Our Board:

• sets our strategic direction, makes decisions about funding allocations and provides guidance on our operations
• monitors the performance of the Chief Executive and the organisation
• oversees management of strategic risk.

Dr Alan Bollard CNZM, Chair

Alan Bollard is Chair of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. He is New Zealand Governor of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, a Director of China Construction Bank (NZ), and Chair of the New Zealand Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.

He has been Chair of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Professor of Pacific Region Business at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, and Chair of the Centres for Asia-Pacific Excellence.

Alan was the Director of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research from 1987 to 1994, Chair of the New Zealand Commerce Commission from 1994 to 1998, and the Secretary to the Treasury between 1998 and 2020. From 2002 to 2012, he was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. He was the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Singapore from 2012 to 2018.

Alan has published a number of economics and popular books. He is a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a Fellow of Royal Society Te Apārangi, and has honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Auckland and Massey University.

Robin Hapi CNZM, Deputy Chair

Robin Hapi was a former Commissioner of the Tertiary Education Commission from 2007 to 2013 and joins TEC for a second time from February 2025. This follows a term of 12 years as Amokapua/Chair of Te Wānanga o Raukawa. He has served on several Boards and led a range of commercial and not-for-profit entities.

Robin is currently Chair of Tū Ātea Ltd and Co-Chair of the Pūhoro STEMM Academy. His previous service includes positions on the Boards of Te Mātāwai, Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities, WorkSafe NZ and the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency; he has also been Chair of the Māori Economic Development Advisory Board, Chair of BERL and Deputy Chair of Callaghan Innovation. 

Robin is an old boy of Hato Pāora College and an alumni of Massey University, where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration with Distinction. In December 2015 Robin was awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in recognition of his contribution to governance, community and Māori, and in 2022 he received the Dame Mira Szászy Lifetime award from the University of Auckland Business School for his contribution to governance. Robin is also a Distinguished Fellow of the NZ Institute of Directors.

Robin is of Ngāti Kahungunu descent and affiliates to Kahurānaki Marae, Te Hauke.

Sharon McGuire, Commissioner

Sharon McGuire has a strong commercial background and knowledge of the polytechnic and broader tertiary sector. She also has governance experience with several entities. Her tertiary experience includes being a director for regional economic development with the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.

Sharon’s commercial experience includes working as a general manager in the hotels sector, as a director of a major sports franchise, work with Chambers of Commerce, and as a business owner specialising in project services and advising on business viability.

Sharon has held senior executive roles and is an experienced Director in the Not-for-Loss sector. Sharon is a great supporter of community organisations, and was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow for services to Rotary and the wider community.

Mike Chapman, Commissioner

Mike Chapman is an experienced governance and industry leader with a strong record in vocational education and workforce development. He served on the Council of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, the inaugural board of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, and the board of the Primary Industry Training Organisation, helping integrate applied learning and industry engagement across the food, fibre and people sectors.

As Chief Executive of Horticulture New Zealand, and earlier of NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc., he led national organisations that worked closely with government, industry training bodies and employers to build the capability of New Zealand’s primary sector workforce.

Mike currently chairs both the Food & Fibre Capability Leadership Group, which leads collaboration across the primary sector to inform national workforce planning and skills development, and New Zealand Ethical Employers, a nationwide organisation representing horticulture, wine-grape and meat-processing employers on employment, immigration and training matters.

A lawyer by training, Mike has had a career spanning the senior public service, industry leadership and community governance. He brings a deep understanding of how education and training systems connect to employment, regional growth and productivity.

Recognised with the Bledisloe Cup for Outstanding Contribution to Horticulture, Mike combines practical sector insight with a strong commitment to ensuring New Zealand’s vocational education system delivers skills that meet learner aspirations and industry needs.

Sally Davenport MNZM, Commissioner

Sally Davenport is Professor Emeritus of the Wellington School of Business & Government, Victoria University of Wellington. She has a background in the physical sciences but moved into the business world while working as a consultant in Britain in the late 1980s.

She returned to New Zealand in 1990 to take up a cross-faculty position teaching the management of science, technology and innovation at VUW. Her academic interests covered the growth of innovative firms, the commercialisation of science, collaboration between researchers and business, high-tech firm business models, and innovation policy.

Sally was involved with two Centres of Research Excellence: the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology and Te Pūnaha Matatini. She was appointed as a half-time Commissioner with the New Zealand Productivity Commission in 2011, finishing this role after three terms, on 31 March 2020.

In 2017, Sally became the Director for the SfTI challenge, a 10-year programme of research with the mission to 'enhance the capacity of New Zealand to use physical sciences and engineering and economic growth', which finished in June 2024. She is currently chairing the Advisory Board for the Robinson Research Institute’s Future Magnetics and Materials Technologies SSIF platform.

She is a Fellow of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. In 2018 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to science. 

Uluomato’otua (Ulu) Aiono ONZM, Commissioner

Dr Uluomato’otua (Ulu) Aiono is an innovator with a deep commitment to improving outcomes for South Auckland communities. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a member of the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame for his achievements in software development and business leadership and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Otago earlier this year.

Dr Aiono is Chair of The Cause Collective, a large primary healthcare organisation and Whanau Ora commissioning agency. He has also previously served as a member of the councils of the Manukau Institute of Technology and Auckland University of Technology. 

He is a Christian, Samoan-Kiwi, technocrat and entrepreneur, born in Mato'otua Hospital (Sāmoa) and married to Margaret Brown. Together 48 years, they live in Auckland. Amongst his many faults, Ulu loves God, people, Aotearoa New Zealand, the University of Otago, Auckland Grammar School, Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army NZ.