As a trained lawyer, Paul has done everything but practise law. He’s worked in government, managed and chaired community organisations and co-led a collaboration consulting firm. A career highlight was working for Lifehack – a systems-led intervention into youth mental health.
In all these roles, he saw that people often had trouble working well together. Now, he helps leaders create places where everyone feels included and can do their best work.
Paul recently recorded the last episode of his podcast Beyond Consultation and is now working on his next book Leading Questions. He writes a popular weekly newsletter and shares free resources at www.paulmcgregor.co.nz.
When Paul’s around, expect lots of curious questions, a few stories, a laugh and a smile – especially when the conversation is a difficult one.
Dr Fiona Bolden MB ChB 1990 Bristol; MRCGP 1995; FRNZCGP 2005 (Dist)
Dr Fiona Bolden is a passionate advocate for rural health, combining decades of experience as both a frontline rural clinician and a healthcare leader. As the inaugural Chair of Hauora Taiwhenua/Rural Health Network, she has led the network’s growth from a fledgling advocacy organisation into a unified and influential voice for rural health. Before Hauora Taiwhenua was launched in 2022, Fiona served for three years as Chair of one of the key founding member organisations, the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network (NZRGPN). She had been on NZRGPN’s board since 2010.
In her ongoing clinical work as a rural GP, Fiona remains deeply connected to the rural communities she works with and is driven by the relationships she has forged over the years. She provides out-of-hours care, participates in PRIME (Primary Medical Emergency Response) and has played an instrumental role in many community wellbeing initiatives, including suicide prevention and women’s health.
Fiona’s vision for sustainable rural health reaches beyond her region and New Zealand with an aspiration for interconnected and supportive networks of healthcare professionals across borders. Recently, Fiona led Hauora Taiwhenua’s successful bid to host the Rural WONCA (World Organisation of Family Doctors) conference in New Zealand in 2026. She is looking forward to the opportunity to work with rural health professionals from across the network to showcase Indigenous healthcare approaches on an international platform.
While her advocacy extends to the global stage, Fiona remains deeply committed to rural primary care, with a strong focus on mental health support. Originally from the UK, studying medicine at the University of Bristol, she did her general practice training rurally. She moved to NZ in 2002 with her young family, settling initially in Kawhia and then working in Whaingaroa/Raglan where she jointly owned a practice until December 2018. She worked for Midlands Primary Healthcare Organisation (PHO) as a clinical lead in mental health and addictions for four years and now has a role on the national clinical network for mental health and addiction. From 2018 to 2025, she worked at Whangamatā in the Coromandel and is currently practising rural and remote medicine as a locum GP.
Fiona represents the rural health network with her regular contributions to NZDoctor. Her heartfelt passion for an equitable health service for rural communities can be seen in the media interviews and the advocacy work that she does throughout all levels of the system but is felt most strongly in the people, whanau and communities that she has dedicated her career to serving.
Former TVNZ Sunday reporter and host of Survivor New Zealand, and Celebrity Treasure Island, Matt Chisholm is well-known to many Kiwis as an authentic, down-to-earth reporter. As someone who has spent 13 years telling other people’s stories, Matt is now sharing his own through his book, Imposter.
Growing up in Otago, Matt was the sensitive youngest child in a family of four boys, with a difficult home life in which high standards were paramount. After trying his first drink at fourteen, Matt found himself in a decades-long spiral of aimlessness and heavy drinking – despite the physical and mental toll the booze took on him. Behind the success of his career, Matt was barely coping, driving himself into the ground. One day something snapped. After admitting in a social media post that he was struggling with depression, Matt was shocked at the outpouring of public support. It would be the catalyst for him to face up to his unhappiness and change his life.
Matt started writing Imposter during the 2020 level 4 lockdown, soon after he had relocated down south to the small town of Omakau, located in North Otago. His book paints a picture of a smart and gregarious man marred by a difficult childhood, crippling perfectionism, problem drinking and, as the title suggests, imposter syndrome – the boy from small-town Central Otago, whose favourite hobby was tailing lambs, never felt he belonged in the world of TV.
Sophie enjoys a good night’s sleep, but sometimes she settles for less. Sophie is a rural GP and a member of the most successful adventure racing team ever recently winning the Yukon 1000 event.
Sophie believes many people are more capable than they think. She encourages trying new challenges, even if it means less sleep. With over 20 expedition races under her belt, she values a solid race and smart strategy over just winning.
Originally from Ōhope, Whakatāne, Sophie studied medicine in Dunedin and now lives in Marlborough. She works at Manu Ora, focusing on health equity for Māori. Sophie loves the diversity of General Practice. The best part of General Practice for me, is meeting so many different people, and getting to know them and their wider whānau. I really enjoy the diversity of what a day can bring; no two days ever being the same. I also really love following māmā through pregnancies and then meeting pēpi and watching them grow and develop.
Born and raised in Ōpōtiki, Carlton (Te Whakatōhea, Te Ūpokorehe) has overcome significant challenges during his schooling years, embarking on a career in paramedicine that led to his transition into health leadership.
Carlton recently served as Chief Clinical Officer – Allied Health at Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority, where he led impactful initiatives to address health inequities for Māori. Currently, he is the Director of Māori Health and Consumer at Te Tāhū Hauora, the Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand. He was also the inaugural Chair of Te Kaunihera Manapou, the Paramedic Council, demonstrating his dedication to advancing the paramedic profession in Aotearoa.
Carlton’s career has been defined by his dedication to improving health outcomes for Māori communities. He developed the Cultural Competency Framework for paramedics and designed innovative out-of-hospital referral pathways to improve outcomes for high-need patients and Māori. In recognition of these contributions, he was appointed a Member of the Order of St John by the Governor-General in 2011.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Carlton is deeply involved in community initiatives. He volunteers for the Ministry of Health’s Kia Ora Hauora programme, inspiring Māori youth to pursue careers in health. His commitment to fostering culturally safe workplaces and improving healthcare access has left a lasting impact on the communities he serves.
John is CEO of Spark Health – focused on supporting and spring boarding clinical digital innovation across the sector: connecting people and systems.
John has a broad background and many success stories leading change and transformation in the health sector. John has experience across the spectrum – Government, MoH/HFA NGO: leading one of New Zealand’s largest PHO over 5 DHBs with a massive rural/regional high need population; Clinical start-ups – Tend and Equine Health, and internationally in the UK, US and the Middle East. He has been responsible for major innovations introducing business, technology and clinical changes that have spread to national and international adoption.
John is also involved in governance roles across New Zealand and in a number of international settings across health, animal health, IT and education.
Rod is a distinguished healthcare professional and the newly elected President of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM). Based in Armidale, New South Wales, and has dedicated nearly two decades to serving rural and remote communities as a Rural Generalist. Rod’s journey in medicine began with a background in research science before he pursued medical studies at the University of Queensland. His career has been marked by a commitment to excellence in various medical fields, including anaesthetics, obstetrics, and emergency medicine. He has also been a Senior Lecturer in Rural Medicine and Critical Care at the University of New England’s School of Rural Medicine.
Throughout his career, Rod has been actively involved in numerous initiatives aimed at improving healthcare access and quality for rural populations. He co-founded Observa Care, a Remote Patient Monitoring service company, to address the unique health needs of rural and remote areas. His leadership roles extend to serving on various boards and committees, contributing to the development of medical curricula, and advocating for the recognition of Rural Generalist Medicine as a specialist field.
As President-Elect of ACRRM, Rod is committed to advancing the College’s mission of providing accessible, high-quality healthcare to rural and remote communities. His goals include supporting future Rural Generalists, raising awareness of the College’s value, and engaging with communities to educate them about the role of Rural Generalists.
An economist by trade, Ganesh has accumulated more than 40 years of experience and knowledge during a professional career that has ranged from academia, to consulting, to public service. He was Chief Economist at BERL from 2011, before leaving to serve as Chair of Productivity Commission Te Kōmihana Whai Hua o Aotearoa in 2021. Since the disestablishment of the Commission in 2024, Ganesh continues to monitor the economic situation publishing comment and articles on his Substack site.
Ganesh regularly volunteers for shifts at the City Mission’s Whakamaru Social Supermarket and serves in voluntary positions on the Boards of Kaibosh Food Rescue, The New Zealand Drug Foundation Te Puna Whakaiti Pāmamae Kai Whakapiri, and Nuku Ora.
Ganesh is a first-generation New Zealander of Indian ethnicity, raised in Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta. Ganesh acknowledges Māori as Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa. Ganesh lives with his partner in Pōneke
The Peter Snow Memorial Award was set up to honour the life and work of Dr Peter Snow (pictured) who passed away in March 2006. Dr Snow was a rural general practitioner based in Tapanui.
As well as caring for his patients Peter was Past-President of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and was a member of the Otago Hospital Board and District Health Board. He was enthusiastic and active in seeking knowledge to improve the health and safety of rural communities. His work contributed to the identification of the chronic fatigue syndrome, and he was influential in raising safety awareness on issues related to farming accidents.
The Peter Snow Memorial Award celebrates Peter Snow’s contribution to rural communities as well as recognising an individual for their outstanding contribution to rural health in either service, health research or innovation.
An individual can be nominated for either an Innovation or Service or a Research Project related to rural health in New Zealand.
Selection Criteria
An independent selection panel will consider applications. The panel reserves the right not to offer the award if it deems that applications do not fulfil the selection criteria for the award, however HTRHN executive members will encourage the nomination of peers. In the event that no nominees are received, then the HTRHN executive may make nominations.
An innovation or research project should:
Submit a nomination
