Meet the Operational Team

Meet our amazing operations team who keep things moving.

Client and Funding Manager

Chanri Bezuidenhout’s love for dance and the arts has been a driving force in her life, allowing her to experience the sheer delight of self-expression through movement and creativity. Presently, she holds an exhilarating role as the Client and Funding Manager, where she is dedicated to honing her skills in the field of funding while providing unwavering support to clients on their transformative creative therapy journeys. Chanri embraces this thrilling opportunity, eager to contribute to the growth and well-being of individuals through her passion for the arts.

Office Manager - Admin and Accounts
Meaghan is not just about numbers and administration – she has a diverse background which includes an BA Degree (Hons) in Visual Arts and a post-graduate Certificate in Creative Arts Therapies, both attained in Australia (her place of birth). Meaghan is delighted to be part of the team at DTNZ, which enables her to flex her natural inclination for organisation and balancing many things at once.

Programmes Co-ordinator

As Programmes Coordinator, Elly is all about ensuring the seamless operation of our therapy programmes and supporting our team of hard working therapists. Helping people and seeing tasks through to completion brings her a lot of joy. She has a passion for creativity and self-expression through art and movement, with a background as a makeup artist and scare actor. She’s always been drawn to exploring her artistic side through unique looks and performances. Outside of work Elly will be in the great outdoors, enjoying a hike or having fun at the beach.

DTNZ General Manager
Bonnie is passionate about health, self awareness and conscious living.
In her corporate career, Bonnie has spent many years in general management positions – working alongside businesses to manage their staff’s needs and the needs of the organisation as a whole.
Bonnie is embracing her role at DTNZ, and is content to be a part of the global change through assisting dance and art therapists do what they do best

Executive Director
Anaia is the Founding Director of DTNZ and is passionate about supporting others, finding great satisfaction from utilising movement based creative arts to empower and support people. Anaia has a clinical background in DMT and CAT, and provides training to students of DMT. In 2019 she was awarded the Hanny Exiner Memorial Foundation Award for her dedication to developing the DMT profession in Aotearoa, including the development of the Master of DMT at University of Auckland and the Diploma in DMT at Dance Therapy Training Aotearoa (of which Anaia is also a Director). Anaia holds a Masters in Clinical Arts Therapy and is a Professional Member of ANZACATA.

Advisory Team

Executive Director
Anaia is the Founding Director of DTNZ and is passionate about supporting others, finding great satisfaction from utilising movement based creative arts to empower and support people. Anaia has a clinical background in DMT and CAT, and provides training to students of DMT. In 2019 she was awarded the Hanny Exiner Memorial Foundation Award for her dedication to developing the DMT profession in Aotearoa, including the development of the Master of DMT at University of Auckland and the Diploma in DMT at Dance Therapy Training Aotearoa (of which Anaia is also a Director). Anaia holds a Masters in Clinical Arts Therapy and is a Professional Member of ANZACATA.

Chairperson
Pamela has a background in strategic leadership, governance and human resource management - and a love of dance and creativity. Pamela works around New Zealand in different organisations to optimise the performance of Councils, Boards and Chief Executives and looks forward to supporting the DTNZ vision, work programme, therapists, and staff to achieve their goals. Working with the Advisory Board –she hopes to contribute to improving the lives of individuals, families, organisations or communities.

Secretary

John is a fundraising consultant with governance experience, which includes nonprofit boards in NZ, AU and the UK in arts, health support and professional associations. He has held chair, treasurer and secretary roles and is a member of the Institute of Directors. He specialised in fundraising: managing fundraising programmes for Edinburgh University’s Medical Research Institute and the Edinburgh Napier University Business School. Since then, he has been a consultant to many other fundraising campaigns in the UK, AU, NZ, India and the Middle East. He completed a Master’s degree investigating sponsorship of arts festivals in the UK and a PhD investigating the philanthropy of the Indian elite.

Sarah is a Clinical Psychologist and works in adult mental health across the public and private sectors, bringing her passion and experience working in the community to DTNZ’s board. She is skilled in clinical risk assessment and also advises on outcome measures for research purposes. In her spare time, Sarah loves to travel and explore our great outdoors with her family.

Helen has over twenty years’ experience in building capability, audience development and management in the arts and cultural industry. Her passion is to enable arts organisations, artists and practitioners to build audiences and develop their capability for a stronger creative industry in Aotearoa. She is currently Senior Adviser Development to Creative NZ Toi Aotearoa and has held marketing and development roles both in the UK and NZ. These include the Auckland Theatre Company, the NZ International Comedy Festival, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, the Oxford Playhouse and the Watford Palace Theatre. Helen joined the DTNZ’s advisory board in 2022 and has enjoyed contributing to its strategic development.

Paul joined the Advisory Board in 2024. He has an MFA from University of Auckland and regularly exhibits his artwork throughout New Zealand. Currently, apart from being an artist he is training to be a Dance Therapist with DTTA and is actively attending placements with DTNZ as an assistant. He sits on the boards of several other charities and both his art and time is focused on attempting to establish connections with the hope of creating a healthier society.