10 September 2021
Following last week’s appointment of their new Chief Executive, Philip Aldridge, Waihanga Ara Rau Workforce Development Council (WDC) has confirmed the appointment of four general managers.
- Catriona Petrie has been appointed General Manager Qualifications System Product
- Mark Williams has been appointed General Manager Strategy and Insights
- Mike Grumball has been appointed General Manager Assurance
- Vanessa Delegat has been appointed General Manager Equity and Partnerships.
Announcing the appointments, John Chapman, Co-Chair said: “It’s fantastic to be confirming four more members of the leadership team so soon after announcing our chief executive. We were fortunate that Philip was able to participate in the later stages of the recruitment process for Catriona, Mark, Mike and Vanessa. They are each very impressive candidates with a wealth of experience, and together they will make a formidable team. We now only have two remaining vacancies on the Waihanga Ara Rau leadership team – for Poumatua and General Manager Māori – and we are hoping to fill these important roles soon.”
Waihanga Ara Rau covers construction (including heavy, civil, residential, non-residential and related engineering) and associated industries and trades, as well as infrastructure, including water supply and drainage, gas supply, electricity generation and distribution, telecommunication, road and bridge building, and related engineering.
Catriona Petrie is an industry training specialist with a passion for the benefits of vocational learning and the transformative power of education for ākonga, whānau, community and industry.
She has extensive experience successfully translating industry needs into frameworks and learning experiences that enable ākonga and has led the development of qualifications and learning programmes for a range of industries, including the building and construction, community and social services, and primary sectors.
In her most recent role leading the Qualifications and Learning Design team at the BCITO, Catriona has led the introduction of digital learning and the piloting of micro-credentials for the building and construction sector.
Mark Williams has 25 years of experience in the vocational education sector. For the past six years, he has been Insight and Innovation Manager at BCITO. Mark has led projects focused on increasing the participation and success of Women in Trades, investigating the return on investment from training and analysing industry training penetration.
Mark is currently expanding work undertaken in Otago to forecast the national construction and infrastructure workforce, His team is working within the regions to identify issues and opportunities to forecast what having the right people in the right place, with the right skills, at the right time, looks like.
Mike Grumball is familiar with the education sector, having started his journey at the Southern Institute of Technology back in 1995. He moved to Wellington in 2015 to start a new journey within the Industry Training Organisation sector. His latest role was as GM Learning Solutions for Connexis.
Mike has an extensive background across the educational sector with strong senior management and leadership experience. He looks forward to being involved in the setting up of the Waihanga Ara Rau Workforce Development Council.
Vanessa Delegat has been working predominantly with the tertiary sector for over 20 years and was previously employed by the Ministry of Education within the Education Infrastructure Service Workforce Development team.
Vanessa’s roles have included working in educational compliance, organisational self-assessment audits and stakeholder engagement within a range of ITOs, Tertiary Providers and Professional Associations that covered the construction, property, and health sectors.
Left to right: Mike Grumball, Catriona Petrie, Mark Williams, Vanessa Delegat.
Read more about Waihanga Ara Rau here.
