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Meet The Team

Behind the Mission: The Faces of Meet The Need

At Meet The Need, our team is the heart and soul of our mission to combat food insecurity in New Zealand. Guided by a heartfelt commitment, we bring together the efforts of our farmers, supporters, and champions to ensure that no one goes hungry or undernourished across our communities.
This extraordinary group has turned a vision into a powerful reality—proving that great things happen when good-hearted people work toward meaningful change. 

Meet the Team Members

Meet the Board Members

Meet the Champions

Meet The Team

meet the need team member zellara holden

Zellara Holden

General
Manager

About Zellara
meet the need team member danielle williams

Danielle Williams

Stakeholder
Liaison

About Danielle
meet the need team member rachael sutton

Rachael Sutton

Marketing & Communications

About Rachael
meet the need team member krystall lee

Krystal Lee

Accounts
Administrator

About Krystal
meet the need team member zoe sheehan

Zoe Sheehan

Marketing
Intern

About Zoe

Meet The Board Members

meet the need board member julia jones

Julia Jones

Board
Chair

About Julia
meet the need board member greg mcskimming

Greg McSkimming

Board
Member

About Greg
meet the need board member cheyenne wilson

Cheyenne Wilson

Board
Member

About Cheyenne
meet the need board member nicki mackay

Nicki Mackay

Board
Member

About Nicki
meet the need board member shaheen junge

Shaheen Junge

Board
Member

About Shaheen
meet the need board member jo hay

Jo Hay

Board
Member

About Jo
meet the need board member nick fisher

Nick Fisher

Board
Member

About Nick
meet the need board member siobhan o malley

Siobhan O'Malley

Co-founder

About Siobhan
meet the need board member wayne langford

Wayne Langford

Co-founder

About Wayne

Meet The Board Members

meet the need board member siobhan o malley

Siobhan O'Malley

Co-founder

About Siobhan
meet the need board member wayne langford

Wayne Langford

Co-founder &
Board member

About Wayne
meet the need board member julia jones

Julia Jones

Board
Chair

About Julia
meet the need board member greg mcskimming

Greg McSkimming

Board
Member

About Greg
meet the need board member cheyenne wilson

Cheyenne Wilson

Board
Member

About Cheyenne
meet the need board member nicki mackay

Nicki Mackay

Board
Member

About Nicki
meet the need board member shaheen junge

Shaheen Junge

Board
Member

About Shaheen
meet the need board member jo hay

Jo Hay

Board
Member

About Jo
meet the need board member nick fisher

Nick Fisher

Board
Member

About Nick

Meet The Champions

meet the need team member champions becks smith

Becks Smith

Meet Becks
meet the need team member champions courtney nimmo

Courtney Nimmo

Meet Courtney
meet the need team member champions donald senior

Donald Senior

Meet Donald
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Emma Mayen

Meet Emma
meet the need team member champions georgia van heuven

Georgie Van Heuven

Meet Georgie
meet the need team member champions grace mcleay

Grace McLeay

Meet Grace
meet the need team member champions isabelle coates

Isabelle Coates

Meet Isabelle
meet the need team member champions jade and lyndon mcnab

Jade and Lyndon McNab

Meet Jade and Lyndon
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Kate Faulks

Meet Kate
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Lara Dalldorf

Meet Lara
meet the need team member champions lauren jones

Lauren Jones

Meet Lauren
meet the need team member LeAnne blakelock

LeAnne Blakelock

Meet LeAnne
meet the need team member champions lucy johnson

Lucy Johnson

Meet Lucy
meet the need team member champions megan skiffington

Megan Skiffington

Meet Megan
meet the need team member champions megan thomas

Megan Thomas

Meet Megan
meet the need team member champions melissa bennett

Melissa Bennett

Meet Melissa
meet the need team member champions nicholas crosse

Nicholas Crosse

Meet Nicholas
meet the need team member champions nicky brown

Nicky Brown

Meet Nicky
meet the need team member champions peter hewson 1

Peter Hewson

Meet Peter
meet the need team member champions rebecca greaves

Rebecca Greaves

Meet Rebecca
meet the need team member champions samantha dickie

Samantha Dickie

Meet Samantha
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Sue McKay

Meet Sue
meet the need team member champions zoe

Zoe Hancox

Meet Zoe

100% of Your Donation Goes Directly to Feeding Those in Need

Your support makes a huge difference to those struggling with food insecurity. Become part of the solution that benefits your community. Every dollar you donate goes toward providing quality protein to those in need.

How To Donate

How To Get Involved

Over 100 food banks and community groups are on our list waiting for nutritious protein.
You can help more come off the waitlist and start receiving protein regularly.

Find Out More

Contact Us

Postal Address
C/O Tompkins Wake
PO Box 258
Hamilton 3240
New Zealand

Phone: 0800 632 884
Email: hello@meettheneed.org.nz

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Zellara Holden

General Manager

Originally from South Africa, Zellara is now a proud New Zealand citizen, residing in Hamilton with her husband Lawrence and their 3 children. With a robust financial background and 12 years in the Agricultural sector, Zellara has cultivated strong relationships with farmers and industry stakeholders.

She understands the challenges that charities and not-for-profit organisations have and the opportunity to think about things in a different way. She loves collaborating and bringing ideas to life, this allows her to demonstrate her inclusive and creative approach.

She is dedicated and passionate about driving positive change and making a lasting impact on New Zealand communities by reducing food insecurity.

Danielle Williams

Stakeholder liaison

Born and bred in California, Danielle moved to the Waikato in 2015 following an exchange at the university and falling in love with New Zealand’s beauty and culture of caring.

Since then, she has enjoyed getting stuck in on a cropping block outside of Morrinsville and has experienced the generosity and manakitanga of New Zealand’s rural communities.

Rachael Sutton

Marketing & Communications

Rachael has extensive experience in journalism, communications, and digital marketing, and brings a creative and dynamic approach to the team.

She has significant experience working in the not-for-profit space and is also an internationally trained dressage rider, competing and coaching on a national level.

Krystal Lee

Accounts Administrator

Coming Soon!

Zoe Sheehan

Marketing Intern

Originally from Martinborough, Zoe grew up on a small vineyard. She moved to Dunedin at the start of 2022 to attend the University of Otago where she studies communications and marketing.

Zoe is incredibly excited to be a part of the team, and help make a difference for families in need around Aotearoa.

JuliA Jones

Board Chair

Julia Jones is passionate about inspiring confidence and new thinking; she believes adaptation will ensure long term human, planet and economic wellness for our rural and urban communities.

Her 6 years with KPMG fuelled her understanding of global trends and the opportunity they brought to NZ and this led to her new role as the Head of Analytics with NZX.

She has experienced a series of highlights over her career, which include completing the Harvard Agri Seminar in China 2010, Te Hono boot camp at Stanford University 2017 and graduating the AWDT Escalator Program 2012.

Greg McSkimming

Board Member

As Silver Fern Farm’s Agribusiness and Strategic Solutions Manager, Greg has a huge passion for the success of agriculture. He’s also fully aware of the challenges and opportunities in front of us as an industry.

Anything he can do to improve SFF’s awesome products and create value sustainably for our farmers and industry is what drives him. At SFF, Greg, their executive and board saw the vision Wayne and Siobhan had in setting up Meet The Need. They didn’t hesitate in bringing the help needed to create a supply chain of red meat from farms to families in need.

It doesn’t sit right with Greg that although our farmers produce a lot, there are families in NZ that can’t put nutritious red meat on the table. He feels privileged to be a part of the team and to be able to bring value wherever he can to this cause.

Cheyenne Wilson

Board Member

Cheyenne was raised on sheep and beef properties in the heart of Southland and has been working in the dairy industry for the past 7 years. She is currently studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce in Agriculture majoring in Accounting at Lincoln University.

She intends to work with rangatahi and enlighten them to the many opportunities in the primary sector and ensure they are supported and successful.

As an Agri-Women’s Development Trust Next Level Graduate she thrives supporting industry organisations and initiatives.

Nicki Mackay

Board Member

Whilst Nicki was born and raised in Dunedin, she has spent more than 28 years working and living in and around rural communities. She’s always been in the financial services sector, most recently as the Head of Claims & Digital Assessing for FMG.

Her collaborative leadership style, operational expertise, and ability to influence others have seen her become a central figure in leading large operational teams, business change and building people capability across the FMG’s national footprint.

Nicki loves to bring a fresh perspective and challenge the status quo to ensure our rural sector continues to lead innovation tomorrow as well as it does today.

As an Agri-women’s Development Trust Escalator Graduate in 2016, she thrives on getting involved and supporting organisations across the Agri-sector.

Shaheen Junge

Board Member

Shaheen was born in Auckland and has spent the last 7 years working at Fonterra in various people focused roles. Her passion to support communities has led her to a new role leading Community & Social Investment for the Co-op. Shaheen has a conjoint degree and has worked in various roles & industries across Australia & NZ.

Her leadership style is collaborative with a bent to making things happen!

Jo Hay

Board Member

Jo Hay is a sheep and beef farmer in North Otago, where alongside her husband Ross and three children, they run 6000su. Jo prides herself on being a food producer who takes care of people and the planet while producing high-quality, nutrient-dense protein.

With an earlier career in Education, Jo understands the importance of good nutrition in learning and would love to see a food system in NZ where nobody is left behind. Jo is currently on the Board of North Otago Irrigation Company, a Steering Committee member of North Otago Sustainable Land Management and a Central South Island Farmer Councillor for Beef + Lamb NZ.

An Agri-Women’s Development Trust Escalator graduate in 2021, Jo loves to make a difference and thrives on working collaboratively with people, for people, to grow flourishing communities and a strong primary industry.

Nick fisher

Board Member

Nick hails from Dunedin and was involved for a number of years in the meat industry before shifting to marketing and media. Currently, he is Head of Rural for Mediaworks NZ, driving and building the commercial success of their Rural Exchange products.

He has an in-depth understanding of commercial partnerships and sponsorships and is a leader in the rural marketing and advertising field. He thrives in numerous working environments with an outgoing and positive approach, coupled with a keen desire to succeed.

He loves challenges and problem-solving by thinking laterally, leading by example and being compassionate to others. He enjoys working with boards that allow collaborative thinking to ensure they get the best results.

Siobhan O'Malley

Co-founder

Siobhan O’Malley and her husband Christopher have been share milkers all over the South Island, and hop growers and beef farmers in the Motueka Valley.

In 2017, while living in Mid-Canterbury, they were crowned NZ Share Farmers of the Year at the NZ Dairy Industry Awards.

Siobhan has several private business interests outside of the Ag sector and runs a social media platform – Pukeko Pastures. She is currently sharemilking near Hokitika.

Wayne Langford

Co-founder & Board Member

Wayne Langford and his wife Tyler are dairy farmers from Golden Bay, milking 250 cows once-a-day. Wayne sits as the National Dairy Chair for Federated Farmers, Golden Bay Feds President, Primary ITO Stakeholders Council, Rural Service Centre Vice Chairman, and Te Whare Mahana Board Member.

He is also known as the YOLOFarmer, a social media platform with a following of over 125,000 people.

Becks Smith

Becks Smith is a mother to three young girls, a wife and has a background as a rural veterinarian of 15 years based in Ranfurly, Central Otago where she also farms with her husband on their 700ha sheep, beef cattle and deer property.

She is the founder and currently working within two companies serving the Agricultural sector: The Whole Story a social enterprise focused on inspiring sustainability and empowering farmers through strategy, coaching and education (even hosting her own podcast which includes a great episode about Meat the Need with Wayne Langford) & Solayer, an agricultural energy solutions company focused on “giving farmer’s back the power”.

Becks deeply believes in the power of farmers to create positive change in their communities. Meat the Need aligns with her values by providing a practical, farmer-led solution to food insecurity in Aotearoa, and she champions the cause because it’s a tangible way for agriculture to take action, reinforcing the connection between food producers and consumers in a meaningful way.

Courtney Nimmo

I farm sheep,beef and grain with my partner Sam on our farm in South Otago and also work for Ballance Agri-Nutrients. I was reading more and more about food poverty and struggled to accept how kiwi familys could go hungry when we are nation of exporters, it’s not just big cities, our local food banks in rural NZ are desperate for donations to distribute.

I wanted to help but wasn’t sure how, that’s when I heard about Meet The Need, and now I want to help other food producers connect their world-class produce with people in need.

Donald Senior

Currently based in Nelson, I spent a number of years volunteering as a Fireman and more recently St John. I wanted to join Meet the Need as I wanted to give back to the community in a different way.

I like the idea of helping to feed those in need, as I believe no one in New Zealand should go hungry.

Emma Mayen

Coming Soon!

Georgie Van Heuven

Coming Soon!

Grace McLeay

I am a passionate agribusiness professional and fourth-generation farmer based in the Turakina Valley, where my husband and I run our 330ha sheep and beef farm. With a background in corporate farming, rural servicing, and leadership development—including as a Kellogg graduate and current EMBA student—I balance my time between managing our farming enterprise and contributing to the broader agricultural sector.


For me, life is about relationships. I’m passionate about engaging locally to build a more cohesive and collaborative community. As a Meet the Need champion, I believe New Zealand produces the best food in the world, and no Kiwi should go hungry, regardless of their circumstances. We all have a role to play in supporting our communities, and Meet the Need offers a pragmatic, farmer-led solution to make a real difference.

Isabelle Coates

Izy grew up on a lifestyle block in Kaikoura and is an Engagement and Partnerships Manager at Muka Tangata Workforce Development Council looking after the dairy, sheep, beef and deer portfolios.

She has a passion for all things food and fibre and supporting people so joining meet the need as a champion was a no brainer!

Jade and Lyndon McNab

Coming Soon!

Kate Faulks

Coming Soon!

Lara Dalldorf

Coming Soon!

Lauren Jones

My name is Lauren and I’m an agricultural science PhD student and teaching fellow at Lincoln University in Canterbury. I joined Meet the Need as a champion in 2022 and have attended a variety of events and conferences over the years promoting the charity, with the highlight being the 2022 big feed where we raised over 1 million meals for families doing it tough.

I volunteer with Meet the Need as I believe nobody in NZ should be going hungry. We have so many underutilised resources on farm and it’s great to connect the rural and urban sectors to make sure everybody in NZ is fed.

LeAnne Blakelock

Taranaki born and bred, I’m a dairy farmer with my husband Ian on a 350 cow farm on the outskirts of Inglewood. I’m passionate about the dairy beef industry, I love all things to do with calf rearing and enjoy advocating for the opportunities in beef , especially around connecting the consumer to the product.

I’m a chartered accountant by trade and split my time between my own small practice and volunteering within the community. I work a lot in the areas of community engagement and food security – so having a Champion’s role is right up my alley.

Lucy Johnson

Lucy comes from North Canterbury, where she grew up on a sheep, beef and horticultural enterprise. Lucy’s connection to the Primary Industry in Canterbury is very strong.

Lucy graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Environmental Management in 2004. She has held numerous roles with regional council and a long tenure with Synlait, during some significant growth phases of the business. Working within the manufacturing and farming arms of Synlait Milk and Synlait Farms. It was at this time that Lucy was instrumental in the development of Synlait’s Lead with PrideTM on-farm certification programme. Lucy started her own Agribusiness and Project Management Consultancy and has worked alongside a number of farming businesses, levy organisations, red meat companies and agri related enterprises.

Lucy has a strong passion for people and enjoys seeing people grow and develop in their roles. Ensuring positive and practical solutions are gained through a continual improvement focus, embedding lean principles to the way we work, influencing practical policy outcomes and breaking these down to practical application within the primary sector are at the core of her work ethos.

Lucy is a Kellogg Rural Leaders scholar, NZIPIM member and Board Trustee for Dairy Women’s Network.
Lucy has a young family and juggles the competing demands of family and work. As an active relaxer, any time spent outdoors, getting her hands in the soil, gardening and exploring new places fill her cup.

Megan Skiffington

Based outside of Palmerston North, I am the CEO of Grasslanz Technology, a commercial subsidiary of AgResearch. 

To me, feeding good quality New Zealand food, generously provided by amazing rural whanau, is something we can all be proud of and it is a privilege to be involved.

Megan Thomas

Coming Soon!

Melissa Bennett

Living outside of Gisborne and coming from a sheep and beef background, I am passionate about the high-quality meat we produce. The hard mahi that goes into raising livestock and ensuring the highest standards of care are met every day is something we take great pride in.

We’re fortunate to be able to grow such a premium product, and it’s a privilege to share it with others, supporting those in our community who might otherwise not have access to it.

Nicholas Crosse

My name is Nicholas and I am a champion for Meet the Need. Born and raised on the family sheep and beef in Hawkes Bay, and am now based in Wellington. I became a Champion after hearing Wayne talk the about impact that farmers, no matter their size can have on feeding New Zealanders.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a range of Fielday’s and events around NZ to support Meet the Need. Even going as far as shaving my beard off to raise funds during a telethon!

Nicky Brown

I live in the sunny Wairarapa on a 600ha sheep and beef hill country farm in Tinui, raising Pa Hill Romney and Albert Hill Angus.

Being a champion is my way of giving back to the community and being part of an initiative that connects rural and urban communities through food and where good protein comes from.

Peter Hewson

Coming Soon!

Rebecca Greaves

My husband and I are hill country sheep and beef farmers in Pongaroa. I am also a journalist and current editor of Country-Wide magazine. I got involved with Meet the Need as a way to give back to our industry.

I feel strongly that we all have a responsibility to help make a difference if we can. As food producers we have the ability to give to those in need – if we all do a little, it can add up to a lot.

Samantha Dickie

Hi, I’m Sam and one of the volunteers for Meet the Need in Southland. I signed up to become a champion because I feel that everyone deserves to live life with a full belly. I feel incredibly grateful for the upbringing I had on a sheep and beef farm which provided a full freezer for our family.

There are a lot of generous people in the farming community who want to help others and this charity allows us to be a small part of the solution. As a country, we produce some of the finest animal protein in the world so why shouldn’t every Kiwi have the opportunity to consume it.

Sue McKay

Coming Soon!

Zoe Hancox

I’m Zoe, I’ve grown up in Tapanui West Otago. Working as a nurse, I see firsthand how critical it is to care for people not just physically, but emotionally and socially. Good nutrition is a cornerstone of health, yet too many Kiwis are going without regular meals.

Coming from a farming family – I appreciate the hard work, and care that goes into raising animals to be top quality protein. For me, volunteering here is about creating a healthier, more equitable communities.