Bio

ELIZABETH MCNAUGHTON is experienced in emergency management, risk reduction and recovery and is General Manager of Strategy and Government Relations at New Zealand Red Cross. Prior to this role she led the New Zealand Red Cross Christchurch earthquake recovery programme.

In 2012 Elizabeth was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study the leadership challenges faced by those in post-disaster recovery decision-making roles. Elizabeth visited recovery experts in New Orleans, San Francisco, New York, Australia and Italy, to talk about lessons learned after the earthquakes, Hurricane Katrina and the Black Saturday Bush Fires.

She has worked with the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management, where she was seconded for six month to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Recovery Policy Team in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes. She has also worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the Pacific regional programme.

Her international experience includes working for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in South Asia. Her role was to improve the quality and accountability of recovery operations and to build resilience in the region.

She received a scholarship to undertake a Leadership New Zealand programme for 2014 and gained so much from engaging with New Zealand’s senior leaders in conversations about the issues of greatest concern to New Zealand’s future.

Elizabeth enjoys writing and recently co-authored a publication Leading in Disaster Recovery a Companion through the Chaos. Elizabeth is married to Jim and they have a son, Gene.