Ann Lockhart
Ann has been Interim Chief Executive of Destination Queenstown since March 2020, stepping into the role as a DQ board director. During this time, Ann has played a pivotal role in helping to rebuild demand from domestic and Australian markets as a result of COVID-19. After 10 years as Queenstown Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, Ann was appointed interim chief executive of the Southland Regional Development Agency, Great South, playing a stabilising role as the agency transitioned to a CCO.
Jason Ennor
Jason co-founded MyHR in 2013 with Sean O’Brien. MyHR is a fully outsourced HR platform which uniquely combines their world-class HR software with the backing of a team of HR professionals, to deliver the most comprehensive and cost-effective HR solution in the market. After 15 years in corporate HR positions around the world, Jason left behind his successful HR career and launched MyHR. From a standing start, with no customers and no revenue Jason has grown the business which now supports 1,000 organisations across NZ and Australia.
Dr John Guthrie MNZM
In 2018 John retired after 30 years in the Department of Marketing at the University of Otago where he specialized in business strategy, retailing and sports marketing. John became a Member of the NZ Order of Merit in 2018 for his services to sport and the community. He currently runs his own marketing consultancy company in Dunedin. John has been a judge on the Queenstown Awards six times - starting in 2009. Every year he is 'blown away' by the extraordinary range and quality of businesses in Queenstown.
Sonali Mendis
Sonali is a passionate educator with over 18 years of experience from Industry and holds the position of Programme Manager for Tourism & Travel at the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT)’s Queenstown Campus. Sonali has a wealth of experience from the fields of human resources, administration, operations, event management and education. She is passionate about continuous learning and research and is an active contributor to SIT’s research outputs. Currently, Sonali is undertaking research on sustainable tourism and will apply her findings to assist tourism businesses in New Zealand to gain a competitive advantage.
Frank Gibbons
As a 20-year veteran of Air New Zealand, starting the week prior to September 11, Frank has seen a variety of challenges during this time. Prior to Air NZ, Frank was manager of the Nelson/Tasman iSites and had 10 years in Wellington in government sales role. He has a vast range of experience in the corporate, travel agency and civic sector across regional centres and Wellington. Frank is a mentor with Business Mentors New Zealand, and a judge for the Southland Business Awards. This experience holds him in good stead for the Queenstown Awards and he looks forward to celebrating business success across the region.