Our People

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Meet the BusinessNZ Energy Council Team

Our team is our greatest asset. Every member of our team has the right knowledge, skills and motivation to achieve quality, efficient and professional outcomes for our members.

  • Hon. David
    Caygill

  • Tina
    Schirr

  • Emily
    Calvert

  • Debbie
    Bougen

  • Dane
    Ambler

  • WEC
    Working Group Members

Hon. David Caygill

Chair

Hon. David Caygill (CNZM) is the Chair of the BusinessNZ Energy Council. He is a former Cabinet Minister with extensive governance experience. A lawyer by profession, he served in the Lange/Palmer Labour Governments, successively as Minister of Trade and Industry, Health and Finance. From 1993-96 he was Deputy-Leader of the Opposition. On retiring from politics in 1996 he became a partner in the national law firm, Buddle Findlay.

David has served on a number of governing bodies, including as chair of the ACC and the Electricity Commission and as Deputy Chair of the Commerce Commission. In 2000 he chaired the Ministerial Inquiry into the electricity industry and subsequently the industry's Electricity Governance Establishment Board. More recently he chaired a review of the Emissions Trading Scheme. He has also been a director of Infratil Ltd and Deputy Chair of Environment Canterbury.

Hon. David Caygill
bec@businessnz.org.nz

Tina Schirr

Executive Director

Tina is the Executive Director of the BusinessNZ Energy Council (the New Zealand member committee of the World Energy Council). She is responsible for the development of policy on matters relating to energy, transport and innovation. Her work includes the management of BEC’s cross-sector energy scenarios and the World Energy Council's tools such as the Energy Trilemma Index, Energy Issue Maps and other energy innovation projects. Previous projects include the programme development of the Asia-Pacific Energy Leaders’ Summit in 2016 and 2018.

Tina is a member of Transpower's Consumer Advisory Panel, part of the Start-Up Energy Transition Jury and the advisor to New Zealand’s Young Energy Professional Network. Due to her passion for entrepreneurism, she is always looking out for the next game-changer in the energy sector.

Prior to her role as Executive Director, she worked as the Senior Policy Advisor for Energy and Innovation at the BusinessNZ Energy Council. She also worked for enviaM in Germany, a subsidiary of RWE AG, where she was responsible for trading energy commodities. From 2012-2013, she worked for the STI Solar Technology International GmbH, Germany. While there, she was responsible for rolling out new solar products across Europe.

Tina holds a Master of Science (M.Sc.) Value Chain Management from the University of Technology, Chemnitz in Germany and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Management of Energy Utilities from the University of Applied Sciences, Zwickau in Germany, including a semester at the University of Borås in Sweden studying International Marketing and Strategic Marketing. Her fields of specialisation include the energy industry, energy technology, energy policy and marketing.

Tina Schirr
04 496 6280
021 832 611
tschirr@businessnz.org.nz

Emily Calvert

Senior Policy Advisor

Emily Calvert is the Senior Policy Advisor of BusinessNZ Energy Council, working with the Executive Director Energy and Innovation, Tina Schirr. Her responsibilities include identifying strategic trends, providing advice based on robust analysis and advocating on behalf of council members.

Emily has held various roles within the energy sector working at New Zealand’s transmission grid owner and operator Transpower, New Zealand’s Stock Exchange NZX, and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. She is the former Co-Chair of the Young Energy Professionals Network, and the Association of Power Exchanges (APEx) Alumni group, developing connections with young professionals working in the energy sector both within New Zealand and abroad.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Science (Physics) and a Bachelor of Arts (Spanish) from the University of Otago.

Emily Calvert
04 496 6562
021 834 802
ecalvert@businessnz.org.nz

Debbie Bougen

Executive Assistant, Sustainable Business Council & BusinessNZ Energy Council

Debbie joined BusinessNZ in July 2016 after 15 years working within the Education Sector.

Her role as Executive Assistant to Mike Burrell, Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Council and Tina Schirr, Executive Director of the BusinessNZ Energy Council, includes executive administrative support and diary management, as well as administration for the SBC Advisory Board.

She also assists with functions and events for the Sustainable Business Council and the BusinessNZ Energy Council teams.

Debbie Bougen
04 496 6288
021 182 3309
dbougen@businessnz.org.nz

Dane Ambler

Marketing and Communications Advisor

Dane is a Marketing and Communications Advisor at BusinessNZ.

He has worked for several businesses and organisations across Asia. Most recently, he was a business journalist at the National Business Review in Auckland.

Dane holds a master’s degree in journalism, a degree in communication studies and a minor degree in environmental studies.

Dane Ambler
04 496 6559
021919121
dambler@businessnz.org.nz

WEC Working Group Members

COVID-19 initiatives

  • Nigel Broomhall, Active Expert, ChargeSmart Limited

Energy Trilemma Index

  • Andrew Crossland, Active Expert, Infratec
  • Tina Schirr, Active Expert, BusinessNZ Energy Council
  • Toby Stevenson, Active Expert, Sapere

Issues Monitor

  • Tina Schirr, Active Expert, BusinessNZ Energy Council
  • Toby Stevenson, Active Expert, Sapere

Leveraging Innovation insights

  • Angela Ogier, Active Expert, First Gas Ltd
  • Chris McKeown, Active Expert, McKeown
  • Marcos Pelenur, Active Expert, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority
  • Steve Heinen, Active Expert, Vector Ltd

Cross-cutting energy issues

  • Andrew Crossland, Active Expert, Infratec
  • Steve Heinen, Active Expert, Vector Ltd
WEC Working Group Members