About Inner City Women’s Group
Our People
We have a highly qualified and experienced team of facilitators who are bound by the ICWG Code of Ethics and practice. All facilitators hold tertiary level qualifications and are highly experienced in their field.
Board of Trustees
Melissa Grant - Board Co-Chair
Melissa (Ngâpuhi) is a qualified counsellor with over 15 years of expertise in the mental health, addictions, and domestic violence sectors. She currently works for Whakarongorau Aotearoa//The National Telehealth Service as the Head of Mâori Service Development.
She has held various roles, encompassing clinical, supervisory, and leadership positions in both Kaupapa Mâori and mainstream social and health services.
Melissa is a passionate advocate for Mâori rights and uses her leadership and clinical abilities to work towards the well-being of the community. She envisions a future underscored by equity, support, and empowerment. Melissa is deeply committed to collaborations that put the welfare and outcomes of Mâori communities at the forefront.
Ann Marie Searchfield, RPN, MN, PGcertMgtSt - Board Co-Chair
Ann Marie is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse who has specialised in Acute Mental Health, and Consultation Liaison Psychiatry. She has a particular interest in the social imperatives of mental health. Ann Marie has in the past worked in workforce development within the mental health sector, and has led a service that uses digital and innovative new ways of supporting wellbeing for people. She now works for Ara Poutama (Corrections) where she is able to support the rehabilitation and health of those who are convicted of crimes, including family violence and violence against women. Her role on the board allows her to work with an organisation that sees violence as a gendered issue and to support and empower women, breaking cycles of abuse.
Shelley Gane, BA, GradDipComm - Trustee
Shelley is a marketing and communications consultant. Previously she worked at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in marketing and communication roles where she combined a passion for education, communications, data and design to assist AUT in improving the experience of students’ wanting to study at the university. She has been involved in web design and content creation and management and has community management experience gained in Australia across a range of sectors including support services for women, and community radio and arts development.
Susanne Doddrell - Trustee
Sue originally joined ICWG as a Board member in 2012 and was working in the Addiction and Mental Health field at the time. She became involved because of her strong sense of social justice and wanting to volunteer her time to something meaningful that would make a difference to women's lives in a tangible way. In 2019 Sue took a year away from the Board for personal reasons but has returned at the end of 2020 after being nominated and then voted Board Chair. Sue is currently employed with St John where she has held several roles over the last 10 years in Policy and Audit, People and Capability, and Operations. For the last 4 years she has lead the national Double Crewing Project, and more recently has moved into the position of Operational Effectiveness - Manager - Workforce and Policy. This role is responsible for Workforce Planning, overseeing key change processes as part of increased service provision in Emergency Ambulance and the transitioning and implementation of the new service delivery model for Ambulance Operations.
Cinnamon Lindsay (Ngâti Porou, Ngâpuhi) - Trustee
Cinnamon has been a senior researcher at Whakauae since 2023, after working as a community researcher in Mâori Public Health, and a variety of projects at the University of Auckland. She is passionate about serving Mâori communities and using critical qualitative Kaupapa Mâori research to achieve our aspirations. She has worked on various research projects exploring the impacts of post-prison housing, rangatahi Mâori health, Mâori identity, barriers to fertility care for whânau Mâori, genomics and barriers to healthcare.