Our Board Directors all share a common goal – connecting Kiwis. We come from all areas of industry and business, and are all professionals who volunteer our time.
Dimi Hegglun (President). When fellow kiwis ask where he's from, it's usually "born in Taranaki, raised in the Hawkes Bay, Mum from Northland, Dad from the South Island". That pretty much covers the lot! He finished high school in Hawkes Bay at Taikura Steiner School Hastings, as an active musician throughout.
After studying electrical engineering in Hawkes Bay, Dimi worked most of his career as a lighting and sound technician for stage shows, music and film. The Lord of the Rings soon drew him to Wellington, and the thriving theatre & music scene of Flight of the Conchords, Fly My Pretties, Taika Waititi and co kept him there. That's until he transferred those skills following his Canadian partner to Toronto. There he worked 13 years primarily at PRG, a world leading production company for entertainment & live events.
Dimi has been in the background of many kiwi get-togethers for what will be about 20 years. He now works from home, busy with two young children but has found time to pick up instruments again, and still play beer league hockey twice a week! Head up! Stick on the ice!
Subash Thiara (Treasurer) was born in small town Taumarunui in the King Country and moved to the Auckland Region in the early 80’s. The mid-90’s drew him to Canada where he met Rana in Toronto in 1996.
After a subsequent few years together back in NZ they finally moved to Canada in 2000. Subash is a Chartered Accountant both in NZ and Canada, and has over 20 years of Accounting, Audit & SOX experience.
Subash has 3 very active boys involved in hockey and likes to spend any spare time he can in the great outdoors.
Thomas Rapley (Secretary) has been a member of the Kia Ora Canada board for over 9 years, now principally acting as board secretary. He assists in the organization of many events we host. You may recognize Thomas from his regular MC duties at past annual Christmas parties and other Kia Ora Canada - Toronto events.
When not shepherding two growing youngsters (and all of their teenage friends) to every rink or rugby pitch in the city, Thomas works as an associate at Arup, a large international engineering company. He has over 20 years of experience, focusing on the design & construction of large scale civil engineering projects for the safe passage, and processing of arguably our most precious resource, water! With such great responsibility, we are really glad he is on our team!
Like a lot of us he was coaxed here by a Canadian and after being here since 2007 is now a proud dual citizen and father of two Canadian-kiwi boys.
Victoria Penney (Social Media) was born and raised in Nelson NZ, more recently living in Auckland. She relocated to Toronto along with her family in 2022, when she and her husband Greg were brought to Canada to help establish the Specsavers brand in Canada.
Being the Social Media Community Management coordinator for said Specsavers Canada, it's kind of ideal that she is the gal who posts our events to our social media platforms! And works closely with the board to organize our events. Thanks Victoria!
She’s discovered a new passion for ice hockey and finds it impossible to decide which is her favourite Canadian season, but it’s likely to be winter.
Brian Coutinho (Communications) grew up in Wellington, New Zealand and graduated Victoria University of Wellington with a BCA (Bachelor of Commerce and Administration).
Brian's work centres around software development for the financial industry.
For his OE he traveled a large part of the West Coast of North America including Alaska and up into The Yukon, continuing a life long love for the great outdoors. After a few years of life in London, UK and Christchurch, NZ, he immigrated to Canada in 2002.
Brian is a certified Snowboard instructor and enjoys winters just as much as the summers, participating in many outdoor activities. Most recently seen tearing up the fields in Cross Country Motocross!
Dino Rosta (Events & Entertainment) grew up in Pātea, on the coast of south Taranaki.
Dino came to Canada at a young age to play music, has lived here for more than fifty years playing music, and continues to play music for homesick kiwis across the continent!
Now armed not just with a guitar (or ukelele) but a camera and microphone! He frequently hosts podcasts interviewing kiwis around the world, and streams live music & events to various platforms via his YouTube channel, Maori Churr TV.
Dino is an active presence in Toronto's social scene, and becomes a member of the board with the longest tenure in our adopted country. Chur!
Rachel Brabant. After coming to Toronto for a holiday, 28 years later, Rachel is still here and proud to be a dual citizen of two amazing countries.
She feels she has been lucky to continue to fulfill her passion of travel, and has had the good grace to experience a lot of the beauty that Canada has to offer. Even if she drives her husband a little mad by always planning the next family road trip/adventure!
Darren Sissons was born in Wellington, New Zealand, where he graduated with a B.A. in Political Studies from Victoria University of Wellington. He also has a Diploma in International Business Studies from Massey University, an MBA from York University and holds a CPA accounting designation.
Darren lived in Taipei, Taiwan, for five years prior to moving to Canada. He has since spent the past 25 years in the investment industry managing global large-capitalization portfolios for Royal Bank, Scotiabank and two independent investment firms. Additionally, Darren also managed portfolios in the Venture Capital and Private Equity sectors with Royal Bank and Scotiabank.
As a member of the Campbell Lee & Ross Investment Management investment team, Darren contributes to portfolio construction, portfolio management and security analysis processes. He also manages the Global Equities portfolio including European, Asian and Emerging Markets.
Darren resides in Toronto with his wife and two daughters. He is a frequent contributor to the Globe & Mail, National Post & Reuters, and is a regular guest on the BNN TV Network.