Our People

Meet the SBC Team

Mike Burrell

Mike Burrell

Executive Director

Alana Douglas

Alana Douglas

Events Manager

Antonia Burbidge

Antonia Burbidge

Head of Climate and Sustainability

Charlotte Kootstra

Charlotte Kootstra

Sustainability Manager - Climate & Environment

Jay Crangle

Jay Crangle

Manager – Leadership

Megan Gallagher

Megan Gallagher

Climate Leaders Coalition Manager

Nicole Schlichting

Nicole Schlichting

Digital Communications Advisor

Pravin Sawmy

Pravin Sawmy

Manager – Membership

Rebecca Lowe

Rebecca Lowe

Communications Manager

Robert Perry

Robert Perry

Manager – Thriving People

Sally Betts

Sally Betts

Executive Assistant

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Mike Burrell

Executive Director

Mike joined SBC in January 2020. His previous role was New Zealand’s High Commissioner to South Africa. Before that he was Director for Sustainable Economic Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the founding CEO of Aquaculture New Zealand.

He holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Canterbury.

Mike is based in Wellington.

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Alana Douglas

Events Manager

Alana joined SBC in November 2021.

Alana has spent the last 10 years working across the private and public sector, leading events of varying sizes, from large-scale conferences to workshops and tours.

Prior to joining SBC, Alana spent a number of years working in the public sector, responsible for managing projects, campaigns and events including visits and announcements with Ministers of the Crown and Government Officials.

Alana is based in Auckland.

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Antonia Burbidge

Head of Climate and Sustainability

Antonia joined the SBC team in 2023 after having spent 5 years working at the Climate Change Commission, and its predecessor, the Interim Climate Change Committee, where she led the development of the second emissions reduction plan advice. Prior to this she worked in roles in the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, and at the Department for Energy and Climate Change in the UK.  

Antonia is based in Wellington.

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Charlotte Kootstra

Sustainability Manager – Climate & Environment

Charlotte Kootstra joined in September 2022. Before joining SBC, Charlotte spent three and a half years as the Senior Sustainability Specialist for Ports of Auckland where she focused primarily on climate mitigation, adaptation and looking at the risks and opportunities of varying climate scenarios for the Port and the role it plays in New Zealand’s supply chain. Before that she was at BNZ for seven years in the role of Sustainability Consultant where she managed their carbon inventory, emissions reduction programme and sustainability communications and before that she spent five years working as a Communications Advisor – Sustainability for the BP head office in London.

A believer in living the best sustainable lifestyle she can and a passion for helping organisations realise the positive role they can have on the environment, their people, and their stakeholders.  

Charlotte is based in Auckland.

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Jay Crangle

Manager – Leadership

Jay Crangle joined in March 2019. Before joining SBC, Jay spent 10 years working in the UK in a variety of programme management, communications and marketing roles across the community sector. She champions businesses to be at the forefront of environmental and social sustainability by bringing them together to deliver results that no single company could achieve alone. She is based in Auckland, and currently on maternity leave.

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Megan Gallagher

Climate Leaders Coalition Manager

Megan is the Climate Leaders Coalition Manager. Megan is jointly responsible for supporting the implementation of our strategy to accelerate the transition to a low-emissions and climate resilient future whilst ensuring that people are at the heart of this transition.

Before joining SBC in March 2021, Megan spent the previous five years working at Air New Zealand within the People function.

Megan is based in Auckland.

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Nicole Schlichting

Digital Communications Advisor

Nicole is SBC’s Digital Communications Advisor, having joined the team in July 2022. In her role, she oversees SBC’s digital channels, including our website, social media, Pānui newsletter and more.

Before coming to SBC, Nicole spent two years at Heartland Bank as their Senior Communications Advisor, with a focus on growing Heartland’s digital platforms. Prior to that, she worked for analytics firm Datamine for three years as a Content Marketer.

Nicole is based in Auckland. For all communication queries, including the weekly Pānui newsletter, please contact sbccomms@businessnz.org.nz.

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Pravin Sawmy

SBC Membership Manager

Pravin manages member engagement, supporting members to connect with SBC services and programmes.

Prior to joining SBC in November 2019, he worked at Fairtrade ANZ for 12 years in a variety of roles supporting commercial partners in developing and promoting sustainable supply chains in the food and fashion sectors.

Pravin holds a BSc in International Management Science from the University of Wales, Swansea.

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Rebecca Lowe

Communications Manager

Rebecca is SBC’s Communications Manager, joining the team in September 2021.

Prior to joining SBC, Rebecca spent two and a half years working for the Commerce Commission, primarily responsible for managing communications across its competition, consumer credit and fair trading functions. Before that she worked as a Senior Communications Adviser for the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, following almost a decade working across TVNZ’s news platforms as a broadcast journalist.

Rebecca is based in Wellington. For all communication queries, including the weekly Pānui newsletter, please contact sbccomms@businessnz.org.nz.

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Rob Perry

Manager – Thriving People

Robert manages the Thriving People portfolio. He champions business leadership and collective action that supports employee wellbeing, positively impacts communities and wider society, and puts people at the heart of our transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Robert has over 20 years’ experience providing strategic leadership on critical sustainability issues and their solutions in business, consultancy and public sector organisations in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Originally from Liverpool, Robert is a passionate Liverpool FC fan, muso and fitness fanatic.

He is based in Auckland.

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Sally Betts

Executive Assistant

Sally has joined the SBC team as Executive Assistant, managing administration and scheduling for our team of nine, as well as SBC’s Advisory Board.

Sally’s previous role was EA to the CEO at the Real Estate Authority.

She is based in Wellington.

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