Board of Directors
Janine Edge
PRESIDENT
Janine Edge is an Edmund Hillary Fellow with a focus on enhancing education in New Zealand schools for mental well-being. She is Chairman of the Scientific and Medical Network Charitable Trust in the UK, which has as its aim transformative learning and change.
Until 2020 Janine lived in the UK where she was formerly a partner of a London law firm, an accredited practicing mediator and a university Fellow in Organisational Psychology on an MBA programme. She has an MSc in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology from Liverpool John Moores University, and an MA in Philosophy and Law from Cambridge University.
Janine has worked as a volunteer for the Peace Foundation for over a decade. She facilitated the connection with the Resolution Institute which enabled professional mediators to coach students through mediation role plays as part of the secondary school training. She also has a keen interest in play-writing, improvisation and performance as a way to accelerate learning.
Steven Arnold
Treasurer
Steven Arnold is an experienced education leader at Auckland Montessori College, committed to fostering respectful, student-centred learning environments grounded in Montessori principles. He is passionate about supporting young people to develop independence, critical thinking, and a strong sense of social responsibility. Steven values collaboration, open communication, and community engagement, and brings a thoughtful, balanced approach to leadership and wellbeing within the school community.
He rejoins the Peace Foundation Board after a decade. He has two adult children and lives in Auckland with his wife Mallika. Steven has been a school principal for 20 years, with some time being spent as a University initial teacher education lecturer at AUT. The family has lived in Australia, UK, Brunei, and Italy.
Rosemary Hunt
Council Member
Rosemary is an Auckland based mediator and consultant. She has had a diverse career which has allowed her to develop a blend of technical analytical skills and pragmatic relationship building skills. She began her career as an accountant with Deloitte in New Zealand in the audit area and then moved to the Consulting division with Deloitte UK. Four children, two countries and quite a few years later she returned to University in Auckland and fulfilled a long held wish to study law.
Her extensive and diverse experience with many different types of organisations and people led her to mediation and she has been an accredited professional member of the Resolution Institute since 2017. Recently, she believes that there has been a ground shift in New Zealand towards a more consultative, kinder way of working. She is optimistic that much can be achieved and that schools and children are the ideal place in which to begin.
“Mau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi”
Your contribution and my contribution will provide sufficient for all.
Pete hall
Council Member
Pete has more than 20 years experience in education. Beginning as a teacher and eventually as a primary school principal, Pete has led and supported Peace Education at all levels in a variety of schools.
He has seen the benefits of a Cool Schools Peer Mediation Team and has joined his leadership team in training in Restorative Practice, and conflict resolution.
Now leading a company in the private sector, Pete is proud to be supporting the Peace Foundation and the contribution they make in communities across New Zealand. ;
Cherie Taylor-Patel
Council Member
Ko Pakinui te awa e mahea nei aku māharahara.
Ko Kaipara te moana.
I tipu ake au ki Tāmaki Makaurau ki te Uru.
E noho ana au ki Taupaki, ā, e mahi ana ahau i Te Atatū.
Ko Crystalline te waka,
Ko Ngāti Pākehā te iwi.
Ko ahau te tumuaki o te kura o Flanshaw.
Ko Cherie Taylor-Patel taku ingoa.
Dr Cherie Taylor-Patel is an experienced teacher, school leader and researcher. Having taught at all levels in the primary sector, Cherie has been principal of two schools. Her first principalship was in Tokirima, a two-teacher country school. She has been the principal/tumuaki of Flanshaw Road School, a multi-cultural urban school in West Auckland, for twenty-two years.
Cherie completed her Doctorate in Education in 2011 through the University of Auckland. She has been a sector representative and member of the NZEI Principals’ Council and an executive member, vice president and president of NZPF – Ngā Tumuaki o Aotearoa. She is a current member of the International Confederation of Principals.
Cherie is a strong advocate of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, social justice, peace education and education for sustainability. In 2025, Cherie won the ASB-APPA Travelling Fellowship. Through this fellowship, she met with world leaders in environmental education, to inform and strengthen work being done in Aotearoa New Zealand. She believes all progress must be founded upon “right relationships” and decision-making that is good for all, now and in the future.
William W. McInerney, PhD
Council Member
William McInerney is a Researcher in Philanthropic Services at JBWere where he leads research projects examining philanthropy and the for-purpose sector across Aotearoa. William has 15 years of experience conducting research and managing projects for NGOs, universities, and governments around the world. His work spans a broad range of social, political, and economic areas with a particular focus on peacebuilding and peace education. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Prior to Cambridge, William co-founded and directed an arts and peace education organisation, developed and taught university gender violence prevention programs, led international peacebuilding and storytelling projects, and was awarded a Rotary Peace Fellowship. William has previously served as a trustee and advisor for charities in the US and UK and looks forward to helping advance the essential and impactful work of the Peace Foundation here in Aotearoa.