Advisor Team

John Barker
Consumer Advisor Team Leader

John leads the consumer advisor team. He joined the company recently from Tauranga, where he was Consumer Advisor to mental health services for the past three years. John’s background is in catering and hospitality, where he worked for over 27 years, and he brings his experience and expertise gained in senior management and team leadership to the role. John’s passion is for consumers to be fully involved in their journey through mental health services and strives to ensure this happens.

Julie Hagan
Consumer Advisor

Julie has a Bachelor of Social Sciences and has spent a large part of her career in the area of disability teaching children and adults at a Tertiary level. Before she worked with Mind and Body, she was the Manager of an Advocacy organisation which provided Advocates and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities and/or mental health issues. Julie has a special interest in Quality of Life and Quality of Service issues.

Silvana de Koster
Consumer Advisor

Silvana has had a varied career in customer service. Her nine and half of years experience representing the interests of service users has given her a sound understanding of service user issues and concerns. Silvana has extensive grass roots networks and extensive training in areas such as Refugee and Immigrants, Pacific people, Treaty of Waitangi/Biculturlism and Strengths Model training. Her special interests are with projects, quality issues and the setting up of new services.

David Orwin
Consumer Advisor

David is Consumer Advisor to ADHB acute mental health services and is also Mind and Body’s Senior Researcher. He has a PhD in Political Studies and a background in historical research. He has extensive experience working in the voluntary sector.

Jason Haitana
Consumer Advisor

Jason is of Whanganui, Ngati Tuwharetoa and Scots-Irish descent. He has experienced psychosis and has a mental illness. However this does not stop him from living the life he wants and doing the things that he does well – talking to people and being a guide along the way with peoples’ recovery. Jason believes passionately in giving people a choice in their lives and being independent and free to choose which path they wish to travel. He loves food, video games, chilling out to hip hop, R & B and dub music, travelling and spending time with those that he loves.

John Clark
Consumer Advisor

John is a new arrival in the Consumer Advisor Team and has had a varied career in Sales and, was a Peer support worker prior to this role. John also has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and is a practising artist. His special interest is middle-aged men’s mental health.

Barbara Thomborson
Consumer Advisor

Barbara Thomborson is a Consumer Advisor who comes from the United States. Her motley background is of Cornish miners, Prussian lumberjacks, and stroppy, short Scandinavian women who all met in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She is from Minnesota, however, and as the Maori have their mountain, she has her lake, the biggest one in the world: Lake Superior. She earned and paid for three Bachelor degrees over 20 years and did a Masters in Applied Linguistics (honours) in 2006. As time is money, she stresses that we spend each day healing and improving on our individual path. As the oldest Mind and Body member, she knows it is never too late to have a happy childhood.