Our Team

Fertility NZ National is managed and administered on a day to day basis by our Executive Officer, Michelle Collyer and Executive Assistant Sophie Russell.

Our Executive Committee has the overall responsibility for the organisation and its key objective is to ensure that the needs of our members is effectively met. The Committee conduct meetings on a monthly basis either in person (2-3 times per year) or via teleconferencing. We welcome your feedback and ideas.

Chief Executive Officer

Michelle Collyer

Michelle and her family moved over from ‘sunny’ North Yorkshire to Christchurch 3 years ago.

Michelle has a business degree in the Management of Health and Social Care organisations, a Diploma in Counselling and is a member of both the NZ Institute of Management and the NZ Institute of Fundraising

Michelle has over 10 years experience in the Not-For-Profit sector; her experience ranges from working with small national charities to larger governmental initiatives.

Some of Michelle’s previous experience includes;

§  Patient and Patient Care advisor – The Royal College of Physicians, London

§  Patient advocate – The Joint Committee of Medical Genetics

§  Patient advocate – The British Pain Society – Pain Liaison Group

§  Vice Chair/Chair elect Harrogate and District – The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health.

 

President

Karyn Floyd

Karyn has recently become the President of Fertility NZ.  She feels it is good timing on her part as a lot of hard work has already been done by the previous President and committee!

Infertility, because of her personal experience, is a field she is passionate about and this is why she volunteered to be President.  Fortunately she is now the mother of twin boys conceived through IVF. 

Prior to conceiving her children, she was a counsellor and is now specialising in infertility.  She is interested in a more holistic approach to infertility, treating the physical issues but also addressing the emotional impact infertility can have.  She has a MA, Diploma in Psychotherapy and has trained in Mind Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School. 

She is looking forward to her involvement with Fertility NZ; building on what has already been achieved and continuing to grow the organisation in the future. 

Secretary/ Corporate Member/ Medical Advisor

John Peek

John is one of the founding members of The Fertility Society and consequently Fertility NZ - National. John is also one of the founding staff and early scientific pioneers of fertility treatment in New Zealand.

John is the Operations Manager and Scientific Director of Fertility Associates, splitting his time between all three clinics.

Currently John is Secretary of FSA – Fertility Society of Australasia.

John was one of the members responsible for successfully lobbying Government to access the second publicly funded IVF cycle.

FertilityNZ – National rely heavily on John’s wealth of historical knowledge and understanding of political issues to enable us to effectively target our lobbying.

John also provides services as an excellent minute taker to our Committee.

Corporate Member/ Medical Advisor

Dr Guy Gudex

Dr Guy Gudex is the Medical Director of Repromed Auckland and a leading fertiltiy specialist. He has dedicated more than 15 years of his professional career to the development and provision of infertility services and treatment approaches which have allowed many thousands of New Zealand couples to realise their dream of having a child. Guy trained as a specialist in Auckland and England and is one of a small number of NZ practitioners with subsequent qualifications in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.

Guy is a new and welcome edition to FertilityNZ.

Corporate Member/ Medical Advisor

Margaret Merrilees

Margaret is one of the resident Medical Advisors to the FertilityNZ National Committee. Margaret is an Embryologist and Scientific Director of Fertility Plus in Auckland. She has worked in various Fertility Clinics internationally.

Auckland Representative

Maria Van Den Berg

Canterbury Representative

Rebecca Kerner (see treasurer above)

Wellington Representative

Kate Lee

Kate is the interface between the Wellington Branch and National Organisation.

General Committee

Loula George

Loula has been a registered naturopath and medical herbalist since 1989 and is now working closely with programs devised by Francesca Naish in Sydney (author of Natural Fertility and Better Babies) and FORESIGHT, the British Association for the promotion of preconception care. Loula also specialises in women's health. She also runs public health seminars and lectures at naturopathic colleges in Auckland.

Mailene Tubman

Mailene has been a longstanding member of FNZ Auckland. She has contributed greatly over the years, and we look forward to her being a member of the Executive Committee.

Donor Conception Network Representative

Lyn Mason

Lyn’s interest in infertility issues dates back to the late 1970s and the early 1980s, when she and her husband went through early pioneering infertility treatment. She has been part of infertility treatments for several years, including having her two young children through egg donation.

She feels that with the experience of being a consumer of fertility treatments she can help take FertilityNZ forward as a committee member.