Porirua, being involved in community initiatives, groups and her local church is important to her, “I am passionate about young people and our contribution to the future.” Ruby’s favourite pastimes are art, dance and sports.
Te Ātiawa, Taranaki
Payton Mikara
Youth Coach
Payton worked on a placement at Partners Porirua and when she completed her Bachelor of Social Work degree she joined the organisation as a coach.
Payton is born and bred in Porirua and brought up to embrace the concept of serving her community. She actively takes part in community events, church and work life.
In her downtime, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family, going to concerts and festivals and keeping active.
Ngāti Kahungunu
e: Payton@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 214 1515
Epi Anamani
Youth Coach
Becoming a youth coach was a dramatic change for Epi having spent most of her previous career in finance. Following a brief stint as a support worker Epi discovered the joy of giving back and being able to make a difference in someone’s life.
She joined the Partners Porirua team in 2024 and predominantly works with 16–18-year-olds who have just dropped out of, or left, school.
Her role is supporting rangatahi into further education or into employment and helping with life skills like putting together a CV, obtaining their driver licenses and encouraging them to attend events.
Epi is Porirua born and bred and a fitness junkie who enjoys playing sports. Her other great loves are family, especially her nieces and nephews, and travel.
e: epi@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 022 092 1378
Ian Mareko
Drive 4 Life Coach
As one of our Drive 4 Life coaches, Ian loves working with rangatahi and experiencing the challenges of teaching young people how to drive.
He believes that helping youth get their licences is about more than helping them to drive, it’s about a sense of achievement and the ability to move forward regardless of what’s happening in their lives.
Ian previously worked Whanau Manaaki Kindergarten for ten years transporting children under five to and from home-based education and Porirua kindergartens.
Proudly born and raised in Porirua, Ian is a first-generation New Zealander of Samoan parents.
Outside of work, he loves going to the gym and enjoys live music.
e: Ian@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 233 6956
Julia Robertson
Drive 4 Life Mentor Driver Co-ordinator
Julia’s role at Drive 4 Life is to awhi (support) the incredible mentors who drive alongside secondary school students, helping them work toward their restricted driver licence.
As Drive 4 Life continues to grow, Julia leads the recruitment, training, and retention of new mentors, ensuring the programme remains strong and sustainable. She also supports the team with administration and bookings, allowing instructors to focus on what they do best—driving.
Julia is passionate about the programme and the impact it has on young people. She believes a driver’s licence can be life-changing, opening doors to career opportunities, gaining independence and freedom. Her work helps to break down the barriers to access including cost, ability to access a road worthy vehicle and available experienced drivers to help the licence journey.
Julia lives in Titahi Bay with her husband, two sons and Kelpie dog.
e: julia@partnersporirua.org.nz
t: (04) 237 1097
Lepeti Mataitoa
Youth Coach
Lepeti (more commonly known as Betts!) loves providing the opportunity for young people to flourish in her role as youth coach.
She’s seen firsthand the difference support services can make to disengaged rangatahi, both within her own family and church community. It was this that prompted her move to youth work after nearly a decade managing a busy pharmacy.
Betts helps her young clients navigate the services they need and helps give them a voice so their needs can be heard and met. She says that having multiple services under the one roof at Partners Porirua makes life so much easier for rangatahi.
Born and bred in Porirua, Betts went to Aotea College, is very active in her church and loves spending time with her nieces and nephews, parents and family.
e: lepeti@partnersporirua.org.nz
m: 027 250 1902
Our Youth Voice
To support rangatahi transition to a future they aspire to, we need a strong youth voice guiding what we do and keeping us true to our organisation’s core values.
Our ‘Rangatahi Voice’ initiative has been established in partnership with Porirua City Council, The 502 and Police. It’s designed to help improve communication with rangatahi and put their ideas into place, and provides leadership opportunities for group members.
We also have rangatahi representation on our Board of Trustees.
“I’ve recently joined Partners’ Voice of Rangatahi Group. It’s really cool we talk about things that rangatahi don’t really talk about like politics, education, community and things like that. Some rangatahi have great things to say but they don’t have the connections to be able to do that – this is an opportunity to be heard.”
Paris Oliver
Youth Board Representative
Paris brings a vibrant youth voice to our Board. With a Bachelor of Creative Media Production and a passion for storytelling, design, and innovation, she uses digital platforms to transform ideas into impactful meaningful change for rangatahi. Paris is proficient in generative AI, Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva, and Microsoft tools – a real asset to our Board!
Our Trustees
Our Board of Trustees bring educational knowledge, community understanding, business and professional experience and insights and are committed to making a positive social contribution to Porirua youth.
They have a clear focus on the organisation’s purpose and the boundaries within which they should operate. Each year, youth representatives join the trustees to ensure that a youth voice is heard in alignment with the organisation’s core values.
You can find out more out what the Board does and how to become a member here.
Wiremu Wineera
Chairperson
NgātiToa Rangatira
Career background: Business and Information Technology
Chris Wood
Trustee
Secondary school representative
Deputy Principal, Porirua College
Magele Maria Uluilelata
Trustee
Career Background: Pacific Workforce and Community Engagement
Paulette O'Reily
Trustee
Career background: Accounting and Not for Profits
Estelle Fiso-Waters
Trustee
Career Background: Business and Human Resource
Angela Bensemann
Trustee
Career background: Communications and Promotion
Keith Clement
Trustee
Career background: Business Director
Chas Taurima
Trustee
NgātiToa Rangatira, Ngāti Koata, Rakaipaaka, Moriori
Career background: Director