She is Chief Executive Officer, Early Childhood Council, Inc, Auckland. The Early Childhood Council (www.ecc.org.nz) is the largest representative body of licensed early childhood centres in New Zealand, with almost 1000 community-owned and commercially owned member centres.

She is regularly sought for membership on government working groups and committees on matters relating to early childhood education, public policy and business issues. Current and recent memberships include:
· Early Childhood Advisory Committee. Ministry of Education appointed committee with representation from key ECE sector groups (1996-Current);
· Mission On Advisory Committee. Ministry of Education appointed committee examining childhood obesity and ECE curriculum issues (Current);
· 20 Free Hours Advisory Committee. Minister of Education appointed committee whose role is to advise the government on the implementation of the government’s ’20 free hours’ ECE funding policy (Current);
· Early Childhood Statistics Monitoring Committee. Ministry of Education appointed committee whose role is to advise the department on the collection and analysis of ECE statistics (1996 -Current); and
· Early Childhood Education Strategic Plan Working Group (2000-2002). Appointed by the Minister of Education to a committee whose objective was to develop a strategic plan for the ECE sector.

She has been a member of the Education Forum, a policy advocacy organisation based in Wellington, New Zealand (www.educationforum.org.nz) since 2002 and a member of the Business New Zealand Affiliated Industries Group (www.businessnz.org.nz) since 2003.she has also been a member of the Australia/New Zealand Not-for-Profit Network (www.nfpn.com.au) since 2005.

She is a frequent media commentator on a range of issues relating to ECE and small business more generally. Recent print, television and radio appearances have included Breakfast TV, Morning Report, One News, New Zealand Herald, Dominion Post, The Press, Sunday Star-Times, Newstalk ZB, Unlimited and New Zealand Management. I have also recently been profiled in Her Business and Woman Today magazines.

She has published a number of Op Eds and articles in various media. Recent OpEds include: ‘Absence of Men from Childcare a National Disgrace’, Swings & Roundabouts, Issue 3, 2006, ‘The Future of Free Kindergartens’, 14 December 2005, ‘Kids in Private Care Matter Too’, New Zealand Herald, 16 August 2005, ‘Parents Deserve Freedom of Choice for Childcare’, New Zealand Herald, 12 July 2005 and ‘A Better Deal for Education’, Northern Advocate, 6 November 2003.