Our People

Alan has had a long career in both the government and NGO sector as a policy analyst, including time as the Senior Social Policy Analyst at The Salvation Army's Social Policy & Parliamentary Unit. He was the author of The Salvation Army's well-regarded State of the Nation Reports from 2009 to 2019 as well as most of its reports on housing.

In his spare time, he is a community activist in South Auckland. For 15 years he was a school board trustee and a sports club administrator and coach. He is a life member of the Manurewa Marlins Rugby League Club. Alan is also a trustee for two housing NGOs, the Auckland Housing Association and Auckland Community Housing Trust. Formerly he was chair of Community Housing Aotearoa.

He has an academic background in town planning and economics and was involved in Auckland local government for over 20 years both as a politician and bureaucrat.

Alan is a contributor to CPAG's work around housing, incomes policy and macro-economic policy and provides much of the background analysis for our annual review of Government's budget.

Frank has practised criminal defence law in the South Auckland area for over 40 years. Frank is concerned about all aspects of child poverty. He joined CPAG in late 2014. Frank is also the founder and creator of Granpa BB’s Muesli.

Lydia joined the CPAG management committee in 2023 as treasurer.

As a Chartered Accountant she is currently working for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and has experience in both policy and government relations.

Before that she worked as a senior consultant with Deloitte. She has a Bachelor of Management Studies (Hons) (!st class) and a Bachelor of Law (Hons) (1st class) from the University of Waikato; and a Masters in Public Policy (Hons) (!st class) from the University of Auckland.

Colleen Brown is well known in South Auckland as a local body politician, and community advocate, serving on Manukau City Council for nine years and for 15 years as a Counties Manukau representative on the DHB.

She lives with her family in Hillpark, one of the last remaining urban forests in Auckland City. Her background is as an educationist (B.A. Dip Ed and M. Ed (Admin) Hons, Massey University) and disability advocate. In 2000 she was awarded the MNZM for her contributions to the education, community and disability sectors.

When writing her Master’s thesis, she interviewed many of the key players in the fourth Labour Government who pushed reforms through in the education sector enabling disabled students to attend school as of right. That research has led her to work in a variety of fields, including the disability sector.

She has used those investigative skills to write, The Bulford Kiwi: The Kiwi we left behind’  about an aspect of New Zealand’s history in 1919 that has largely been ignored, that is, stories from families affected by WW1.

This year she has written a children’s book about Elvie the sheep – a true story about a sheep that lived in her aunt’s back yard in Kilbirnie, Wellington.

Colleen has just finished a true Anzac children’s story – due to be published and released just before Anzac Day 2023. Colleen also writes occasional pieces for The New Zealand Listener using her networks to make sure that voices from the South Auckland community are heard.

Gerard Cotterell has been a member of CPAG since 2009 and is a member of the Research Committee. Gerard is a sociologist with wide-ranging research interests that include: understanding the impacts of neoliberalisation in Aotearoa New Zealand, the political economy of the welfare state and welfare reform and its consequences, inequality, and comparative social policy. In his Master’s degree and his PhD Gerard examined the impact of welfare reforms in both Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom, from the beginning of the neoliberal reforms in the 1980s.

Gerard Cotterell has been a member of CPAG since 2009 and is a member of the Research Committee. Gerard is a sociologist with wide-ranging research interests that include: understanding the impacts of neoliberalisation in Aotearoa New Zealand, the political economy of the welfare state and welfare reform and its consequences, inequality, and comparative social policy. In his Master’s degree and his PhD Gerard examined the impact of welfare reforms in both Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom, from the beginning of the neoliberal reforms in the 1980s.

Alan currently works at the Ministry for the Environment as a Principal Analyst. He previously worked as the Senior Social Policy Analyst at The Salvation Army's Social Policy & Parliamentary Unit. He was the author of The Salvation Army's well-regarded State of the Nation Reports from 2009 to 2019 as well as most of its reports on housing.

In his spare time, he is a community activist in South Auckland. For 15 years he was a school board trustee and a sports club administrator and coach. He is a life member of the Manurewa Marlins Rugby League Club. Alan is also a trustee for two housing NGOs, the Auckland Housing Association and Auckland Community Housing Trust. Formerly he was chair of Community Housing Aotearoa.

He has an academic background in town planning and economics and was involved in Auckland local government for over 20 years both as a politician and bureaucrat.

Alan is a contributor to CPAG's work around housing, incomes policy and macro-economic policy and provides much of the background analysis for our annual review of Government's budget.

Mike is an Honorary Academic at the School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work at the University of Auckland and has previously been CPAG’s Convenor.  He has written extensively on poverty and social security issues.  Mike chaired the Alternative Welfare Working Group in 2011. He has also held board positions at Te Waipuna Puawai and the Auckland City Mission in addition to being a member of the Impacts of Poverty and Exclusion Policy Group for the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services. He is currently a member of the Peter McKenzie Project Trust.

He has written extensively on poverty and social security issues and is the joint author of Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. He co-edited CPAG's flagship publication, Our children, our choice: priorities for policy (2014) and contributed chapters to that key publication. He also contributed to CPAG's earlier reports' Left Further Behind: How policies fail the poorest children in New Zealand (2011) and Left Behind: How social and income inequalities damage NZ children (2008) along with the first two editions of CPAG's Our Children: The Priority for Policy (2003). He has written Workfare: Not fair for kids? (2005) and The Impact of Debt on Low Income People, together with an examination of social security reform in New Zealand over the last two decades, Poverty, Policy and the State (published by The Policy Press UK, 2008).

His other books are New Welfare New Zealand (published 2007 by Cengage Publishing in Melbourne), a more detailed look at recent changes in welfare policy. Social Welfare, social exclusion - a life course frame (published 2007 by VarpingeOrd& Text, Sweden) is a collection of essays he has contributed to and co-edited with Swedish academic Lars Harrysson, and includes writings by 11 international authors on how people can become excluded from basic opportunities, rights and services in society.

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