Judges

Meet the Judges

We welcome Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology, Faculty of Business Management as our judging partners in 2021.

Leading the Toi-Ohomai team is Judge Convener and Head Judge, Jeni Fountain (LLM, LLB (hons), BEd, DipTchg), Faculty Leader: Faculty of Business Management and Legal Studies. Jeni and her team will be conducting the judging for our first phase of the awards judging, the online submissions for each of the categories.

 

We will be announcing our judges, who will be conducting site visits of our finalists for the second stage of the awards judging process, at the Finalists Announcement function on the 1st of July.

Jeni Fountain

Jeni has over 20 years teaching and management experience across primary, intermediate, secondary and tertiary education in both state and private sectors. Her own tertiary teaching experience includes Legal Studies, Hospitality, and Sports and Recreation, and the project management of development and delivery of online vocational legal qualifications. The faculty Jeni leads delivers programmes in Business and Management (undergraduate and post-graduate); Legal Studies; Real Estate; Business Administration; and Level 2 Computing. Jeni previously owned and operated a restaurant, café and catering business in Tauranga, and holds a current practising certificate as a lawyer

Andy Allan

Andy is an experienced entrepreneur, business owner and local restaurateur with more than 15 years’ experience operating some of Rotorua’s most well-known bars and restaurants. After a career spanning almost 20 years serving in the New Zealand Police Force, Andy has proudly owned and managed the Lone Star Cafés in Rotorua and Hamilton, as well as Hell Pizza and The Good Eastern Taphouse in Rotorua. During this time, he became the spokesperson for the Lone Star Franchise Council and sat on the Rotorua Restaurant Collective. Andy helped to create the Rotorua business group “Raising the Bar”, which delivers a range of initiatives including seminars aimed at raising the expertise and profile of local business and industry employees. Andy has just completed studying Real Estate at Open Polytech, where he intends to further develop his skills as a business broker, while still remaining committed to his passion of providing exceptional hospitality experiences through his various restaurants.

Jessica Barnett

Jessica (Jess) Barnett Head of Marketing, Engagement & Communication, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology Jess has over fifteen years of both public and private sector Marketing, Engagement and Communication experience. If you were to consider a Marketing and Communication department as a collection of coloured pencils, then you could consider Jess the brightest pink pencil – probably capped off with one of those super fluffy ends. Passionate about making the complex simple, leading high performing teams and delivering innovative and creative strategy Jess has held senior roles across New Zealand for companies such as Christchurch Airport, AMP Capital Shopping Centres and most recently Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.

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