Meet the WORD team on the ground
WORD is a whānau made up of a wonderfully diverse group of people and roles. From the instructors in orange tee’s that your kids get to enjoy riding with, to our leadership team who do all the chipping away behind the scenes- everyone plays an integral part to make WORD as magical as it is.
We think it is important you can put a face to a name, so have a wee look through to see who is a part of our community, that we’d love for you to be a part of.
Our Leadership Team
First established in early 2022, The Leadership Team oversees the operations of WORD. We love that this team upholds our values, has heaps of experience, tons of passion, and ensures we are truly a youth focused organisation. They each work 20-40+ hours/week on various roles that keep WORD humming.
Nic Johnson
CE, GSMBC L2 Coach and Lead Instructor (full-time)Nic joined the team full time in March 2025 as the national operations manager. She is well known to the community from her previous role representing Maxxis and Marleen, her MTB coaching, and as a former WORD Instructor. During her 23 years at Marleen (a mountain bike brand wholesaler), Nic had many roles including product management, sales and helping small businesses in her region succeed using her business background.
Nic has raced Downhill, XC, Enduro and on the Road at a national level...these days she is all about the 'smiles per hour' and having fun on the bike. She is often spotted on the trails making guest-coaching appearances, and up-skilling our crew as Wellington’s only GSMBC L2 qualified Instructor.
Nic is responsible for overseeing the day to day operations of WORD, ensuring financial stability, keeping the leadership team on track, and guiding the charity towards a sustainable future.
Get in touch with her on nic@word.org.nz
Brad Howland
Youth MTB Programme Lead, GSMBC L1 Coach and Lead Instructor (full-time)A very warm welcome to Brad who has joined the team as our Youth MTB Programme lead.
Brad hails from Upper Hutt, and is a super keen tramper and outdoorsman, and loves bikes and being outside. Brad is a family man and has 2 young kids and a crazy german short haired pointer. He can’t wait to get stuck into the teen programming.
Brad will be working towards his GSMBC L1 later this year and continuing to build the teen programme with Nic and Liam
If you want to get in his good books - ask him about hunting, his puppy, and his favourite fruit burst flavour: banana…
Like to have a chat about the outdoors, or anything to do with the teen programme, get in touch with him on brad@word.org.nz
Liam Bailey
Special Projects Programme Manager GSMBC L1 Coach, Lead Instructor (part-time) Liam is an absolute WORD superstar, a former programme manager who’s been wrapped up in WORD since he was a young fella himself. An enigma of a man on and off the bike, his knowledge easily outpaces his years. A qualified historian and immaculate wordsmith, he’s the sort of guy who can turn both facts and sentences into pure gold. He’s also the only instructor who can get away with teaching on his Dad’s rigid relic.
This season, Liam leads the teen boys crew as a GSMBC L1 qualified instructor, delivering levels of stoke to sessions not seen since the Industrial Revolution. He also keeps WORD humming by overseeing the day-to-day operations of the national operations manager — essentially making sure the whole thing works.
Liam loves to hear from our community; get in touch with him via info@word.org.nz
Our Board
The WORD Board was formed in May 2014 to support the direction of a then rapidly growing organisation. Some projects that the Board have been working towards over the past couple of years are our organisation's constitution, and WORD’s long-term forecast and mission. They meet every 6 weeks to discuss the progress and possibilities of WORD. Each Board member brings unique skills to the table, but most importantly they are all passionate about seeing more kids mountain biking. And of course, they all love riding themselves: we are proud that they are all faces of the organisation you will bump into in our community.
Abbie is a long-term lead instructor and passionate champion of WORD, especially focused on supporting teen growth. Her love of mountain biking grew from a life of outdoor adventure, tramping, trail running, climbing and backcountry skiing. Time in nature is essential to her wellbeing, resilience and sense of belonging. She believes deeply in WORD’s ability to help young people become the best versions of themselves.
Alongside WORD, Abbie holds a senior leadership role in the transport energy sector, leading sustainability and community investment initiatives. A former Army Captain and environmental professional, she now helps businesses and communities build resilience in a changing climate. She’s stoked to bring her experience and connections to help WORD become the leading mountain biking charity in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Abbie Bull - Board Chair
Matt’s WORD journey began as a parent to Elliott (9) and future rider Millie (7). After seeing firsthand the growth and confidence WORD builds in young people, he joined the WORD Board. Matt and his whānau are regular riders at Rangituhi and love exploring trails across the wider Wellington region.
Matt holds a senior leadership role in the building industry, overseeing multiple businesses across the Lower North Island. With experience in operations, finance and HR, he is passionate about helping people and organisations thrive. Matt is particularly focused on growing funding through grants and partnerships so WORD can reach even more young people, changing lives one ride at a time.
Matt Williams
Claire may spend less time on two wheels than she’d like (current injury status: semi-pro), but she’s deeply connected to the bike world through work with brands and events including Red Bull, Crankworx, Natural Selection Bike, Mons Royale, Bike Glendhu and Mission WOW. Alongside WORD founder Ash, she also helped create Future Ground, Mons Royale’s women’s freeride progression camp.
With a Masters in Sustainable Business and 12 years in advertising, Claire brings expertise in strategy, marketing, and stakeholder management. A self-described “crown straightener,” she thrives behind the scenes helping organisations like WORD grow into sustainable, high-impact community powerhouses , so the team can focus on changing lives, one ride at a time.
Claire Dooney
Mum to two superb WORD kiddos, Sarah understands and believes in the potential of teaching teens life-lessons through the outdoors, and is out there regularly as an instructor herself sharing wisdom and giggles with all age groups at WORD. A regular on the Wellington trails, Sarah loves how WORD has helped her kids to grow in more ways than simply on the bike: and has supported their whānau to have a common-passion they still share to this day. A family favourite are shuttle days at the Redwoods in Rotorua!
In her work life Sarah has built and led a national team for a global tech company, and played a key role within a global leadership team that set the tone for creating and delivering an awesome workplace experience which just made life better for people in the office!
Sarah Reading
One of the original kids wrangled by Ash back in 2014 for the earliest iteration of WORD (along with his sister, who did a stint on our leadership team in 2022), Hughan has proven to be the role-model we envisaged supporting through our Youth Leadership-Pathway. As a 3rd year student at Canterbury University, he is thriving studying Digital Screen and Screenwriting.
“WORD is an organisation that has been a part of my life for what feels like forever, and it always warms my heart to see kids biking around with WORD stickers on their bikes and helmets. I would love to do my part to give back to WORD, and to keep it as positive an influence on kids around the country as it was for me.”
Hughan Scott
An original WORDie like Hughan, Izzy has been involved with WORD for over 7 years as a participant, assistant instructor and Instructor! Currently in her 3rd year at Canterbury University studying Mechanical Engineering, she’s stoked to be one of the first youth board members, joining in 2025 alongside Hughan.
‘I am so excited about this new role. I still feel a constant connection to the organisation that was such a huge part of my formative year. WORD changed my life and made me more confident both on the bike and off. I would love the chance to help younger generations to experience the same joy and camaraderie that I felt. I feel like I have grown with WORD and it has also grown with me’
Isabella Soane
Our Instructor whānau
Lead Instructors
Our Lead Instructors are the bee’s knees! They are responsible for their own group of kids as well as overseeing the Instructors and Assistant Instructor team on the day of each after-school programme or holiday camp. They are highly experienced MTB Instructors, well equipped to handle emergencies. They are creative, adventurous, and can wrangle a group of 30 kids any day. We are so happy to have these amazing people!
*All Lead instructors have an advanced first aid certificate, and attend the annual WORD Instructor Spring Training Camp.
Sarah Bassett
Emma Bateup
Richard Capie
Jason Douglas
Russell Garlick -GSMBC L1
Isa Mills - GSMBC -L1
Stu King - GSMBC L1
Ed Haszard
Abbie Bull
Peg Leyland - GSMBC L1
Reuben Smith
Instructors
WORD instructors are passionate about instructing kids and stoked about riding. These adventurous professionals come from all around the world to ride bikes in Wellington, and share that joy. This crew is a real treat to have on the team, and we love that we get to share them!
*All instructors are first aid trained and attend the annual WORD Instructor Spring Training Camp.
Reuben Armstrong
Lawrence Ball - GSMBC L1
James Barker
Edmund Capie
Katie Bramley
Jesse Cseh - GSMBC L1
Mateo Chapman
Isla Day
Cate Garlick
Sam McKissock - GSMBC L1
Ruby McKenzie
Evie Samaeli
Frank Monastra-Woods
Lyndsay Murray
Sarah Reading - GSMBC L1
John Scanlon
Meagan Robertson -GSMBC L1
Chester Bishop-Brown
Freddie Finch
Frank Hoffman - GSMBC L1
Anna Harden-Taylor -GSMBC L1
Sophie Nicholas
Lucy Thorburn
James Bowler
Keira Vlaar
Nicole Lew
Assistant Instructors - Future ForWORD crew
WORD Assistant Instructors help out the Instructors during the after school programmes. They are passionate 14-16 year olds who have been part of WORD as a participant and are now keen to share their love of riding with the younger ones. These volunteers are incredible- and the kids just love them!
Lucas Bell
Greta Bond
Harald Lin
Francis King
Cameron Trotter
Will Musson
B Capie
McKenzie Perfect
Jade Reading
Oli Thorsen
Daniel Lash
Felix Gaskin
Esther Bond
Freddie Fullerton-Smith
Alexandru Hodis
Amelia Burkhart
● Work at WORD
WORK FOR US?
Thinking about working for WORD? Curious about what that entails and if you would be the right fit? Have a look at the job descriptions to find out more and get in touch if you want to be a part of our community. We recruit each year in August.
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Interested in becoming a lead instructor - check out the job description here
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Interested in becoming a instructor at WORD - check out the job description here and apply here
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Interested in becoming an assistant instructor at WORD and joining our Future ForWORD leadership crew- check out the job description here and the youth leadership pathways page to apply here
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We currently don’t have any paid vacancies - but please get in touch if you think you might be able to volunteer some time or expertise to help us keep word humming. Right now we would love some help in these areas:
Comms and Marketing
Grant Writing
Sustainable growth planning
Legacy gifting and setting up of a WORD trust