Manea Sweeney | Trustee

Manea Sweeney (Ngapuhi, Ngati Rahiri, Te Atiawa) is a strategic infrastructure leader and urban planner working across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. She brings over 20 years of experience from engineering consulting and environmental planning, with a focus on resilience, and community outcomes.

She holds Board roles on several major infrastructure projects, including engineering and environmental consultancy Tonkin + Taylor Group. She is passionate about creating spaces - physical, cultural, and institutional - where creativity, belonging, and intergenerational wellbeing flourish.

Manea lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara with her young son, and is drawn to work that connects people to place and to each other. Her presence on the Experience Wellington board reflects her commitment to championing the arts as vital threads in the city’s civic life.

Heather Galbraith | Trustee

Professor Heather Galbraith was appointed a trustee in late 2021 and has a strong arts background. She is Massey University’s Director Postgraduate for the College of Creative Arts and was previously the Head of Whiti o Rehua School of Art.

Heather has held numerous senior curatorial roles including at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, City Gallery Wellington and SCAPE Public Art in Christchurch.

She has also played a pivotal role in New Zealand’s Venice Biennale art projects, including co-curator for Francis Upritchard’s Save Yourself (2009) and Commissioner for Simon Denny Secret Power (2015).

Heather undertook her postgraduate studies in curatorial practice at Goldsmiths College London.

Peter Jackson | Trustee

Peter is a cultural consultant of Te Atiawa and Taranaki Iwi descent. He helps organisations to fulfil their Treaty of Waitangi obligations. He has a Bachelor of Commerce & Administration from Victoria University of Wellington.

A background in IT, property investment and small business ownership has provided him with a solid understanding of the mechanics of organisational success. Peter is a director on a number of iwi and community boards which include the Wellington Tenths Trust, Adult Community Education Aotearoa and Early Childhood New Zealand.

Martin Matthews | Chair

Martin has held several senior executive roles in the public sector. He was previously New Zealand’s Controller and Auditor-General and Secretary for Transport. For ten years he was also the Chief Executive of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Martin is now working as a consultant and director. He is currently also the Independent Chair for Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Finance, Risk and Assurance Committee.

Earlier in his career Martin was an Assistant Auditor-General where he helped design aspects of the New Zealand public management system, including the Public Finance and Audit Acts. Martin is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and has an honours degree in Economics.

Suzanne Snively | Trustee

Suzanne joined the Board at the end of May 2022. She is a Wellingtonian with a love of a city that has a strong sense of community and diversity with a focus on the wellbeing of its residents, enriching their lives through support of culture, the arts, innovation and creativity. Suzanne was awarded Wellingtonian of the Year in 2013.

Suzanne is an economic strategist and has provided governance support to many institutions (including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand), arts organisations, ministries, polytechnics and health boards while supporting anti-corruption efforts across the Pacific.

Suzanne’s service to governance in Aotearoa was recognised in 2021 when she was made an honorary dame companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Geordie Rogers | Trustee

Geordie is a Council appointed trustee and Wellington City Councillor for the Pukehīnau/Lambton Ward. He has a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) from Victoria University and joined the Wheako Pōneke Board of Trustees in late 2025.

As a Councillor based in the heart of the city, Geordie is interested in engaging with the arts, history, and science that gives Wellington its unique identity.

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Chris Parkin | Trustee

Chris Parkin is a Wellington businessman and patron of the arts. A Wellington City Councillor for nine years before retiring in 2004, he has been involved in Wellington’s art and cultural scene for many years.

Chris was the former owner of New Zealand’s only boutique art hotel, the Museum Hotel in Wellington. He is well known as the driving force behind the extraordinary engineering feat of saving the hotel from demolition, by moving it across the road on railway tracks to make way for Te Papa in 1993. It was the largest building in New Zealand to be relocated at that time.

In 2011, Chris was awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the arts and business. He brings a legacy of visionary leadership and arts advocacy to Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington, helping to shape a city where creativity thrives.

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Level 4, 65 Victoria Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011

Contact

experiencewellington@experiencewellington.org.nz 
PO Box 893, Wellington 6140

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CC22571
© Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington 2024

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