Our Team
Get to know the faces behind the scenes at The ACFB Fund! We work with an incredibly talented group of people from all walks of life helping us to ensure we are able to keep providing the services you rely on most.
Our Executive Team
Our strength lies in our talented team of professionals, each driven by a shared passion for innovation and excellence. Get to know the faces behind our success as an organisation.
Ashley Cairns
Director/ CEO
The ACFB Fund is the brain-child of our Director, Ashley Cairns who became fed up with the systems currently in place. Ashley has been working in the mental health field in various roles since 2005. She is a Full Member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC). Ashley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Honours and a Masters of Science in Mental Health Counselling with Honours from Univiersities in New York. Ashley immigrated to New Zealand in 2012.
Dr. Amy Marschall, Psy.D.
Clinical Director
Amy is a doctorate-level Clinical Psychologist located in South Dakota, USA. Amy is registered by the Psychology Board of NZ. In addition to her work as with ACFB Fund, Amy is an accomplished author and produces trainings for mental health professionals on topics related to neurodiversity. Amy owns Resiliency Mental Health and provides assessments and therapy throughout the US and NZ. Amy has been the heart and soul of the ADHD/ Autism assessment program.
Joe Cairns
Director/ CTO
Joe has a long history of working in tech, most recently working with Visa as a Cyber Security Specialist. He, along with Ashley and Amy, helped start A Change for Better and The ACFB Fund. Joe has over 25 years experience in the IT industry . He is responsible for anything technology and website. Currently, he is working on an exciting project that will help reduce our admin time and streamline our application processes through increased use of the ACFB Platform. This will result in a faster processing times for applications and more efficient use of our professionals.
Psychological Assessment Team
Dr. Natalie Peart
Clinical Psychologist
Natalie holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Auckland. She has many years of experience working with ADHD and autism in the community and private organisation, working across all age ranges. Natalie is also a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland and enjoys performing in theatre and playing netball.
Kiia Naidoo
Educational Psychologist
Kiia comes with a wealth of experience running ADHD and autism assessments at her role with the Ministry of Education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psych), Masters of Applied Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Educational and Developmental Psychology, and Post Graduate Diploma in Educational and Developmental Psychology.
Kate Nitschke
Educational Psychologist
Kate has nearly ten years experience as an Educational Psychologist working with the Ministry of Education and within a girls’ secondary school. Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Education), a Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Family Psychology, a Masters in Educational Psychology, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Psychology Practice.
Sarah Harrison
Psychologist
Sarah has 4 years experience in special education, providing behaviour support and psychological services to children and youth with existing diagnoses. Sarah is joining our team as an Intern Psychologist to develop her skills in conducting initial assessments for our neurodivergent population.
Amber Stapleton
Psychologist
Amber is a General Psychologist registered in NZ and Australia, and is located in the Bay of Plenty. She has extensively worked in Paediatrics and Private Practice, undertaking comprehensive ADHD, ASD, Education and Cognitive Assessments for children, adolescents, and adults.
Counselling Team
Rosa Antunovic
Counselling Coordinator
Rosa is a Counsellor living in New Plymouth who helps children, teens, and adults both online and in-person. She holds a Masters and Post Grad diploma in Counselling and is a Provisional Member of NZAC.
Angie Berliner
Counsellor Intern
Angie comes with a wealth of experience from past experience as a nurse and teacher of behaviourally challenging children. Angie is located in Leeston, Canterbury and works with children.
Kelly Shanks
Counsellor Intern
Kelly has experience in School Guidance Counselling and Learning Support and over 20 years experience in Education. Along with being a counsellor she also works for MOE as a Special Education Advisor.
ACFB Fund Vetted Professionals
In addition to our in-house Clinical Team, The ACFB Fund contracts to several private practice therapists throughout New Zealand. See their profiles below!
Administrative Team
Without the team below, we wouldn't be able to provide such a fast, efficient process for our clients. These are the faces of those who put in countless hours keeping things running.
Louisa Moss
Executive Assistant/ Grant Writer
Louisa originally hails from England, speaks fluent French and conversational Spanish. Mum to an energetic 9 year old boy, Louisa is passionate about improving access to mental health services.
Ian Lemuel Milanay
Administrative Assistant
Originally from the Philippines, Ian is persuing his graduate studies while helping out at The ACFB Fund. Ian is respsonsible for assisting with all the applications that come in and the various other admin tasks that come his way.
Marg Gerken
Local Fundraising Coordinator
Marg has a lifetime of experience running small businesses including in the farming and automotive industries. Now retired, Marg spends a great deal of her time volunteering for different organisations including The ACFB Fund.
The ACFB Fund
Born out of a deep frustration in the current mental health system, The ACFB Fund is A Change for Better’s (ACFB) answer to providing support to those who need it most.
How often is it that the government refuses to step in? Too often. What happens to lower income families who scrape by but by no means can afford to spend an additional $140+ per week getting the mental health help they so desperately need? They go without.
Not anymore. Enough is enough.
The main purpose of ACFB is to bring together a community of like-minded people all wanting the same change. Using a feature rich website design suited to assist private practice therapists, ACFB uses a portion of sales on all memberships and products. As ACFB grows, so does The ACFB Fund.
