Our Team

Angie Clerc-Hawke, Founder and Director

Angie has a background in medical science, population health and health education. She is passionate about integrating health care and social care systems to support people throughout their health journeys. Angie has a lived experience with pain.

Jennifer Whelan, Director

Jenni has worked as a human rights and not for profit lawyer, educator and researcher. She is passionate about people centred and pragmatic initiatives that activate interdisciplinary and emergent theories to help individuals and communities to flourish. Jenni has a lived experience of pain. 

Seanna Davidson, Director

Seanna is a leading system thinking teacher and practitioner. Her approach translates concepts into practice, to build capacity for systems thinking and systemic change. 

Steve Kamper, Director

Steve is an internationally renowned pain researcher, with a physiotherapist background. His focus area is evidence-based practice; how to apply evidence to create meaningful and impactful healthcare services.

Dominic Hawke, Director

Dominic is an accredited auditor. He has a background in economics, OH&S workplace training, and business management. 

Tess Marotta

Tess has a background in community development and mental health advocacy, and is passionate about the power of compassionate communication in the healing journey. She currently sits on multiple disability advisory committees in health and local council areas. Tess has lived experience with pain.

Toby Newton-John

Toby is a clinical psychologist and pain researcher. His research focus area is how couples cope when one of them suffers chronic pain. He is passionate about how our psychology interacts with our physical selves.

Karen Nejad

Karen is an experienced research assistant and enjoys working across many disciplines. Her diverse background spans tourism, sport, recreation, management, business, and health. She is dedicated to working on projects that have a meaningful impact and create positive change. 

Bronwyn Lennox Thompson

Bronwyn is a researcher, occupational therapist and educator. Her research interests are in daily coping processes used by people living with persistent pain and clinical reasoning in persistent pain. Bronwyn has a lived experience with pain.

Joletta Belton

Joletta is an experience and world leading pain advocate. She has a background as a paramedic and in human movement. She is passionate about integrating lived experience insight into research and healthcare. Joletta has a lived experience with pain.

Kris Rogers

Kris is a biostatistician with over 19 years of experience in health and medical research. He provides expertise in biostatistics to researchers across a range of study designs.

Deb Thompson

Deb is a coach for women with pain. She has a background in teaching.  Deb advocates for people with pain, and believes that everyone has the right to understand how to drive their own recovery. Deb has a lived experience with pain.

Barbara Spiller

Barbara is a retired librarian and a trained peer worker. She is passionate about breaking down social isolation as an impact of living with pain. Barbara has a lived experience with pain.

Kerina Strong

Kerina has a background in disability support and nursing. She loves learning and is passionate about supporting people in a thoughtful way by always considering what is important to them. Kerina has a lived experience with pain.

Fraser Brown

Fraser is a strong advocate of self-supported pain management. He is passionate about helping people finding their way towards living successful and rewarding lives with pain. Fraser has a lived experience with pain.

Colleen Johnston-Devin

Colleen is a researcher and nurse. Her research interests and goals are enabling people with chronic pain to self-manage and informing health professionals’ knowledge around chronic pain. Colleen has a lived experience with pain.

Sally Mackay

Sally is a lawyer. She is passionate about making healthcare more accessible, particularly for those living with pain. Sally has a lived experience with pain.

Hemakumar Devan

Hem is a researcher, pain educator, and physiotherapist. His primary research interest is to foster self-management support to empower people with chronic pain and their whānau (family and significant others). He is a passionate science communicator.

Anne Grunseit

Anne is public health program evaluation specialist, with a focus on large scale programs to prevent lifestyle-related chronic disease. She is particularly interested in applying mixed methods to real-world interventions to reach those in need.

Leah Dwyer

Leah is a remedial massage therapist and acknowledges the importance of deep listening and validating people’s experiences. She elevates lived experience voices through media engagement. Leah has a lived experience with pain.