IAKS Board Australia & New Zealand

Matthew Body

Chair

An experienced Architect, Matt leads the Warren and Mahoney Architects sport and recreation team in New Zealand and is a director of the  International Association for Sports and Recreation – Australia/New Zealand Section. Matt is deeply involved in shaping the future of sports and recreation through architecture with roles that encompass international stadia, highperformance sport and grassroots sports venues.

Nick Yannakis

Vice Chair

Nick Yannakis is a Director at Beca, with over 15 years’ experience in the engineering design and operation of aquatic facilities. Having delivered 200+ projects across Australasia, Nick specialises in optimising energy performance and decarbonisation—supported by proprietary software developed by his team to drive innovation and sustainable outcomes in aquatic facility design.

Simon Haire

Treasurer

Declan Gillard-Martin

Secretary

Ian Ansell

Non-Executive Director

At the forefront of TW Construction's client management, Ians' focus is on nurturing relationships and strategically growing his portfolio through outstanding project delivery and exceeding client expectations. In his previous role we successfully disrupted the sport and aquatics sector to quickly become market leader. Ian is committed to transforming client visions into industry-leading facilities. With a passion for client and solutions focussed outcomes to networking and strategic planning, his team's collaborative efforts consistently deliver exceptional facilities.

Sarah Slattery

Non-Executive Director

Sarah is a passionate advocate for sport and physical activity in the built environment. An Associate Principal at Warren and Mahoney, Sarah’s career to date has included leading large and complex sports projects for government, non-profit and private organisations. In 2024 Sarah was awarded the prestigious Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship, travelling to Europe to study future trends in community sports buildings and publishing a paper “Let’s Get Moving: New Directions in Sports Architecture and Urban Planning”.

Brett Wiener

Non-Executive Director

As Director of Sports & Spinal Group, Brett brings a strong clinical and leadership background across health, wellbeing and multidisciplinary care. He has extensive experience working across sport and a wide array of high-performance environments, with a focus on bridging the gap between health, sport and facility design to drive long-term participation, community impact and meaningful change in response to the global inactivity crisis. Brett is particularly focused on strengthening connections across the health and medical sector, helping IAKS expand its network and influence in shaping more active, engaged and healthier communities.

RJ Houston

Non-Executive Director

RJ Houston is a recognised leader in the aquatic sector, with experience across government, industry, and associations. As General Manager at Royal Life Saving Australia, he leads national initiatives in training, workforce development, safety, and education. He chairs the National Aquatic Industry Committee, sits on key advisory councils, and is part of the IAKS Global Pool Experts Circle. RJ holds an MBA in Social Impact and is a frequent speaker on aquatic safety, workforce, and social impact.

Shane Brodie

Non-Executive Director

An experienced leader and manager of public spaces across both the not-for-profit (public) and commercial (private) sectors. As Regional Spaces and Places Manager with Sport Waikato, Shane provides strategic leadership and coordination of the regional infrastructure plan (Waikato Regional Active Spaces Plan) working alongside regional and national partners including Local and Regional Councils, Iwi, Funders, Developers, Ministry of Education, and Sport and Recreation Organisations. Shane is passionate about striving for optimal social infrastructure network outcomes, focusing on spaces that are fit for purpose for our future communities centred around partnerships to ensure best, and most sustainable, outcomes are realised.