Meet our new Aspiring Trustee: Julia Harison

Aspiring Trustees bring fresh perspectives, valuable skills and professional experience to support the Park’s stewardship, while gaining hands-on exposure to governance practice, strategic decision-making, and community leadership.

We asked Julia to share a bit about herself and her experience

Tell us a bit about yourself

Kia ora, I’m Julia Harison, and I am lucky to live in the beautiful Havelock North in Te Matau-a-Māui. At the end of 2022, my partner Michael Luke and I made the decision to move back to our hometown to raise our children. We love it here and are lucky to have the flexibility of working remotely on a permanent basis.

A fun fact about me – I have recently planted a blueberry hedge to keep up with the high demand from my little ones. We can’t wait for berries in summer!

What inspired you to become an Aspiring Trustee?

I am a risk professional with strategic and emerging risk expertise but my passion is really environmental and social risk management. I have worked in and around governance in financial services for 15 years and have law and commerce degrees from Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. I spotted the social media post about the Aspiring Trustee role and thought it would be a great opportunity for me to dip my toes into not-for-profit governance. These opportunities don’t pop up often.

Te Mata Peak is very close to my heart – my grandmother went to Iona and competed in running races up to the peak, my mother grew up in Raureka looking to the giant every day from school, I was raised on its slopes and now I’m raising my babies here too.

What’s your favourite place in Te Mata Park?

My favourite place must now be just down from the saddle where we planted trees on the July volunteer planting day. Surely some core memories were created for my four-year-old who joined me and my father-in-law on the day, using a spade of his own.