Our Board of Trustees

Daniel is the Chair of Te Ata’s Board of Trustees and has been a Board member since 2000. He is also an Associate Professor at Auckland University of Technology, teaching in mental health, lived experience and occupational therapy programmes.

Daniel’s research focuses on mental health recovery as well as occupation and sensory based approaches in mental health care. He is passionate about elevating lived experience expertise and building spaces of support and healing, including within the community at Te Ata.

Hi! My name is Clarinda and I started off as a member at Te Ata around 2014. I participated in a lot of activities and groups and volunteered in small roles for part of this time. I joined the Board in 2017 and ended up continuing on to becoming secretary.

I have lived and living experience of mental illness. Having been both in the in patient and outpatient settings, I understand a bit about what the Mental Health system in West Auckland feels like.

I wanted to join the Board as I found being involved with Te Ata valuable to my recovery journey. I want to help keep this place running so others can benefit from it like I did.

Gina Giordani is a Lived Experience Project Lead at Te Pou, a workforce development centre for the lived experience, mental health, and addictions sectors.

Her work involves supporting the lived experience workforce to grow and flourish in line with the Consumer, Peer Support and Lived Experience workforce plan. Gina has her own lived experience, and whānau lived experience which informs her advocacy and work.

She is also happy to serve on the board of Te Ata, as it enables her to contribute to her West Auckland community and stay connected to local issues affecting tāngata whai ora.