The people that work at COMET are passionate about what they do and are dedicated to improving education services and access to these services for the community.
Bernardine Vester, Chief Exective
Bernardine worked as a secondary teacher and Assistant Principal in the Waikato and Hawkes Bay regions before coming to Auckland in 1996. She was Junior Vice-President of the secondary teachers’ union PPTA for three years and represented the Executive on the Principals’ Council. She was appointed to COMET in January 2000. Bernardine’s achievements include the development of an intergenerational family learning model that is international best practice; building community awareness and action to improve participation in early childhood education; the development of a service model for youth transitions in Manukau; and engagement of the business sector in education through innovative programmes and events. Bernardine was named New Zealand’s 2002 Eisenhower Fellow; and was awarded the University of Victoria Holmes Prize in Public Policy in 2006 for her research on the relationship between local government and education.
Allen Chang, Executive Manager
Allen’s experience as an educator and manager is extensive. He is a former secondary principal, manager of staffing and resourcing at the Ministry of Education, and registrar of the Correspondence School, New Zealand’s largest school. He has been involved in many activities that have a community focus, and has served as President of service clubs and led Chinese community groups. He is a Justice of the Peace and is currently a trustee for the Auckland Regional Migrant Services Trust. Allen has responsibility for administrative support services for the Trust, and for project management in the early childhood, families and communities, and youth portfolios.
Moana Whaanga, Kaitautoko
Moana is of Te Arawa, Tuhourangi, and Ngati Pikiao descent. She trained as a teacher, and has enjoyed many years of teaching in rural schools in the Hokianga and the Waikato. In particular, Moana has worked in the field of Special Education and has extensive experience as a presenter, trainer, and facilitator. Moana has been instrumental in the development of the Manukau Family Literacy Programme helping to shape its kaupapa and philosophy. She provides advice and support to the organisation on matters relating to Matauranga Maori, and works on a half-time basis.
Alison Sutton, Project Leader
Alison is a consultant, researcher and evaluator in adult literacy, tertiary education and life long learning, and the local government and schooling sectors. She has been the principal researcher in over 20 major literacy, language and numeracy projects since 1993 for the Ministry of Education, the Tertiary Education Commission, and other agencies. She has an understanding of the complex and diverse structure of the adult literacy, language and numeracy (LLN) and adult community education (ACE) sector, and has extensive networks both locally and internationally in this field. Alison has responsibility in project development for COMET’s families and communities in schools work, a part-time position.
Ofa Nai-Saulala, Project Officer
For over 15 years Ofa worked with the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland as an Administrator in the Goodfellow Unit, as a PA to the Directors of Pacific and Maori health research, and as a Pacific Student Support and Academic Administrator for the Maori and Pacific Admission Scheme (MAPAS). Ofa supports the families involved in the Manukau Family Literacy Programme, and is the Project Officer for Pasifika SmartCentres, which enables Pacific early childhood education centres to engage with their families using new technologies. Ofa is fluent in Tongan and English.
Linda Hu, Financial Administrator
Linda trained as mathematician at FuDan University, Shanghai, China, worked as a programmer and for a number of years had responsibilities as a Statistician and IT Manager at the Guangling Statistics Bureau. When Linda arrived in New Zealand in 2003, she retrained as an accountant, gaining three prizes for gaining top marks at the Manukau Institute of Technologies Diploma in Business courses and graduating as top student. Linda works part-time at COMET, runs her own accounting consultancy, and continues to enjoy study. She has responsibility for COMET’s financial management systems.
Glenda Plaisted, Administration Assistant
Glenda trained as a secretary and shorthand typist and has used these skills in a variety of support roles in business and as a medical receptionist. Glenda has been with COMET for the last seven years providing office and accounts support services and general administration.
