Our people

Brendan Boyle

Acting Chief Executive and Secretary for Social Investment

Brendan brings deep public sector leadership experience to his role as Acting Chief Executive and Secretary for Social Investment at the Social Investment Agency. He has led large, complex organisations, driven system‑level change, and brings a strong focus on delivery, stewardship, and working across government to improve outcomes for New Zealanders.

Most recently, Brendan was Acting Chief Executive of Pharmac through 2025. Before that, he was Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development from 2011 to 2018, Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs from 2008, and Chief Executive of Land Information New Zealand from 2003.

Brendan has held a range of senior governance and leadership roles, including Deputy Chair of Fairway Resolution Limited and Pro‑Chancellor of the University of Otago. He has also served on ministerial boards, review panels, and public sector assurance groups.

He holds a law degree from the University of Otago and an MBA from MIT, and has completed executive leadership and governance programmes through Harvard, INSEAD, and the Institute of Directors.

Alistair Mason

Director, Office of the Secretary for Social Investment

Alistair has worked for the Social Investment Agency since its establishment as the Social Investment Unit in 2015. 

He served as Acting Chief Executive from November 2025 until May 2026. Other roles he has held in that time include  Director, Office of the Secretary; Deputy Chief Executive, Social Investment & Delivery, leading work on the implementation of social investment; and Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy & Performance.

Alistair spent almost ten years working as Ministerial Advisor for a variety of Ministers, primarily covering social portfolios. This experience has supported his passion for improved social sector decision-making and practice. He has an extensive background in public relations, having worked for some of the world’s leading public relations firms in London, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Wellington.

Aphra Green

Deputy Chief Executive System Performance and Investment Advice

Aphra leads SIA’s central agency responsibilities and works to influence the public service to adopt social investment approaches. Her portfolio includes: leading policy development and legislative change, coordinating a common central agency approach to social investment, setting standards for social investment, and influencing change across the social sector as agencies adopt new approaches.

Aphra is passionate about evidence-based decision-making and strives to make data more accessible, actionable, and impactful for the decision-makers shaping our communities.

She brings a wealth of experience from the social and justice sectors, particularly from her former senior leadership roles as a Deputy Chief Executive at Oranga Tamariki and General Manager, Strategy, Evidence & Investment at the Ministry of Justice.

Aphra has a Master of Laws from Otago University and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Public Policy from Victoria University of Wellington.

Joe Fowler

Deputy Chief Executive Investment and Commissioning

Joe joined SIA in late 2024 to set up the agency’s commissioning and investment functions. Joe’s role is to lead the establishment and operation of the Social Investment Fund, to demonstrate social investment in practice.

Joe was previously at Manatū Taonga Ministry of Culture and Heritage, managing Covid regeneration funding and investments, including funding for commemorations, historical research and oral histories. He led the development and implementation of operational policies involving the Protected Objects Act, memorials, war graves, and commemorations.

Prior to this role, Joe was at Oranga Tamariki, where he was General Manager Commissioning for four years. In this role, he worked with iwi, Māori, non-governmental organisations, and internal stakeholders to completely redesign the agency’s procurement approach.

Before this, Joe was a senior manager in central and local government in the United Kingdom. He spent the last 15 years of his career finding creative and collaborative ways of using public funding to support improved outcomes and has also led significant change within and across organisations.