YODAT Board
The YODAT Board comprises a cross-section of medical, professional and consumer expertise to ensure the organisation has strong foundations and can provide well rounded guidance to enable the success of the organisation in delivering its goals.
Introducing the YODAT Board
Ashleigh O’Mara Baker
Secretary
Ashleigh joined the YODAT Board in late 2023 and hopes to contribute to improved care, support and resources for individuals living with young onset dementia and their families, as well as increased awareness of the condition among the wider community.
Ashleigh works as a research fellow at the Centre for Brain Research, primarily on the New Zealand Genetic Frontotemporal Dementia Study (FTDGeNZ; MAPT variant) with the aim of identifying the earliest signs of change among presymptomatic individuals of a family with early onset dementia. She is also conducting research into patient, caregiver, and clinician perspectives on journeys to diagnosis of young onset dementia in Aotearoa. Outside of work, Ashleigh is absorbed by her young son, exploring her new home, the Waitakere Ranges, as well as cooking, and hunting for vintage finds..
Yvonne Browning
Board member, Administrator and Team Leader
Yvonne is a founding member of the YODAT Board and YODAT Administrator and Day Service Team Leader.
In her working career Yvonne was an occupational therapist in Mental Health teams in both New Zealand and England. This work was mainly with people living with dementia and their whānau and caregivers.
Yvonne was pivotal in establishing the running of the YODAT Day Service where she served for two years as the coordinator organising all the activities and CST sessions.
Fred Browning
Board member
Fred is a founding member of the YODAT Board. Until his retirement, Fred was a career banker in New Zealand, Australia and England. When he was 63 Fred was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
As well as being on the Board, Fred was invaluable with helping Yvonne run the YODAT Day Service for its first two years. He continues to be a participant in it. As the consumer representative on the board, Fred’s role is vital for voicing consumer perspective.
Emma Fromings
Emma is a registered Mental Health nurse with a speciality in dementia. She has worked in the UK and NZ in a variety of roles for the NHS, for DHB’s, Aged Care Facilities, private Home Care Providers and more recently for Dementia Wellington. She developed and delivered an educational programme for Dementia Wellington and has established a Living Well programme for people in early stages of dementia.
Currently she works as Health Improvement Practitioner in a medical practice where she is leading a project to support better recognition and response to early change in cognition in primary care.
Emma strongly believes that a wider recognition and understanding of dementia by health professionals, NZ society as a whole – including families/friends supporting a person living with dementia, leads to a better quality of life for that person and those around them.
Paul Gini
Board member
Paul Gini is an economist who has led analytical teams in the Ministry of Education and the Earthquake Commission.
Since retiring in 2016 he has undertaken a variety of voluntary roles including as a board member for a secondary school and a rest home provider. He is actively involved in rest home visitation and is a YODAT day service volunteer. He has been a member of YODAT's board since 2019.
Joanne Loveridge
BN, PG Cert Palliative Care
Founding Board Member
Joanne, a retired nurse, was a founding member of the YODAT Board and YODAT Day Service. She also established the YODAT Family Support Group Service.
Having worked in a variety of health care settings over 52 years of nursing, it became apparent to Joanne that there were no age appropriate services or care facilities to cater for younger people living with dementia.
Following personal experience supporting a friend and family through their journey with younger onset dementia, it became Joanne's mission to do whatever she could to ensure that younger people with dementia live a purposeful life and remain at home with their loved ones as long as it is practicable to do so.
Nathan Lam
Treasurer
Nathan is studying towards his Chartered Accountant qualification which is due to be completed in 2021 and has been working for Deloitte Private in Wellington since 2019.
In his career he has worked in a number of different industries and offerings to provide business advisory and taxation services, with a keen interest in partnering with clients in an outsourced finance function role. Nathan has acted as Treasurer on the YODAT board since September 2020.
Philippa Middleton
Board Member
Philippa Middleton is a renowned internationally awarded entrepreneur who has successfully executed several businesses in the last 20+ years.
Philippa has an extensive commercial and business knowledge which is underpinned by a comprehensive sales and marketing background - as well as her relentless and passionate work ethic.
As well as creating prosperous companies, Philippa has had the opportunity to execute change management within several businesses.
Her visionary and innovative lens will be an asset that will complement and enhance the existing philosophies and mandates that the YODAT Board upholds.
Philippa also has a personal invested interest in this particular healthcare sector as she helped her Mother for a more than 2 decade, as she battled with younger onset dementia.
Dr Sally Rimkeit
Board Member
Sally is a founding member of YODAT and psychogeriatrician at Capital and Coast DHB, specialising in rehabilitative approaches for people living with dementia. She is co-convenor of the Psychiatric Training Programme for RANZCP, through University of Otago, Wellington campus.
Following her qualitative study of people living with younger onset dementia facing aged care (in collaboration with Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture), she co-founded YODAT in 2015.
Collaborating with an applied linguist, she developed a programme on the value of shared reading for people living with dementia and has published five dementia-friendly books, adapted from classic literature. The programme now includes an international randomised control trial, a qualitative thematic study, and a national library-based project with Victoria University of Wellington.
Dr Brigid Ryan, PhD
Chair
Brigid is a neuroscientist working at the Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, with a research focus on younger onset dementia.
Since 2016 she has led an observational study of a family with genetic frontotemporal dementia, called FTDGeNZ (The New Zealand Genetic Frontotemporal Dementia Study). The aim of this study is to identify pre-symptomatic markers of dementia so that early intervention is possible.
Brigid's other research interests include barriers to diagnosis of younger onset dementia, the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of New Zealanders living with younger onset dementia, and the effectiveness of support groups for younger onset dementia carers. Brigid joined YODAT's board in 2019.
Claudia Wong
Board Member
A media and creative consultant, Claudia lived abroad for close to two decades working for global media brands. Following been the brand and marketing manager at the London HQ of ITV plc (the UK-based international broadcaster, production and distribution company), she moved to their USA HQ where she worked in creative strategy and development, and ultimately oversaw marketing, communications and branding across the group of ITV US businesses.
Prior to ITV, she worked in commercial enterprise and development for magazine publishing group Time Inc. UK, and for News UK newspapers.
Claudia is pleased to serve on the board of YODAT; she recognises how vital it is to support those living with dementia and their carers.
YODAT Patron
Peter Chin CNZM
YODAT is pleased to have Peter Chin as YODAT Patron. A lawyer by trade, Peter served two terms as Mayor of Dunedin (2004-2010) and he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to local body politics and community affairs.
His wife, Noleen, developed frontotemporal dementia in 2006 when she was in her 50s. Noleen passed in 2017. Peter and Noleen’s story was told in the verbatim play The Keys are in the Margarine.
YODAT Supporters
YODAT appreciates the generous support and donations of many individuals and organisations.
Thank you to the Lions Club of Tawa in contributing to the establishment of the YODAT website, to Bunnings, Wellington for donating much needed equipment for the Day Service, to New World Island Bay, Wellington for providing a discount on the weekly food purchased for the YODAT Day Service, Pak n Save Porirua for supporting the YODAT Day Service Christmas function. Special thanks to the Lion Foundation, the Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS), Lottery Community, One Foundation, and Nikau Foundation for their grant support.