Chief Commercial Officer
Based in Feilding
From Te Tai Tokerau Northland, Chris is a shareholding director of Hard Hill Country Genetics a 600-hectare sheep and beef genetics operation located in Northland’s steep hills.
Chris joined MyFarm Investments after three years as the CEO of the NZ Rural Leadership Trust, which runs the prodigious Nuffield Farming Scholarship, and the Kellogg Rural Leadership programme. Before returning to New Zealand to take up the role at Rural Leaders, Chris served as New Zealand’s Head of Defence Diplomacy in the UK and Europe and prior to that as the Deputy Chief of the Army. He is also a decorated special forces officer. Chris holds master’s degrees in management and in strategy. From a governance perspective, Chris is a Chartered Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and a 2023 graduate of the Co-operative Governance Course.
Chris’ charitable interests include human rights, mental health, wildlife protection, and education. Most recently, he was part of a small volunteer team that worked with Government and some very generous donors to evacuate 563 at-risk Afghans to New Zealand after the Taliban takeover. His current research is focused on designing a joined-up ecosystem for leadership development in New Zealand’s Food and Fibre Sector.