Our directors

Sarah Helm

Executive Director | Tumu Whakarae

Sarah Helm (Pākehā, Kāi Tahu) has worked in senior leadership roles in organisations spanning health, youth, social and environmental issues. Her work has been at the forefront of change over three decades. Sarah’s formal training is in journalism, health promotion and health service management. She brings her own lived experience of a range of life challenges and identities relevant to the the communities the Drug Foundation serves. 

Sarah has previously worked for the Alcohol Advisory Council, Health Promotion Agency and NZ AIDS Foundation (now Burnett Foundation). She was head of the NZ Association of Adolescent Health & Development (Ara Taiohi) for a number of years. Most recently, she worked for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet as Strategic Communications Manager for the COVID-19 response.  

Although she is based in Wellington with her two school-aged sons, Sarah will always be a South Aucklander at heart. 

Ben Birks Ang

Deputy Executive Director | Tumuaki Tuarua

Ben has worked with young people in the drug and alcohol sector for over a decade, and has built up a strong network. He also has many years’ experience in developing and delivering treatment services for young people, including establishing and overseeing school-based, community, peer-led, online, and residential drug and alcohol treatment programmes. He is a registered addiction practitioner and accredited clinical supervisor.

Hayden Eastmond-Mein

Communications and Marketing Director | Kaitohu Whakawhitinga, Whakatairanga hoki 

Hayden Eastmond-Mein is a communications and marketing all-rounder, with experience across political campaigning, local government, the union movement and the arts. Most recently he was Head of Communications at NZEI Te Riu Roa.

Over the last 20 years he's been lucky enough to make a career out of working for organisations and causes he believes in, which makes the Drug Foundation an ideal home.

Outside of work, Hayden is loving learning to be a new dad.

Dr Jacek Kolodziej

Policy Director | Kaiwhakahaere kaupapahere

Originally from Poland, Jacek is passionate about harm reduction as a way to improve people’s health and wellbeing. He moved to Aotearoa in 2016 to pursue his doctoral studies on HIV prevention and has extensive background in health research and policy. In both sexual health and substance use areas, his focus is on policies that enable equitable access to effective prevention and support. At the Drug Foundation, he works on a range of policy issues spanning from drug law reform to influencing system polices to improve access to harm reduction for all people who use drugs in Aotearoa.  

Jude Woolston

Student Wellbeing (Tūturu) Director | Kaitohu Tūturu

Jude is a trained secondary school teacher who transitioned into the health sector as she wanted to improve the quality of health service provision for young rangatahi. Her most substantive role was with the Counties Manukau District Health Board where she implemented a number of intersectoral projects. She has a long history of working in partnership with the housing, education and welfare sectors.

She has been involved in several key youth development projects such as the AIMHI (Achievement in multi-cultural High Schools) which enabled the integration of health services into 9 decile 1 schools, including the introduction of the Year 9 Assessment Tool.

In conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Tangaroa College (Otara) she established a teen parent unit targeting young Pacific mothers residing in Otara.

More recently whilst working at South Seas Healthcare she piloted a youth-focused employment programme, in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Development.

She is committed to improving the wellbeing outcomes of rangatahi and is a strong proponent of utilising a strengths-based approach, focusing on the resiliency of rangatahi/family/whānau/Aiga and community.