Richard Wood, Tauranga, MNZM, for services to the State
Mr Richard Wood has been the Deputy Chief Executive of Families and Community Services at the Ministry of Social Development since 2004.He has worked in various agencies in the public sector for 47 years. He has worked to establish a number of cross-sector programmes, including the Strengthening Families, Community Response Model, High Trust Contracting and, jointly with Te Puni Kokiri, Whanau Ora. He was instrumental in establishing the Family Services National Advisory Council. He has been involved in a number of Treaty of Waitangi Settlements, and was asked to chair the Ngai Tuhoe Social Services Taskforce. Mr Wood’s work over many years in collaborative service delivery, particularly for families, has led to him being highly respected, both in local communities and across government. He retired in late 2011.