Nelson Pulotu

General Manager

Nelson Pulotu joined Tūtaki as our General Manager back in November 2019. Nelson’s background in working with the local community and the leading force behind the inception of the Marfell Boxing Academy has provided him with the skillset required to manage and lead our organisation. One of his key focus areas is working with our current and potential stakeholders to identify new opportunities for collaboration.

Nelson is seconded to us from the New Zealand Police, whom are key stakeholders in our project. By working together we are able to achieve stronger long term outcomes. Nelson is passionate and eager to build upon the work that has been achieved by continuing to support our young people and their families within our community.

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Cain Thomas-Knight

Membership Consultant/Fitness Coach

Cain joined the team as our Membership Consultant/Fitness Coach. Cain is a registered assessor with Skills Active Aotearoa and focuses on training and education. Cain is the ‘go to’ person for all of your membership needs and advice.

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Brenda Buchanan

Youth Worker/ Programme Facilitator

Brenda joined the Tūtaki team as a Youth Worker and our Programmes Facilitator. Brenda worked closely with our youth, ran our group programmes and our school holiday programmes.

Brenda was the kind of person who would give off her own back to help those in need. Her heart was enormous and her passion and empathy shone through wherever she went. She has left a huge hole in our hearts here at Tūtaki, the Lions Den and in the community she was so passionate about.

RIP our beautiful friend, colleague and work mum, we will miss you.

More about Brenda Buchanan

Stacey Seyb

Stacey joined the team at Tūtaki in 2023 as a Youth Development Mentor. Her role includes one on one mentoring with our rangatahi & tamariki and running group sessions alongside her Community Connector role which provides health and education support to our clients.

Stacey enjoys helping young people to feel empowered and confident and work towards creating positive futures for themselves. As a qualified teacher Stacey has taught Visual Arts at New Plymouth Girls’ High School, was the head Teacher of Stratford High School’s Teen Parent unit and also Stratford High School’s Alternative Education programme. She also spent time working for a not for profit organisation, Pregnancy Help Taranaki where she was the Branch Manager.

More about Stacey Seyb

Dane Carr

Fitness Services Supervisor

Dane joined Tūtaki as a contractor in January 2015 providing personal training sessions and classes. He then became our Fitness Services Coordinator for the Lions Den Gym & Fitness Centre in January 2017 when he became an employee. Dane takes one to one personal training sessions, group training, consultations and programme developments. Always looking for new and innovative ways of encouraging others to engage in training, he has recently launched Strong Cubs – a strength based training programme for children aged 5-9 years.

More about Dane Carr

Alex O’Hanlon

Office Administrator

Alex joins us as part of the administration team and is the first point of call upon arrival to our facility. She is responsible for our online presence and provides support to the entire team.

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Trint Kelsen

Youth Worker

Trint is one of our Youth Workers, providing support to our young people by way of mentoring, engaging with them through the school holiday programmes, building relationships and providing support to our social workers.

More about Trint Kelsen

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