OUR TEAM

MARIE PATERSON 

GENERAL MANAGER                                                   

Marie lives in Mount Maunganui with her daughter and is self-employed.  In 2021 Marie took on the part time General Manager role at Kura Kai.  With over 20 years in the community sector, Marie has a passion for helping others.   Marie wants to help support our amazing volunteers and make a positive impact on the lives of our rangatahi and whānau

KATIE THOMAS

SOCIAL MEDIA & ENGAGEMENT MANAGER

Katie Thomas lives in beautiful Titahi Bay, Porirua and has been involved with Kura Kai from the very beginning as the Wellington CBD volunteer coordinator.  Katie is the face behind our Facebook and Instagram content and is excited to be part of the team that will be sharing our kaupapa across the motu!  A Senior Consultant working mostly within government, Katie has always had a passion for supporting her community and has been involved with a number of charities and non-profit organisations outside of her day to day job for a number of years

JASON LOUGHER 

TRUSTEE 

Born and raised in Whakatāne, Jason is a chartered accountant whose passion is helping small and medium sized businesses. He is a Director at Calc which is a modern and innovative accounting firm that takes a proactive role in growing our clients’ businesses.  They believe in collaborating with our clients to understand their business and ensure their success.

JARED RUMBALL

ACCOUNT AND IT SUPPORT                                             

A self-employed IT consultant originally from Dunedin who now calls the Bay of Plenty home with his partner and two energetic tamariki.  Family is first and foremost for Jared, believing in lifting others up and putting people before profits.  With over 20 years in the IT industry, Jared has learnt a lot and enjoys his work most when helping others.   Jared is the business owner of 42IT and by partnering with Kura Kai, we can use his skills to help feed our rangatahi and their whānau, and be part of the solution.