Cognition

Joe Akari, General Manager, People

Joe Akari joined Cognition with over 15 years experience in senior HR roles in industries ranging from Health to Pulp and Paper. He has also had previous careers as a Forest Ranger and in Sports Management. Joe has previous experience in the education sector having trained as  a primary school teacher in Hamilton and also having been the HR Manager at Auckland University of Technology.

Terry Bates, General Manager, Operations
MA (Hons), MPhil (Hons), Dip Tchg (NZ)

Terry was appointed as an Executive Director in August 2006.  A well known New Zealand educator, Terry has considerable senior leadership experience in secondary schools in Auckland and New Zealand.  Terry was the foundation principal of Southern Cross Campus in Mangere.  Terry has held a number of senior public service roles.  As a Senior Review Officer in the Education Review Office, he was part of the team that wrote the landmark report on South Auckland schooling.  Terry was the Ministry of Education’s Northern Regional Manager during the most rapid expansion and reorganisation of the schools network in the past 30 years.

Sarah Petersen, Chief Financial Officer
BMS (Hons), CA

Sarah is a qualified finance professional with 10 years of consultancy and commercial experience. She has a Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours from Waikato University, majoring in Accountancy and Strategic Management, and is a Chartered Accountant with NZICA.   Prior to joining Cognition, Sarah worked as a tax advisor in one of the Big 4 accountancy firms, before moving to a commercial role in the telecommunications sector where she held a variety of finance management roles.

Chris Sullivan, General Manager, Knowledge and Growth
B.Ed, Dip Tchg

Chris is an experienced educator who has worked extensively in New Zealand, England and the Gulf States. His range of experiences include work as international contracts manager, curriculum advisor, school management advisor, associate principal and teacher, author, and facilitator.

Chris has had responsibility for planning, implementing and reviewing diverse schooling improvement and learning projects in New Zealand and offshore. He has presented widely at national and international conferences including the International Congress on School Improvement and Effectiveness.

He has published a number of books on curriculum planning, behaviour management, and assessment.  He is also a trustee of the New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network.

Andy Worrall - Project Director, Abu Dhabi 
B.A and Dip Teach Secondary

Sally Smart, Regional Manager, South East Asia
Dip SM, Dip HSc, Dip Tching

Sally is a well respected educator who has a background in secondary school education, national operational policy development and curriculum leadership.

She has been involved in Cognition’s international work since 2005, working previously in Qatar where she has had responsibility in key aspects of the schooling reform programme and then as Project Director in the Abu Dhabi Public Private Partnership Project. 

In New Zealand Sally has provided leadership in new senior secondary school design and was seconded from Cognition to the Ministry of Education to provide leadership for strategic and operational services for Gifted and Talented education. 

Before joining Cognition, Sally was the Secondary School Principal of the Correspondence School, focusing on school leadership, e learning and school reform.

Mary Sinclair, Executive Trustee – Cognition Institute
Post Grad Dip Ed, Trained Teachers Cert (NZ)