NEC Leadership Position Descriptions
The National President is elected by the DPA membership to provide strategic and governance leadership to the organisation.
About the National President's position
The term for the National President is 4 years: 1 year as President Elect, 2 years as President, 1 year as Immediate Past President
This role includes leading the National Executive Committee to ensure they are effective and strategic governors of DPA:
- in alignment with our member expectations and aspirations
- taking primary responsibility for ensuring a strong and collaborative relationship between the NEC and the Chief Executive, and
- representing DPA externally with allied organisations, government, community, funders, and media.
The President is a steward of DPA’s vision, mission, and values when representing the organisation externally – including in many bodies such as the DPO Coalition (and associated bodies such as the IMM (the New Zealand Independent Monitoring Mechanism of the UNCRPD) and other DPO Coalition appointed groups); in international work such as the UNCRPD, and other United Nations bodies; and in the New Zealand media.
About the Vice President's position
The Vice President role was introduced in 2025 with the primary purpose of distributing workload and governance leadership more equitably across the NEC.
It is an internally focused leadership role, with the Vice President supporting and filling in for the National President as required, and providing internal coordination amongst the NEC.
The role was also established to facilitate better succession planning, by providing an opportunity for motivated NEC members to build NEC leadership experience before committing to running for President Elect.