Catherine is managing director of Awaroa Partners. She was formerly director of JM Communications. She has extensive experience in all aspects of communications and public relations, including media and presentation training and strategic communications planning for a wide range of government and private sector clients. She has a strong, established reputation for applying creative solutions to communications challenges. Her recent work includes an extensive corporate repositioning project with a major listed company and the development and execution of print, event and web-based communications strategies for a range of New Zealand and Australian firms and organisations.

Catherine was communications and public affairs manager for the National Provident Fund through its extensive restructuring from 1988 to 1991. In the 18 month lead-up to the completion of the NPF tender process Catherine was also General Manager, Regional Operations, responsible for management of six regional offices and five branch offices.

She worked for four years as a communications consultant to the New Zealand Treasury, the GST Launch Team and various ministers of the crown.

Prior to that, Catherine worked for three years as a public relations and communications consultant for a Washington DC consultancy. She spent three years working as a current affairs journalist for Television New Zealand and four years in documentary film production with the New Zealand National Film Unit.

Catherine was a member of the Board of the Wellington Community Trust from 1999 to 2003.

She was a founding director of public company St Lukes' Group (now Westfield) from 1993 to 1996, a Trustee of the Royal New Zealand Ballet from 1990 to 1994 and served on the Board of Trustees of Wellington College from 1995 to 2001. Catherine has won numerous international communication awards, was a judge of: the ASFONZ Excellence in Annual Reporting competition in 1997 and 1998, the IABC International Gold Quill Awards, Asia Pacific Section in 1998, and the annual AXA Trustee of the Year Award in 1999 and 2000. She was elected President of ACT New Zealand in March 2001.

Catherine has a BA in English and Languages from Canterbury University.