Amy Thomson is seeking the role of Board Member for AIANZ

Statement:

No ūropi ōku tīpuna,
I tae mai tōku tīpuna ki Aotearoa i te tau kotahi mano waru rau rima tekau mā rima.
Ko Bill Compton rāua ko Dorothy Compton ōku kaumātua
I tipu ake au i Te Whanganui a Tara
Ko Amy Thomson tōku ingoa
Ko tēnei taku mihi ki ngā tangata whenua o te rohe nei.
Ka mihi hoki au ki ngā tohu o te rohe nei.
Nō reira, tēnā koutou katoa.

As a member of Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand for over 15 years, I am proud of Amnesty’s human rights kaupapa and the campaigns I’ve been involved in. I led the Massey Amnesty club and then joined the Te Whanganui-a-Tara group. Most recently, I have raised nearly $3,500 participating in the Alps2Ocean cycle ride.

Professionally, I am a senior consultant at MartinJenkins. We contract with government departments, businesses and NGOs. I am a ‘systems’ thinker, utilising my experience across a broad range of policy areas to ask questions, identify gaps and highlight opportunities. My mahi involves advising Ministers, Boards, and Senior Leadership Teams on strategic direction and reform, creating implementation frameworks, and reviewing projects to make recommendations to improve performance. Prior to MartinJenkins, I worked at the Treasury monitoring the performance of government departments, developing a strong understanding of government’s financial systems and championing the Living Standards Framework. I have worked in the offices of Hon Simon Bridges and Hon David Parker in the finance portfolios.

My kaupapa is about inclusion and relationships. I want to be a good tangata tiriti, building my understanding of tīkanga and te reo Māori including establishing a regular te reo Māori roopu at MartinJenkins. I aim to be an ally to those with different cultural backgrounds to me. This involves calling out everyday racism, reflecting on my own potential bias, and considering cultural differences and Te Tiriti o Waitangi implications in my mahi.

I have a Master of Arts (politics) with distinction and a Bachelor of Science (zoology).In 2013, I attended the Bologna Symposium on Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Reconciliation. I participated again in 2014 as a summer staff member.

“Nau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora te manuhiri”. This whakataukī translates as “with your food basket, and my food basket the people will thrive.” This is apt for the work we do; Amnesty can only succeed when we work together and people cannot thrive without human rights!