Tangi NoomotuChief Executive
CareNZ Manaaki Aotearoa has been supporting people from all walks of life to live free from addiction since 1999, and through our parent organisation NSAD, since 1954.
Our Core Value
Manaakitanga – respect, support and care given with generosity and love.
We support people experiencing the harmful effects of alcohol and other drugs to rebuild and to live their best life.
We have formed partnerships with kaupapa Māori services throughout the country to help improve outcomes for the people we support.
Waikato is the heartland of CareNZ’s services and we are honoured to have a close partnership with Waikato-Tainui. Our name Manaaki Aotearoa and our logo were gifted to CareNZ Manaaki Aotearoa by Waikato-Tainui kaumatua and kuia – a taonga we carry with deep respect.
The Manaaki Aotearoa logo design was also gifted by Waikato-Tainui and represents the journey of recovery and ascending to a higher place of being. The Rauroha is the meeting place between the whirlwind from above and the whirlwind from below. The centre is the creation of a precious taonga (treasure).
The bottom rauru (spiral) symbolises the first part of the journey, the Tawhirinuku, the lower whirlwind. Its positive energy acknowledges our human potential and guides us to the next level of recovery.
The s-shape is Whatu Manawa, the human element. It signifies the journey of recovery and healing, with many paths and challenges.
The top curve depicts the third part of the journey - Tawhirirangi, the upper whirlwind. Its positive energy is our human potential and guides us to the highest level of recovery.
We acknowledge those who contributed to the CareNZ Manaaki Aotearoa logo and name, both those living and those who have since passed. Ngā mihi, ngā mihi, ngā mihi. Their vision was that the name would unite us all in peace, love and harmony.
Na reira e nga iwi o Aotearoa, tena koutou katoa, paimarire.
Atutahi Riki, Kaumatua Tainui
The Creed
At the heart of our work is The Creed, which reflects the collective wisdom and lived experience of the international addiction recovery community. To honour the unique context of Aotearoa, CareNZ commissioned Lee Watt – Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine to add design that supports and gives life to The Creed in New Zealand.
Meet Our Leadership
Our Chief Executive and Board of Directors bring together a wealth of experience, insight, and commitment to the wellbeing of our communities. Their leadership helps shape CareNZ’s direction and ensures we stay true to our purpose and values.
Tangi Noomotu
Chief Executive
Tangi Noomotu is a highly experienced leader in the addiction and mental health sector, bringing deep expertise in evidence‑based service design, quality practice, and transformational change. Tangi’s leadership is grounded in manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and aroha — values that align strongly with CareNZ’s commitment to compassion, integrity, and partnership.
Tangi’s career spans a wide range of settings across Aotearoa, including youth and adult services, residential treatment, community-based programmes, social detox services, and both prison and court‑based environments. This breadth of experience provides a comprehensive understanding of the challenges people face across the continuum of care, as well as the opportunities to create more connected, culturally responsive pathways.
Before joining CareNZ, Tangi served as Manager, Mental Health Quality and Practice at Ara Poutama Aotearoa. In this role, Tangi led national service reviews, contributed to commissioning strategies, and championed initiatives that strengthened the integration of mātauranga Māori into practice. A strong commitment to equity for Māori and Pasifika communities has been a defining focus, alongside ensuring services support the wellbeing of all people on their recovery journey. Reducing barriers, enhancing cultural and clinical quality, and upholding dignity and identity sit at the heart of this work.
With extensive experience in strategic leadership, system design, and operational development, Tangi has guided organisations through complex change while keeping people firmly at the centre. A personal connection to the kaupapa — shaped by lived experiences within whānau and community — continues to drive a deep dedication to building inclusive, effective pathways that support recovery and wellbeing across Aotearoa.
Tim Harding
Board Chairman
Tim Harding brings more than 40 years of leadership, governance and investment experience across the health, hospitality and technology sectors, with a particular focus on addiction and mental health. He served as CEO of CareNZ for twelve years and was previously CEO of Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs.
Tim has held numerous national governance roles, including six years as Chair of the New Zealand Drug Foundation and seven years as the inaugural Chair of DAPAANZ. He has also served on the National Committee for Addiction Treatment, remains a trustee of the New Zealand Society on Alcohol and Drug Dependence (1954) and was a director of Platform, supporting the non-government mental health and addiction sector. His commitment to workforce development included six years as Chair of WelTec’s Addiction Studies Advisory Committee.
Tim’s work is grounded in his lived experience of treatment and 34 years of recovery. He began his personal recovery journey in 1992 with NSAD/CareNZ and entered the addiction treatment sector in 1993 as a volunteer, later working across frontline and leadership roles including counsellor, programme director, national director of programmes, and CEO. He studied at the National Centre for Addiction Treatment (Otago University) and was awarded an honorary Bachelor of Alcohol and Drug Studies by WelTec in 2012 in recognition of his contribution to the sector.
Bill Nathan
Kaumātua & Director
Bill Nathan is the Kaumātua of CareNZ and has served in this role, as well as a Director of CareNZ, for many years. Since 1990 he has also been a Trustee of the New Zealand Society of Alcohol and Drug Dependence, contributing more than 35 years of dedicated service. Throughout this time he has brought his mana and mahi to the organisation, providing invaluable insight and guidance.
Bill has made a lifelong contribution to Māori cultural leadership and community development. For more than six decades he has co-led the Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club in Wellington, helping generations of young Māori strengthen their cultural identity and connection. Through this work he has represented New Zealand internationally as a cultural ambassador. He has served several terms as President of the Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club since 1980 and remains involved with the Ngāti Pōneke Māori Association. In 2014 he was elected the inaugural Chairperson of the Wellington Māori Committee.
Bill currently serves as Chairman of Hutt Valley Anglican Social Services, Trustee of the National Health and Disability Advocacy Service Trust, and Board Member of Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network, where he also chaired its Treaty partner group, Te Rōpū Ārahi, until retiring from that role in 2024. An ordained priest in Hui Amorangi ki Te Upoko o Te Ika, Bill has served on several church boards and committees, including the Tikanga Māori Mission Council and Te Rūnanganui, the biennial Anglican Māori Synod. From 1983 to 2003, Bill and his wife also provided care for young people through the Children and Young Persons Service.
Robert Steenhuisen
Director
Robert was trained as a social worker in the Netherlands and The United States. He worked as a community social worker in a Dutch rural area and as a mental health social worker in North Carolina USA. In 1981 he emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand and was employed as a health social worker at Middlemore Hospital and later as a mental health social worker at Carrington and Oakley Hospitals.
He became involved in the addiction sector from 1986 and held positions in the Auckland Drug Dependency Clinic (Mental Health Social Worker), Higher Ground Drug Rehabilitation (Director), NZ Problem Gambling Foundation (General Manager), WDHB Community Alcohol and Drug Services (Regional Manager) and WDHB Mental Health Services Group (Associate General Manager).
He was a member of a range of addiction organisations including the Auckland Council for Alcohol and Drugs, NZ Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations, Profile NGO Addiction Services, NZ Summer School for Addiction Services, Network North Mental Health and Addiction Coalition, National Committee for Addiction Treatment, KINA Trust, Cutting Edge Annual Conference Organizing Committee, Matua Raki Addiction Workforce Development Steering Group, Te Pou, and Blueprint for Learning.
Robert is a social worker registered with the Social Workers Registration Board and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Personal Management and a Master’s Degree in Health Science (Addictions) from the University of Auckland.
Robert is a strong advocate of low threshold, cultural appropriate, family inclusive, self-help, and group practices.
Kate Bukowski
Director
Kate Bukowski brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across the health and social services sectors, with expertise in governance, strategy, innovation and transformation. She began her working life as a clinician before moving into transformation and health leadership roles. She is a member of the Institute of Directors, holds a Master of Public Health and multiple project management qualifications.
Kate has served on a number of not-for-profit boards and committees. She brings to CareNZ a passion for harm reduction, equitable access to health services, and a vision for strengthening recovery pathways for people affected by alcohol and other drug harm.
Alex Semprini
Director
Alex Semprini is a medical doctor, who has served on the board of CareNZ Manaaki Aotearoa since 2021 and as a trustee of the New Zealand Society on Alcohol and Drug Dependence since 2023. He has a PhD in clinical research, is an Adjunct Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, an Adjunct Associate Professor at Western Sydney University, and Deputy Director at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.
Alex has been in recovery for 21 years; his journey as a recovering addict has included four months in primary and secondary residential care in South Africa, ongoing participation in 12‑step fellowships including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and engagement with a range of clinical and therapeutic treatment programmes. He is committed to using his clinical and research expertise, alongside his lived experience of recovery, to support compassionate, person‑centred, evidence‑based addiction care and to help reduce stigma for people and whānau.
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