Society Governance:
Tips, Tools & Essentials

Mark Mitchell is a senior New Zealand Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister whose portfolios have included justice, policing, and community safety, giving him insight into how law, governance, and community wellbeing intersect. Over several terms, he has engaged widely with sports clubs, cultural societies, and community organisations, seeing first-hand the pressures they face and the importance of good governance in managing risk.

He is recognised for his focus on pragmatic, workable policy solutions rather than purely theoretical reform. Mark brings a national lens to local governance challenges, articulating how simple, robust governance systems at society level contribute to public confidence, funding eligibility, and long-term resilience of community institutions.

Richard F. Chandler is a New Zealand-born investor, philanthropist, and governance advocate, and the founder of the Chandler Foundation and Chandler Institute of Governance. Through these organisations he has championed a vision of building high-trust societies by strengthening governance capability in both the public and civic sectors.

His work spans corporate transformation, impact investment, and large-scale governance capacity-building initiatives across multiple countries. Richard brings a global perspective on how disciplined, values-based governance practices can transform organisations and improve social outcomes, translated into practical lessons for local societies and clubs.

Terry Ray is the President of Clubs New Zealand Inc., representing more than 300 member clubs across the country and serving as a key voice for the licensed club sector. He also serves as an Area Board Member, working closely with local clubs on governance, compliance, and operational challenges.

With deep experience in club leadership and governance, Terry has seen both the pitfalls and success stories of boards grappling with modern expectations and limited resources. He is an advocate for practical, incremental improvements — better agendas, training, role clarity — that help committees operate more like professional boards without losing their community character.

Judith Collins is a senior New Zealand Member of Parliament and has held multiple Cabinet portfolios including Justice and Police, giving her deep experience across legal and dispute-resolution frameworks. Her work has often focused on strengthening systems that uphold fairness, accountability, and public confidence in institutions.

She brings to this session a practical perspective on how principles from the justice system can inform internal processes in societies and clubs. Judith is known for her direct, clear communication style and her interest in governance issues, making her well-placed to help boards think through conflicts of interest and disputes in a way that is both principled and pragmatic.

Angus Ogilvie is the President of Governance New Zealand, the New Zealand division of the Chartered Governance Institute, and a senior governance professional and tax specialist. He is a Chartered Management Accountant and Fellow of CPA Australia, with extensive experience advising organisations on financial management and governance.

He has served in multiple governance roles, including President of the New Zealand Divisional Council of CPA Australia. Angus brings a strong combination of technical accounting expertise and governance practice, making him well placed to demystify financial reporting for boards in the not-for-profit and society sector.

Daniel Kovacevic serves as Vice President of the Dalmatian Cultural Society, bringing hands-on experience of governance in a culturally-based incorporated society with a diverse membership and active programme of activities. In his role he has been involved in improving meeting processes, record-keeping, and decision documentation to support both compliance and institutional memory.

Daniel understands the practical challenges faced by community societies where the same volunteers often juggle multiple roles. His session draws on real-world examples of how better agendas, motions, and minutes have reduced confusion, prevented disputes, and made it easier to hand over roles between successive committees.

Pete Mazany is a co-founder of the ClubGov initiative, bringing a background in systems thinking, collaboration, and organisational development. He has been closely involved in designing the ClubGov concept, platform, and conference as an integrated way to support clubs, cultural societies, churches, and not-for-profits.

Pete has a track record of working across sectors to build practical tools and frameworks that enable people to collaborate more effectively. In this session he distils that experience into a simple story: how digital tools, when combined with training and partnerships, can transform governance from a burden into a source of confidence.

Peter is a Chartered Accountant with extensive experience advising clubs, cultural societies, churches, and not-for-profits on governance, financial management, and regulatory compliance. As a founding leader in the ClubGov initiative, he holds the overall vision for making governance simpler and more effective through systems, tools, and training tailored for volunteer-led organisations.

He is known for translating complex rules and reporting obligations into straightforward templates, checklists, and meeting practices that boards can adopt quickly. Peter's facilitation style is pragmatic and inclusive, encouraging candid questions and helping participants connect strategic governance ideas to the realities of small teams, limited time, and tight budgets.