Align engages with a talented and diverse team of professionals and businesses from across New Zealand and abroad. Through these experienced and capable associates and partners we are able to provide the highest quality of bespoke consulting services.
Lynda Carroll
Jim Lindsay
Anna Nottage
Ani Waaka
Gillian Brookes
Lynda is Align Group’s Managing Director and primary shareholder. She has worked for nearly thirty years in senior management and consulting roles interfacing with chief executives, senior managers, boards and key shareholders/ stakeholders. These roles have been within the private, not for profit and state sectors in New Zealand and internationally.
Prior to establishing Align Group, Lynda founded Carroll Consulting. For nearly twenty years, Carroll Consulting supported organisations and communities to align culture, strategy, governance and performance to enable their people to innovate and thrive today, to be successful tomorrow. Prior to starting Carroll Consulting Lynda was Managing Consultant of the New Zealand office of Development Dimensions International (DDI); General Manager, Human Resources for the Ministry of Forestry; and Corporate Services Manager for the Early Childhood Development Unit.
Lynda has 20 years governance experience including as Chair and Deputy Chair; Chair of Remuneration and Performance and Nominations sub-committees as well as membership of Finance, Audit and Risk, Future Horizons, and Fundraising and Sponsorship sub-committees. Lynda currently sits as an Independent member on the New Zealand Army Leadership Board and the New Zealand String Quartet Trust. She is a lay member of the Professional Conducts Committee, Social Workers’ Registration Board, a Chartered member of the Institute of Directors and her governance experience has been gained across the wider state, private, and not-for-profit sectors.
Lynda's specialty areas include:
Organisation Culture
Governance evaluation, development and support
Facilitation of Strategy, business planning and performance
Organisation transformation and change
Lynda’s networks have been established through associations such as the Institute of Directors, New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM), Institute of Public Administration of New Zealand, and the Human Resource Institute of New Zealand. She is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and an Associate Fellow of NZIM. She is also a member of the Rotary Club of Wellington.
On a personal note, Lynda is a keen singer, amateur jeweller and traveller.
Jim has over 25 years in management and governance experience including as Chair and Independent Board Member. Jim is a Chartered member of the Institute of Directors and currently Chairs a not-for-profit trust, and a Medical Centre Advisory Board.
Jim is also an expert in professional regulation and investigation and sits of Statutory Conduct Committees for a number of professional bodies.
Jim has provided advice to numerous Chairs, Boards and CEOs on leading change and managing risk. This advice has been provided to organisations across all sectors including Government agencies, corporations and membership organisations. Jim has a particular interest in security and risk and how these can be improved.
Jim’s background was originally within education where he helped develop parts of the New Zealand curriculum and furthered teacher education. He then moved into central government and has had significant senior leadership experience across organisational strategy, stakeholder engagement and market performance. He has led a range of teams through significant change including developing new entities and partnerships between business and Government.
Jim’s specialty areas include:
Security and Risk
Educational co-design
Intersection between Government, business and sector organisations
Professional Standards and Regulation
Governance
On a personal note Jim holds a black belt in Aikido and is slowly learning to surf.
Anna is an experienced HR practitioner, project manager and people leader. Her experience spans across the private, not for profit and public sectors in New Zealand, and she has both a Science and Commerce Degree in Psychology, Human Resources, Industrial Relations and Management.
She began her HR career at the Salvation Army in Wellington while studying at Victoria University and has held senior advisory positions across Interislander, The Treasury, Te Kawa Mataaho Public Services Commission; and leadership roles at Customs New Zealand and Oranga Tamariki. She has a background in the public service wide approach to leadership, talent management and HR through her role at Te Kawa Mataaho Public Services Commission implementing the Leadership, Capability and Deployment Strategy for the Public Service.
Anna began consulting in 2019 and considers herself as an HR generalist. She has recently worked with small business owners to develop their HR foundations, at Te Tumu Paeroa, the office of the Maori Trustee and Unicef New Zealand. She is passionate about supporting businesses to increase their productivity and growth through people and supporting individuals to develop their potential.
Anna’s key areas of expertise are:
Leadership coaching
Career and development planning and coaching
HR Audits
HR Strategy and Planning
Creating simple and effective HR products, policies and initiatives that reflect your organisation’s culture and strategy.
Navigating employment relations concerns
Staff engagement initiatives
Workforce planning and recruitment
Performance and Talent Management
On a personal note, Anna grew up in the Hawkes Bay where she loves to spend time and is a mum to two young girls.
Tribal affiliations: Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa
Ani has 20 years’ experience working in organisational leadership and development. She has supported clients in government, NGOs and corporate contexts to effectively manage change and performance, build positive cultures and deliver against accountabilities.
She has held chief executive positions including establishing the Māori Television Service. Ani acted in the role of Director Human Resources for the Ministry of Economic Development supporting the HR team through the integration into what is now the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Ani has 23 years’ experience on boards of directors, including chairing the Mary Potter Hospice board until 2017. She has been a mediator for 10 years and provides governance, executive and mediator coaching.
Ani’s specialty areas include:
Mediation, dispute resolution and workplace investigations
Training design and facilitation
Strategic and business planning
Team and culture building
Board support in recruitment and role profiling
Coaching
Understanding te Ao Māori - the Māori world view.
On a personal note, Ani swims daily and works committedly on the Vestry of St Peter’s on Willis.
Gillian has over 15 years experience in strategic human resource management spanning the UK and New Zealand across diverse sectors and industries. She is also a business owner having founded My Kids Village Ltd in 2016. This diversity in her professional work enables her to readily understand the context and environmental factors at play with the businesses she supports. With her background in economics she has a uniquely analytical and evidenced-based approach to her work.
Gillian’s specific areas of focus are:
Building flexible workplaces
Pay equity
Building strategic HR capability
Outside her professional life, Gillian enjoys camping with her family and enjoying the fantastic day walks on offer in New Zealand, her adopted home.
Matai Partners provides strategic, change and reputation management communications advice and support. In short, they help clients communicate to the people to matter to you. We work together on change and culture projects, to get the right messages so your brand and reputation is aligned internally and externally.
