ESNZ Board & Committees

Lynda Clark

Chair – Co-opted

Lynda is an experienced facilitator, manager, coach and mentor with a background in Dairy Sector organisations, Tertiary Agricultural education and rural wellness.  She is highly skilled in leadership and people management, rural wellness and development, business planning, and innovative education. She has a passion for growing great individuals and teams where a positive can-do culture prevails. Lynda has served on the Dressage Board as Chair, an appointed ESNZ Board member in the past and now sits as Chair of the ESNZ Board.

Hannah Walton

Deputy Chair – Appointed

Hannah is committed to growing New Zealand businesses through best practice governance. She has broad industry experience covering health, telecommunications, air transport, ICT and financial sectors. Hannah seeks to bring a long term, strategic focus to the roles she performs and teams she works with, with particular emphasis on clarity of purpose and focus on execution. With a strong background in operations, technology investment, product development/delivery and finance, Hannah has deep experience in leading large scale transformative change. Hannah brings energy and commercial/business acumen to the board table, with a leaning towards the pursuit of opportunities over risk avoidance. Hannah sits on the Audit Finance and Risk Sub Committee and is an Appointed Board Member.

Sue Hobson

Dressage

Sue is a former National Judges Officer and Board member for Dressage and is passionate about equestrian sport.  She is an excellent communicator who is positive and always looking to the future.  Sue has commercial experience through running her own successful business and is an experienced international 4* FEI Dressage and Young Dressage Horse Judge so brings a wealth of wisdom to the ESNZ Board.

Sue Billigheimer

Endurance

Sue lives on a small sheep and beef farm in Canterbury. She was first elected to the Endurance Board in 2017 and was the Endurance Board representative on the ESNZ Board for 2019/2020. After an 18-month break, Sue was re-elected to the Endurance Board in 2021 and was voted Chair after the AGM in 2023. Sue is a committee member of the Canterbury Endurance and Trail Riding club. She has been on several national and island championship organising committees and is currently an FEI Level 3* Judge and T.D.

Marg Evans

Eventing

Margaret has been involved with Eventing for many years as a committee member of Eventing Canterbury, being a former Chairman and current FEI Event Director, as well as being a parent to riders. She has been a Board member for ESNZ Eventing for eight years and is Eventing’s representative to the ESNZ National Board.  Outside of Eventing, Margaret was employed as a scientist in endocrinology at Christchurch Hospital for 30 years with a specialist research interest in reproduction in mares. During this time, she was a member of a number of national and international scientific committees, and is currently a Board member of the NZ Equine Research Foundation, and the NZ Equine Trust. She is married to Bruce Taylor, an equine veterinarian who is also involved in the sport and is an FEI vet.

Penny Tapley

Jumping

Penny lives on Banks Peninsula in the South Island and is in her third year on the ESNZ Jumping Board.

She is a member of the Canterbury Area group and looks after Show Jumping Canterbury’s sponsors and sponsorship. She is also the secretary of the South Island Show Jumping Committee which is made up of all seven South Island Area groups and coordinates the SI Young Rider camp, SI v Victoria YR competition and the National Show Jumping Champs.

Lisa Marcroft

Appointed

Lisa brings energy, focus and critical thinking to improve business performance to the ESNZ Board table gained from her considerable experience as Customer Manager: Tech & Services at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.  Lisa is a member of Dressage Waikato and also Morrinsville Te Aroha Dressage Group.

Ana Sever

Appointed

Ana has a career-long record of successful transformation and growth of public and private sector business using digital technology. She has proven governance experience in overseeing technology management delivery and performance, ensuring that risks associated with transformation projects and technology use are mitigated and planned business outcomes are achieved. Anna’s governance objectives are focused on advising and leading organisations to take a proactive approach to disruption and successfully optimise business benefit from their digital investment. She brings a fresh and current approach to governance, especially where new energy and direction is needed for accelerated growth.  Ana is an Appointed Board Member. Ana also sits on the Remuneration Committee.

Victoria Heine

Appointed

Kings Counsel Victoria Heine has practiced in Wellington for over 30 years, with experience in litigation across a broad range of commercial areas, including contracts, equity, and competition law. She has successfully led cases for a diverse range of clients, including large corporates, state sector agencies, public interest groups, and individuals. Victoria has played a pivotal role driving culture change within the legal profession, particularly in issues facing women in the workplace.

Evan Davies

Co-opted

Evan Davies has over 30 years of experience in management and leading commercial development projects. Emerging from a background in town and urban planning, Evan has widespread interests across property development, city planning and urban issues, including farming and viticulture. Evan’s expertise has seen him responsible for significant developments and commercial enterprises across New Zealand and Australia, including NZX listed SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited.