Our People

Bevan Killick
Board Chair

Neville Reilly
Board Member

Richard Adams
Board Member

Major General (Retired)
Evan Williams, ONZM
Board Member

Rich Adams
National Director

Rich founded Taskforce Kiwi in 2022 and has led the organisation as National Director since, coordinating our disaster relief operations. Originally from Ōtautahi Christchurch, Rich initially served in the British Army, attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and serving in Afghanistan.
He spent five years working in rural fire in Victoria, including during Black Summer in 2019-2020. He simultaneously held leadership roles with Disaster Relief Australia (formerly Team Rubicon Australia), deploying across Australia and leading a team to Indonesia following the 2018 earthquake and tsunami.
In addition to his role with Taskforce Kiwi, Rich currently serves in the NZ Army.

Michelle Gillman
National Volunteer Experience Manager

Michelle's role focuses on supporting volunteers throughout the volunteer lifecycle while continually improving processes based on volunteer feedback.
Her career backgrounds involves risk reduction and readiness across high-risk operations and delivering emergency management exercises and training programmes.
A volunteer for Christchurch and Selwyn CDEM as well as Taskforce Kiwi, she has been deployed domestically and internationally after floods in Westport, Tasman/Marlborough, Wairoa, NSW and QLD, Cyclone Gabrielle, and following the Port Hills and Loburn fires. Michelle also contributed to the Christchurch response to COVID-19 in a variety of welfare roles and worked in the Police-led Family Centre following the Christchurch Mosque terrorist attack. Highly qualified in CIMS functions and emergency management more broadly, she is currently pursuing a PhD focused on volunteer management in the EM sector.

Sam Rasmussen
National Operations Manager

Sam is dedicated to facilitating the rapid deployment of our volunteers to provide support to affected communities, often at short notice.
Sam leverages his well-placed background in the NZ Army, Coastguard, and operations to support Taskforce Kiwi's ability to deploy across Aotearoa New Zealand and across the world.

Vicky Harris
National Finance Manager

Vicky brings over 20 years of financial management experience both internationally and domestically. As a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA), Vicky has led financial operations across various industries.
In addition to professional work, Vicky is dedicated to community volunteering, having held leadership roles with the Queensland State Emergency Service and contributed to disaster relief efforts including Cyclone Yasi, Cyclone Debbie and land search operations.
Vicky has deployed with Taskforce Kiwi to Wairoa to assist the community in flood relief and recovery.

Tess Langworthy
National Communications Manager

Tess ensures ongoing delivery of all public communications for Taskforce Kiwi by showcasing the hard work of our volunteers through newsletters, social media, media engagement, and more.
With over a decade of experience in project, event, and communications management across multiple industries in Australia and New Zealand, Tess excels in roles that allow her to blend her project management skills with internal/external communications, media relations, and building public exposure for organisations.
With a passion for volunteerism, climate adaptation, and disaster relief, Tess was key in facilitating the March 2020 COVID-19 government media announcements from Auckland; was site manager for Auckland Emergency Management's New Lynn Civil Defence Centre during the Auckland Anniversary Floods and Cyclone Gabrielle; and has deployed with TFK three times both domestically and internationally.

Jethro Gilbert
International Response Group Manager

Jethro comes from a multifaceted background, having transitioned from corporate sales to a career in the NZ Army and Reserve Force.
Jethro has led youth development at the Limited-Service Volunteer programme, inspiring the creation of Triple Summit Services Ltd, where he is now Director. Jethro also founded the Future Leaders Academy and runs the Pacific Student Leaders Programme, delivering 13 courses internationally as well as corporate and government leadership workshops.
Passionate about humanitarian work, Jethro has played key roles in disaster relief, including NZDF Liaison Officer during Cyclone Gabrielle, part of the TFK initial response team for the Auckland Anniversary floods, and TFK damage assessment operations manager and team leader in Vanuatu after Cyclone Lola.

Dr Malin Zachau
Medical Director

Malin is an experienced pre-hospital, emergency and primary care doctor who is retired due to living with a rare genetic muscle condition.
In addition to her work with Taskforce Kiwi she is the Vice President of the International Society for Mountain Medicine and a civilian committee member of Kaitiaki Ora | Tactical Medicine New Zealand. She has delivered several workshops at the Southern Hemisphere Alpine Conference and has presented widely at international conferences.
Malin has volunteered her expertise to TFK, establishing clinical teams to implement Taskforce Kiwi Disaster First Aid functional training, first aid and medical equipment, deployment psychosocial support and deployment preventative health initiatives.

Jason Orchard
Enterprise Architect

With his extensive knowledge and experience in emergency services, Jason utilises his information technology and telecommunications skills to help communities across Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally recover from disasters.
Jason has a deep understanding and implementation of remote technology and logistics with a background in Urban Search and Rescue. Jason was a member of Christchurch RT14 for 6 years and has been working as a Technology Consultant for over 30 years.