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“Staff that are placed by Greenstone are of high integrity, honest and reliable. Using Greenstone takes the stress and gamble out of employing staff.”

Pieter & Beth Ackermann – Employers

Meet Our Team

Phil Hughes

Recruitment Manager

Mobile: 027 9111 343

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John Paul Nistal

Recruiter: Trades and Engineering

Mobile: 027 284 8807

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Louise Spence

Recruiter: Dairy

Mobile: 027 239 6821

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Nathan Plaza

Recruiter:  Trades and Engineering

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Graydon Sharratt

Director & Licensed adviser – IAA 200900399

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Vanessa Sharratt

Director & Licensed adviser – IAA 200800527

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Marie Hunt

Licensed Immigration Adviser – IAA 200900318

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Carol Wright

Licensed Immigration Adviser – IAA 201002037

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Steven Dunning

Licensed Immigration Adviser – IAA 201600793

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Haley Sykes

Licensed Immigration Adviser – IAA 201700609

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Renee Asici

Licensed Immigration Adviser – IAA 201900887

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Dafydd Parry

Licensed Immigration Adviser (Provisional) IAA  202400110 | Technical Consultant

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Karena Fleming

Licensed Immigration Adviser (Provisional) – IAA 202301063

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Ruth Ouwehand

Senior Client Manager

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Abigail Hilario

Client Manager – Christchurch branch

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Ronel Wilken

Client Manager

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Cherry Tambor

Client Manager

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Kay Annett

Office Administrator

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Barbara Sherson

Finance Administrator

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Right from the word “go” Greenstone got things going and introduced and subsequently placed us with high quality employers. Their service is professional, effective and efficient. We will gladly recommend Greenstone Recruitment’s service to anyone.”

Nathan & Elri Levin – Dairy Farm Worker now Farm Manager

Phil Hughes

Phil Hughes is our Lead Recruiter.  He has been in the recruitment and HR industry for over 12 years, working in large corporates and HR companies including Kelly Services, with a focus on customer service (both clients and candidates). He enjoys placing people into a role where they can succeed and grow from their experience. Phil has a passion for the outdoors and lives on a lifestyle block with his wife, where he dabbles in small-scale dairy and beef farming. He has a Masters's Degree in Business and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business from Waikato University.  Originally from the United Kingdom, Phil has been in NZ for 25 years.

John Paul Nistal

Languages: English, Visayan/Cebuano, Tagalog.

John is our Trade Recruitment Consultant.   He is originally from the Philippines and graduated Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Starting a career in the Philippines, he worked as a Recruitment Officer in the Overseas Placement agency, specialising in Trades and Engineering. John has over 12 years of experience working at the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) handling Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) programs and services. He was directly involved in recruitment, organising Job Fairs with recruitment agencies, coordinating with the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) to resolve welfare cases and providing scholarship/livelihood assistance to OFW Families and their dependents.

John moved to New Zealand in February 2016 and earned a Diploma in Business Level 7 at Edenz Colleges in Auckland. At Greenstone, John continues his passion for being a Recruitment Consultant helping migrants find work in New Zealand.

 

Louise Spence

Louise joined Greenstone as Dairy Recruitment Consultant, having previously worked for Livestock Improvement and more recently spending five years with the Primary ITO as a Training Adviser.

Louise Studied Media Arts at Wintec and worked for seven years in Advertising. She is currently working towards completing her New Zealand Agribusiness Diploma.

Louise and her husband have 3 Children and a Dairy Farm in the Waikato.

Nathaniel Plaza

Languages: English, Visayan/Cebuano, Tagalog.

Nathan is our Recruitment Coordinator. He arrived in New Zealand in 2017 from the Philippines as a student to study a postgraduate program level 8 in Applied Business Management.

Nathan has a background in hospitality management as a Flight Steward for Philippine Airlines for almost 10 years. After years served in aviation, a career change took him into the role of an Administration Supervisor in the mining industry, focusing primarily on talent acquisition.
 
Nathan’s great customer-oriented skills help ensure that Greenstone’s clients and candidates receive the best possible service, ensuring healthy employee-employer relationships.
 
Nathan is married with two children and loves to play basketball. As part of his pastoral care, he regularly organizes basketball games involving clients and candidates. He also loves to cook and share Filipino dishes and recipes.

Graydon Sharratt

Graydon is a director of Greenstone Recruitment and also a fully licensed immigration adviser. He started Greenstone Recruitment in early 2006 after recognising the need for quality employees while working as a senior Rural Bank Manager for Bank of New Zealand.  He is well known as an industry specialist in his field. Graydon has been a finalist in the NZAMI Immigration Adviser/Lawyer of the year awards.

Graydon has an Honours degree in Economics and 10 years of banking experience: 3 years as a Senior Rural Banker with the BNZ and 7 years of Investment Banking experience in South Africa.  He is a keen sportsman and has completed multiple Ultra-marathons and marathons. He grew up on a beef and sheep farm in South Africa and he and his family moved to New Zealand in 2001.

License number 200900399

Vanessa Sharratt

Vanessa is a Licensed Immigration Adviser and Director of Greenstone. She was one of the first advisers to be licenced in 2008. Vanessa was a finalist in two categories of industry awards hosted by the NZAMI in 2013 - Immigration Adviser/Lawyer of the year and NZAMI Service Award.  She enjoys challenging residence cases and appeals.

Vanessa grew up in South Africa.  She has a Masters degree in Economics from Rand Afrikaans University and 8 years of Banking experience in New Zealand and South Africa.  She has served as a Board Member of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) and on the Immigration Advisers Authority Reference Group.

Vanessa is fluent in Afrikaans.

License number 200800527

 

Marie Hunt

Marie started working as a Licensed Immigration Adviser in 2009, while working as a Recruitment Consultant in the Agricultural Sector for eight years. In this role, Marie travelled to Indonesia and the Philippines to recruit dairy farmers to New Zealand.  Just prior to joining Greenstone, Marie worked for five years in a busy immigration specialist company, where she worked with a wide range of clients and application types.  Marie enjoys being able to advocate and support those from all backgrounds to achieve their immigration goals.

Marie grew up in Christchurch and completed her Bachelor of Communication Studies at Waikato University.  She also studied International Business in Turin, Italy. Marie currently lives in Cambridge with her young family, and she enjoys the outdoors and mountain biking.

License number 200900318

Carol Wright

Carol joined Greenstone Global in 2010 and is a fully licensed senior adviser in the Hamilton office with many years of experience with all types of temporary and resident visa applications.

Originally from Ohio, USA, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Miami University and she previously worked for the Ohio state legislature.  She spent 14 years in the tertiary education sector in New Zealand prior to working at Greenstone.

Now a New Zealand citizen, Carol is married to her Kiwi husband, Blair. They met in Te Aroha when Carol was an exchange student in high school. They have three adult children who are involved in tertiary studies and her eldest is making a mark at Weta Digital in Wellington.

Carol and her husband enjoy the beautiful New Zealand walks and will spend most weekends hiking or going to the beach. During the week, Carol can be found dancing at Zumba classes or walking with friends along the Hamilton River.

License number 201002037

Steven Dunning

Steven is one of our Licensed Immigration Advisers.  He completed his Graduate Certificate in New Zealand Immigration Advice from the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic in Tauranga in 2016 and served his two-year period as a provisional license holder at Greenstone before becoming a fully Licensed Immigration Adviser in June 2018.  Steven has dealt with the full spectrum of immigration cases and is valued by all his clients.

Steven was born in New Zealand and grew up in a multitude of places including Christchurch, Thames, Mussoorie (India), Suva (Fiji), Palmerston North, Auckland, Osaka (Japan) and Shanghai (China). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Massey University but his career has taken him in other directions including teaching, banking and marketing.

After 13 years of living abroad, Steven is now based in Hamilton, New Zealand.  He is well-versed in speaking business Mandarin.

License number 201600793

Haley Sykes

Haley is one of our Licensed Immigration Advisers.  Haley joined Greenstone in 2014 in the role of Administrator before moving into a Client Services Manager role. Haley took some time off when she had her son Jack at the end of 2015 and now returns to Greenstone Global as a Fully Licensed Immigration Adviser. She has a Bachelor of Business majoring in Marketing from Unitec and a Graduate Certificate in Immigration Advice from Toi Ohomai, where she received the runner-up award for second highest marks over courses B and C (Temporary and Resident visas).

Haley was born in New Zealand and grew up in the small town of Pauanui on the Coromandel Peninsula where she now lives with her husband Greg and son Jack.

License number 201700609

 

Renee Asici

Renee was born in New Zealand and grew up in Hamilton. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Philosophy from Waikato University. She completed her Graduate Diploma in Immigration Advice in 2019 and holds a Certificate in Adult Teaching 2010. Renee worked in the Telecommunications Industry for 18 years and then moved to work at Inland Revenue for 5 years. Renee is also a business owner and was self-employed for 2 years as an Immigration Adviser, before joining Greenstone in 2021.

In 1995 she returned to NZ after her OE and founded the Waikato Turkish Society with her Turkish husband. She has 2 adult children who live in Hamilton.

License number 201900887

 

Dafydd Parry

Dafydd lived in the UK before coming to New Zealand with his wife in 2009. He has a master’s degree in Physics from the University of Wales Aberystwyth and worked for Immigration New Zealand for 13 years, progressing through the ranks to Immigration Manager, before joining Greenstone Immigration in 2023.

He is an avid supporter of the Chiefs and Waikato since settling in Hamilton and enjoys spending time with his family, playing board games, cooking and getting outdoors.

Provisional License number 202400110

 

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Karena Fleming

Karena joined Greenstone Immigration in January 2022. She is originally from Spokane, Washington, USA. Karena holds a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages & International Affairs and a Masters in Montessori Elementary Education.

Having been a teacher for over twenty years, Karena decided to make a career move and is now a proud licensed immigration adviser with a provisional licence.

Having lived in numerous countries, Karena brings a wealth of cultural understanding and a unique perspective to Greenstone. Her ability to foster inclusivity and create welcoming environments stems from her diverse experiences. Karena effortlessly communicates with clients from various backgrounds, catering to their individual needs. Her proficiency in multiple languages adds a layer of diversity, making her an invaluable asset to Greenstone.

Languages: English, Spanish and French

Provisional License number 202301063

 

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Ruth Ouwehand

Ruth is our Senior Client Manager.  She supports the LIAs to ensure that documentation is correct and oversees and trains the Client Manager team so that processes are streamlined throughout.

Her working career started at the ANZ Bank, where she worked for 10 years and progressed through the ranks to Branch Manager. Ruth has a National Certificate in Business Studies.

Prior to joining Greenstone, she worked in various administrative and financial roles,  as well as being a Learn To Swim teacher for many years. Her three daughters were all competitive swimmers, so she has also been very involved with the swimming community in the Waikato and on a National level.

Abigail Hilario

Abigail is our Christchurch Client Manager and assists the advisers in ensuring all documentation is prepared correctly. Originally from the Philippines, Abigail has over 10 years of work experience as a visa officer and consular officer with the Embassy of Norway in the Philippines. In these roles, she gained first-hand experience with immigration, visa processing, and consular assistance.

Abigail holds a New Zealand Certificate in Project Management from the Southern Institute of Technology in New Zealand and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Lyceum of the Philippines University.

Abigail loves traveling and enjoys developing relationships with people of all cultures.

 

Ronel Wilken

Ronel graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and worked in Communications as a language practitioner. She was a freelance translator in English/Afrikaans and authored educational textbooks before working as a school administrator. She immigrated to New Zealand in January 2021 and provided consultant/administrative support in the health and safety sector.

Ronel enjoys road trips and exploring New Zealand's many towns and trails.

Cherry Tambor

Until recently, Cherry served as Greenstone's Recruitment Coordinator and has now also taken on the role of Client Management for Greenstone Immigration.

Originally from the Philippines, she holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in counselling psychology. With 20 years of experience in various aspects of Human Resource Management, including recruitment, talent management, compensation and benefits, and labor relations, Cherry brings a wealth of expertise to her new role. Additionally, she spent 10 years working as a counselor, specializing in rehabilitating children from challenging backgrounds.

Cherry's dedication to helping individuals achieve self-growth and development ensures that Greenstone’s clients receive top-notch service, and candidates feel settled and engaged in their new positions. Outside of work, Cherry enjoys reading, listening to inspirational podcasts, and spending quality time with her two children, playing chess or badminton.

Languages: English, Visayan/Cebuano, Tagalog

Kay Annett

Kay is Greenstone's Office Administrator and will be your first port of call, either in person or by telephone.  Kay was born in Martinborough in the Wairarapa and has worked and lived in Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton.She began her career in Banking, working for two different Banks in Wellington and Hamilton for a total of 18 years. While her daughter was growing up she had other part time roles with an Export and an Import company in Auckland. She then spent 13 years at a Chartered Accountants firm. Kay loves people and enjoys spending time with her family and friends while enjoying cooking, travelling and reading.

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Barbara Sherson

Barbara has been with Greenstone since 2008. She started as the Office Administrator before progressing to her current role as Finance Administrator.

Barbara has a New Zealand Certificate of Commerce and has worked in various office roles during her career. She is married to Grant and has four children.