Meet the Trustees

Chairman - Dr Andrew Riley

After gaining his MBChB in 1994 Dr Andrew Riley worked at Wellington Hospital before a short OE where he worked as an Ophthalmology locum in London. On his return to New Zealand he worked towards joining the Ophthalmology training scheme, which included research work on cataract surgery at Auckland University. Having completed his Ophthalmic specialist training at Wellington Hospital in 2003 he returned to England for fellowship training in oculoplastics, anterior segment, medical retina and uveitis. He gained invaluable knowledge and experience during his time there.

A passionate volunteer, Andrew uses his expertise to improve eye care in the Pacific, especially performing life changing cataract operations on patients in the Islands. Over the past ten years, he has performed eye surgeries and trained local medical professionals in the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea

When he’s not working, Andrew enjoys spending time with his wife Kirsty and their two children. You’ll also find him working in the garden, golfing or out fishing on the water.

Secretary - Kylie Dreaver

Kylie Dreaver has been secretary of VOSO since December 2014. As an optometrist she has valued the opportunity to travel to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Bougainville with VOSO and be part of an Eye Team that has restored vision and improved lives. Kylie has enjoyed working with the local staff learning some of the language to make sure the glasses she was dispensing were the best to help someone see. Kylie also valued the chance to work along side VOSO optometrists and ophthalmologists in screening for those blind with cataracts and seeing the utter joy when the eye patch is removed and sight is restored.
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Kylie Dreaver has served as a Board Member for the  Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board. She has worked in private and public sectors in Auckland and around New Zealand. She currently is one of the two optometrist owners of Victoria Street Optometrists.

Trustee - ​ Richard Johnson

Richard obtained his optometry degree at the University of Auckland in 1993.  After working for a while in NZ, he went to Austria where he worked as a contact lens practitioner for two years.  He then worked in the UK for five years, based mainly in Cornwall before returning to NZ in 2003.
 
Richard is a current councilor and previous past president of the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of NZ.  He is also a trustee of the NZ Eye Bank. Richard has been a trustee of VOSO for 11 years and chairman for 9 years.
  
He now works most of his week at Greenlane Clinical Centre in the Emergency Eye Clinic but also is involved in Glaucoma, Medical Retinal and paediatric clinics.
 
In addition to the hospital work, he is also a visiting lecturer and examiner in Ocular therapeutics at the Department of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Auckland.  He has been involved in a number of multi-national Phase three drug trials (as part of a research team, rather than a subject).

Trustee - Dr David Pendergast

David is an ophthalmologist at Auckland Eye, with sub-specialty expertise in cataract surgery, refractive and laser surgery, corneal transplantation, anterior segment surgery, conjunctival surgery and external eye diseases, including degenerative, infective and inflammatory conditions.

Being involved as an ophthalmologist with VOSO is a great privilege to do something so enjoyable and help change peoples lives. 

When not at work, David enjoys spending time in the hills of the Central Plateau tramping or trout fishing, or in the waters of Mercury Bay snorkelling for crayfish. David is married to Lois who is an Ophthalmic Nurse and they are proud parents of three young adults.

Trustee - Rueben Gordon

Reuben is an optometrist from Auckland. Initially working in private practice for a couple of years he started at the Greenlane Ophthalmology clinic in 2009. He is involved in Glaucoma, specialty contact lens and post-op clinics but has also been involved in Low Vision, Corneal and emergency Clinics previously. In 2015 Reuben started working two days a week with Dr Shanu Subbiah at Eye Institute in Auckland.

Reuben initially got involved with VOSO by helping Richard Johnson organise and coordinate supplies to be freighted before each trip. In 2013 he became a VOSO Trustee and in 2015 he went on his first volunteer trip to Labasa in Fiji which was lead by Michael Brown and hosted by the Labasa Lions Club. He is looking forward to his next trip after his first child is born.

Trustee- Dr Hussain Patel

Dr. Hussain Patel is an Ophthalmologist with expertise in the field of glaucoma and cataract surgery. He is adept with the latest technology used in the diagnosis and monitoring of glaucoma. In addition to private practice, Hussain is a Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology with the New Zealand National Eye Centre and University of Auckland.  He is actively involved in glaucoma research, supervision of research fellows as well as the teaching of medical and optometry students. Hussain has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and often presents at international ophthalmology meetings. Dr Patel is also a Consultant at Greenlane Clinical Centre where he teaches budding ophthalmologists in glaucoma and cataract surgery.

Trustee - Jill Mottram

Jill graduated with a Bachelor of Optometry from the University of Auckland in 2015.  Prior to this Jill studied a Bachelor of Science and technology at the University of Waikato and worked in research and manufacturing.  Jill has 15 years of sales and marketing experience in the pharmaceutical industry in Australia, England and New Zealand.  On returning to New Zealand in 2006 Jill developed an interest in population health and decided to become an optometrist.  She has travelled extensively through Africa, South America, Australia, China and Europe and now enjoys spending time with her family on their lifestyle block and being involved in local community activities such as Surf club and Young Mariners.

Trustee - Dr Jesse Gale

Jesse Gale is a consultant ophthalmologist at Wellington Hospital and Kenepuru Hospital, a senior clinical lecturer at University of Otago, and he works in private practice in central Wellington.  He returned home as a consultant in 2015 after fellowship training in global ophthalmology (Fred Hollows Foundation), neuro-ophthalmology (Los Angeles, USA) and glaucoma (Cambridge, UK).  His areas of particular interest are the differentiation of different optic nerve diseases, and the cost effective management of glaucoma across different populations and communities.  Jesse has experience on surgical outreach from his fellowship and on volunteer trips since then.

Trustee- Amy Lee


I graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Optometry of Auckland in 2014. Born in Seoul and raised in beautiful Canterbury. 

Since graduating university, I returned back to Christchurch to work as a community optometrist in private practice and recently moved on to locum optometry work. Since 2018, I have been volunteering as a guest speaker for the Glaucoma NZ peer support group in Christchurch. It has been a privilege to be able to support and connect with my local community and one I thoroughly continue to enjoy. 

My passions outside of optometry include animal welfare, nurturing houseplants, hiking and skiing. 
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Administrative Trustee / Support - NZAO
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​The NZ Association of Optometrists serves the following functions: