Milestone

Noora holds a Master’s of Science in Geography, focusing on international development and sustainability issues. She has published academic research about development communication and is currently completing a Master’s of Disaster Management. Before joining the team in 2019, she had done fundraising work for a New Zealand charity and had worked in Nepal supporting an NGO with research, project evaluation and programme design. Originally from Finland, Noora has gained working experience in seven different countries and has worked in disaster resilience, education, renewable energy, and corporate partnership building. She is fluent in English, Finnish, and Swedish and has a good understanding of French, Spanish, Russian and Slovenian.

James is an experienced sustainable development professional and project manager with knowledge of the power and utilities, international development, transport, and infrastructure sectors in developed and developing countries. He has a strong track record of delivery in consulting environments, providing business development capabilities, economic and financial appraisals, strategic project planning and report writing. He has been effective at managing large projects for public sector departments such as the Department of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Transport, KiwiRail and Local Government agencies, achieving stringent metrics under budget and timeframe pressures. He also holds a Master of Science in Climate Change, Management and Finance from Imperial College London and a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland.

Chris holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics. Chris has provided consulting services to several bilateral, multilateral, and regional agencies in more than 20 countries across Asia, South America and the Pacific. He has worked in the fields of rural development, food and agribusiness value chain development, climate change adaptation, natural resources management, tourism, infrastructure, public and private sector policy and strategy, investment project design, appraisal and evaluation, and sustainable business development. Chris’ recent work on World Bank, Asian Development Bank and New Zealand government funded projects has focused on improving rural people’s livelihoods by strengthening the competitiveness of agricultural value chains. Chris managed his own horticulture business, served on the Australian Horticulture Export Council and was chairman of the State Organic Industry Association. He and his partner are currently developing an eco-tourism venture in Tasmania, in collaboration with the State Parks and Wildlife Department, and a non-government organisation.

Joseph has over 25 years of experience in Coastal Marine Sciences. He is Indian by origin, with New Zealand citizenship. He holds Doctorates in both Earth Sciences (University of Waikato, New Zealand, 1997) and Marine Sciences (Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, 1991), as well as a Masters in Oceanography. He possesses a good understanding of coastal processes, coastal zone management, environmental issues and climate change. Dr Mathew has a wealth of project experience involving the design, implementation, maintenance and monitoring of sustainable coastal protection and shoreline management for several bilateral and multilateral agencies. Additionally, he has developed and designed guidelines for training and awareness raising purposes. He also has experience in accounting for socio-economic data in the preparation of Coastal Management Plans.

Daniel is originally from China but has been living and working in New Zealand since 2002. Daniel holds a bachelor degree in Applied Business Studies in Accounting (Major in Finance). He is also a provisional member of Certified Public Accountants – Australia since 2014. Daniel has experience in accounting and finance across a range of industries and has a high level of attention to detail. He joined FCG New Zealand on an internship during his studies in 2011, and later re-joined FCG New Zealand in July 2017. He is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Gerardo’s expertise is in design of reports and presentations and in corporate imagery. Born in Mexico, he resides in his hometown of Durango. Gerardo also works for Durango’s Institute of Youth consulting on public imagery, design, and communication for media and local businesses. He often attends conferences and presents on responsible social media use and actions against youth cyber-bullying. His passion for art has led him to commence a career as a painter and digital artist. He is a fan of “The Little Prince”. His favourite animal is the fox, symbolising wisdom.

Anthony is a Chartered Accountant and Public Practitioner. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Canterbury (2001) and a Graduate Diploma in Commerce from the University of Auckland (2002). Anthony works with a wide variety of businesses assisting not only with their accounting requirements but also as a passionate business advisor assisting businesses with strategy formulation, accountability, leadership and growth forecasting. With a keen interest in technology, he also assists businesses with implementing and selecting systems that drive improved operational performance. Having previously worked in larger international accounting firms, Anthony is now the director of Evolve Accounting Ltd and assists FCG New Zealand with their financial reporting requirements.

Marites is an experienced contract administrator handling projects supported by multilateral and bilateral agencies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAP), World Bank (WB), Australian Agency for International Development Aid (AusAid), and regional agencies in the Pacific. She has 10 years of experience in financial accounting and a diverse experience in project administration and project accounting.

Samuli has a Master’s Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology and a keen interest in socially and environmentally sustainable global development. He is familiar with the various actors in international development, having worked at UNDP in Zambia, European Commission in Brussels and with a number of projects in developing countries financed by the Asian Development Bank and other International Financing Institutions. Samuli joined FCG originally in 2011 in his home country Finland, went on to establish FCG Asia in Singapore in 2016 and further moved to New Zealand to work for FCG New Zealand in 2019. His aim is to grow FCG New Zealand’s business on basis of the company’s unique areas of expertise, while capitalizing on the joint strength and synergies of being a member of FCG Finnish Consulting Group.