Our
Team
OUR SMALL BUT MIGHTY TEAM BRINGS A RANGE OF OCEAN EXPERIENCE BOTH ON AND OFF THE WATER
Peter Burling is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished sailors, a champion across all yachting genres, and fast becoming an environmental leader on a quest to protect and restore our oceans.
The Olympic gold medallist and America’s Cup champion, at the forefront of Emirates Team New Zealand’s successful 2021 Cup defence, is also committed to marine conservation foundation – Live Ocean Foundation he’s established with sailing partner Blair Tuke.
The Tauranga-born sailor has won a slew of world championship titles, Olympic gold and silver medals in the 49er, raced around the world in the Volvo Ocean Race, and steered ETNZ to victory in the 2017 and 2021 America’s Cup.
A Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Peter has twice been crowned World Sailor of the Year.
A cool, unruffled helmsman with an innate understanding of wind and sea, Peter continues to strive for perfection on the racecourse, through Olympic and America’s Cup campaigns. 2021 saw Peter take on a new challenge as co-CEO of NZ SailGP and winning the league’s first Impact League, sport’s first podium for the planet.
In 2022, Peter is taking on another season of SailGP, and has also recommitted to Emirates Team New Zealand for another America’s Cup campaign which is taking place in Barcelona in 2024.
And he’s managed to meld his passion for sailing with his determination to help safeguard the oceans and raise awareness of their importance to the health of the planet, through Live Ocean.
PETER BURLING
FOUNDER
Blair Tuke’s love of the ocean has driven both his remarkable sailing career and his environmental mission to preserve it for future generations.
With seven world titles to his name, Olympic gold and silver medals, and legendary tactical nous, Blair has never been afraid to step out of a 49er skiff and into new and challenging sailing environments.
He’s sailed around the globe, finishing second in a down-to-the-wire finish in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race on MAPFRE. And he’s won the holy grail of sailing, the America’s Cup, as the flight controller on Emirates Team New Zealand’s revolutionary foiling catamaran in Bermuda in 2017.
Blair was at the forefront of Emirates Team New Zealand’s successful 2021 Cup defence and in 2021 added a new challenge to his list, leading the New Zealand team as joint CEO with long time sailing partner Peter Burling in SailGP, the global series raced in F50 catamarans. The team took home SailGP’s inaugural Impact League, sport’s first podium for the planet, in their first season.
In 2022, Blair is taking on another season of SailGP, and has also recommitted to Emirates Team New Zealand for another America’s Cup campaign which takes place in Barcelona in 2024.
A Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and World Sailor of the Year, Blair is also committed to ocean conservation charity Live Ocean he’s founded with Peter.
As a keen free diver and surfer, Blair has always put the ocean first. He’s only too well aware how much it has given him and understands the importance of protecting and restoring the ocean for future generations.
BLAIR TUKE
FOUNDER
Sally is Live Ocean’s founding Chief Executive and she has navigated the organisation through the development stages, working closely with the founders. Her passion and interest in the for-purpose and philanthropic sector has been honed over the past decade after a background in communications. She has worked for a range of organisations including Blake, where she saw the power of sports people to make a significant contribution to the awareness of environmental issues.
Her interest in the sector was further enhanced in 2017 by her studies Australian School of Non-profit and Philanthropic Studies (ACPNS) where she earned a grade of distinction for her Graduate Certificate in Business (Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies). Prior to this, she provided media relations advice to wide-ranging corporate, consumer and not-for-profit clients over 15 years. Sally is also a trustee for The Duncan Foundation.
Over summer Sally can often be found on Rakino Island in the Hauraki Gulf, where her family enjoy their time living off the grid, with lots of ocean adventures, good reading and amazing views.
Sally Paterson
Chief Executive
Andrew has worked with non-profits since 2005, most recently joining Live Ocean in the role of Capacity Development & Programme Director. He was COO and then CEO of SurfAid International from 2007 to 2019, during which time they delivered major emergency responses in Padang and the Mentawai, Indonesia.
Andrew lead SurfAid through significant program expansion, gained accreditation and grants with NZ and Australian government aid agencies and established SurfAid’s private fundraising model.
Andrew holds a Master’s Degree in International Law from Columbia University (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), and he undertook postgraduate studies at the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Non-Profit Studies in 2006.
A keen diver, Andrew is always seeking out saltwater redemption. He has most recently been inspired by the resurgence of life in the marine reserve of Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
ANDREW JUDGE
Programmes
Jodie brings both a passion for sailing and the ocean, and an extensive professional career in leading brand, storytelling and communications for prominent non-profits as she joins Live Ocean team as Group Brand and Communications Manager.
Most recently Jodie has spent six years with prominent New Zealand children’s charity, the Starship Foundation, where she led brand and media for numerous successful fundraising and awareness campaigns including the annual Starship National Air Ambulance appeal and the Paediatric Intensive Care expansion campaign.
Jodie’s connection to the ocean and to sailing is long-standing and multifaceted having chosen global circumnavigation on a 110-foot schooner as a superyacht employee over a more traditional OE, going on to subsequently launch her professional career in communications starting at New Zealand’s national body for sailing – Yachting New Zealand.
Jodie has supported two of New Zealand’s Olympic Sailing Teams as communications and media lead including the four-medal winning 2016 Rio campaign achieving unprecedented coverage for Olympic sailing across New Zealand media outlets.
With many blue water miles under her belt, Jodie still enjoys any opportunity to get on the water most often in the form of stand-up paddle boarding on Auckland’s upper harbour on a calm day.
JODIE BAKEWELL-WHITE
BRAND AND COMMUNICATIONS
Exploring the connection between people, land and sea has played a pivotal role throughout Elaine’s career. Working with organisations such as Environment Canterbury and FarmIQ, Elaine executed a variety of successful marketing campaigns and outreach programmes, designed to educate, and evoke positive action.
Her marketing and environmental management background inspired Elaine to utilise her skills for the ocean and transition to the non-profit sector.
Raised on tales of her dad’s sailing adventures, Elaine jumped aboard a 420 at her first possible opportunity. With a special knack for capsizing and spending more time ‘in’ the water than ‘on’ it, she eventually traded the boat for a pair of fins. Now a trained scuba instructor, she can often be found exploring the bays around the Hauraki Gulf and Wellington Harbour.
ELAINE HARRIS
DIGITAL AND PARTNERSHIPS
Communicating sustainability and building communities across borders has been a key driver for Kelsey throughout her career. She has worked globally delivering strategic communications and brand advice. Her work has focused on climate change and sustainability, more recently bridging the sustainability and financial services industries for Sustainalytics, an ESG research and ratings firm.
Kelsey designed and implemented the flagship movement Climathon for Climate-KIC, a global climate challenge bringing together a community of local change-makers and innovators working to help their cities achieve net-zero emissions. The campaign has won the Guardian Sustainable Business Award for communicating sustainability.
Through her work, Kelsey is only too aware of the need for urgent action to restore and protect our ocean. After supporting a lot of work above the waterline, she is keen to dive in and amplify the importance of our ocean to the health of our planet, and the inspiring stories of those working to protect them.
KELSEY HUNTER
PARENTAL LEAVE
Our
Advisors
Our advisors are an invaluable resource for Live Ocean, providing decades
worth of specialist knowledge, passion and insights.
Dr. Rochelle Constantine is an accomplished biologist, an inspirational lecturer, and a relentless champion for the marine environment. She has led high-profile marine research voyages, achieved feats considered “unimaginable” in conservation science and is credited with inspiring and mentoring the next wave of New Zealand marine scientists through her position with the University of Auckland’s School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Marine Science.
Rochelle’s dedication to preserving New Zealand’s marine biodiversity has produced an impressive and influential body of research which has made a tangible difference. She is currently working on Maui63, a cutting edge,
AI-powered tracking drone which autonomously finds, follows, and uniquely identifies Māui and Hector’s dolphins.
ROCHELLE CONSTANTINE
PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF AUCKLAND
Dr Tom Trnski is Head of Natural Sciences at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum. He leads the development, documentation, research and public access of the museum’s natural science collections.
Tom has been surveying the marine biodiversity of the South Pacific Ocean for over 30 years. He is a world authority on the development and ecology of the larval stage of marine fishes. His interests extend from biogeography of the South Pacific region, dispersal and connectivity of marine populations, and the benefits of marine reserves to sustain marine communities. He has written several books and numerous scientific papers on these research interests.
Tom is Co-Director of Te Mana o Rangitāhua, an iwi-led research programme that will interweave indigenous knowledge and ecosystem modelling, creating management tools. This programme will help to move from sustainability to thrivability of the ocean around Rangitāhua/ the Kermadec Islands, with authority led by mana whenua Ngāti Kuri.
TOM TRNSKI
HEAD OF NATURAL SCIENCES AT AUCKLAND MUESEUM
General Enquiries: [email protected] | Media Enquiries: [email protected]
© Live Ocean Charitable Trust | NZ Charity ID CC57006
Registered in the USA as a 501(c)(3) non-profit | Federal Tax ID 85-1066585
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Delivery + Returns
© Live Ocean | NZ Charity ID CC57006
USA 501(c)(3) non-profit | Federal Tax ID 85-1066585
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Delivery + Returns