Burwood Academy PLEx Engagement Committee (PEC)

The PLEx Engagment Committee (PEC) meet throughout the year to continually look over all the ways that BAT engages with PLEx and advise the Board and Academy Director.  This helps BAT deliver its promise to put PLEx at the heart of everything we do.

PEC members have lived experience of impairments such as SCI, ABI or CP. Several members also have post-graduate qualifications in the field of rehabilitation and have good knowledge of research processes, while others bring expertise from the fields of business, management, and disability awareness and education.  The key attribute of PEC members is the ability to empathise with both camps – the researchers and their populations of interest.

Current PEC Members

Cate Grace Oct19

Cate Grace (Chair)

Cate is BAT’s PLEx Engagement Lead and brings an eclectic skill set and experience from working across health, wellness, social enterprise, government, charity, small business and corporate sectors.

Her passion is to encourage others to fully participate in their world and to find their voice on things that matter to them. Her mission is to increase accessibility and participation for those who face adversity and create diverse and thriving places within our local communities and wider society.

Hamish Ramsden

Having completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Agricultural) at Lincoln University, Hamish returned to his family farm where he was injured in 1994 resulting in a C5/C6 dislocation and tetraplegia. He went on to develop a sheep stud with his brother which then grew into the largest privately owned sheep and cattle genetics company in NZ.

Having removed himself from involvement in the everyday running of the company he has been involved in various committees including being a member of: The Manawatu/Wanganui Regional Ethics Committee, The ISO Technical Committee for Wheelchair Standards, The Lincoln Alumni Association, as well as a period running the Burwood Spinal Unit Education Group. Other current commitments include directorships on three privately owned companies and being a part-time tutor at St Andrews College Preparatory School.

Hamish and his partner have a combined family of four ranging from early high school through to University.

Dr Carolyn Beaver
Carolyn sustained a spinal cord injury in 2006 while on her OE working as a veterinary surgeon in the UK resulting in C5/6 incomplete tetraplegia. Carolyn had 6 months of rehabilitation in Stoke Mandeville hospital in the UK before returning to NZ and spent a further 5 months at the Burwood Spinal Unit. Through her personal experience of spinal cord injury and rehabilitation, and an interest in health and well-being, Carolyn has decided to pursue a career in health research and is currently involved in completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Rehabilitation through the University of Otago. She plans to continue on to a Masters degree in 2012, the topic of which will involve the use of CPAP oxygen therapy for people with sleep apnoea following acute tetraplegia. Carolyn also works as a nutritional advisor for Hills Pet Nutrition and lives in Upper Hutt with her husband Doug and 2 cats.

Theo (Ted) Feldbrugge

Ted has been owner and director of Total Training for the last 20+ years. Their staff and contractors deliver a range of training and personal coaching/mentoring services as an independent provider to a variety of organisations. Ted himself works in the world of both business and professional sport here in NZ and in Australia, and he regularly works alongside professional coaches and athletes and HP Sport personnel. He is particularly interested in the field of Leadership Development, especially for coaches, but also in “Mental Fitness” and its impact on performance and quality of life. He also formally presents sessions on Personal Leadership and Resilience to students of the MBA at Canterbury University.

He has a degree in Business Studies and has post graduate diplomas in Sports Studies, Psychology, and Sociology. He is currently furthering his studies informally in the emerging field of Positive Psychology.

In 2009 he suffered a spinal cord injury in a cycling accident, fracturing C2 – 4, and subsequently spent a number of months in the Burwood Spinal Unit. He is very fortunate to be walking again, and lives with Brown-Sequard syndrome amongst other things, as a result of his accident.

M. VanderKley

Marty Van der Kley