Dame Lesley Max DNZM, MBE, MA(Hons) Dame Lesley Max is the Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of Great Potentials Foundation.Her background includes University of Auckland; secondary school teaching, mainly in London; freelance journalism, principally for METRO and writing. Her book “Children: Endangered Species?” (Penguin, 1990) has been profoundly influential in New Zealand.Lesley co-founded Great Potentials Foundation (originally known as Pacific Foundation) in 1990, together with businessman, author and broadcaster, Gordon Dryden. Lesley created the Family Service Centre model, introduced HIPPY (Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters) in New Zealand, and developed MATES (Mentoring and Tutoring Education Scheme).Awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship, Lesley studied successful interventions in child protection and education in five countries. On her return, she was influential in the establishment of Family Start in New Zealand.Lesley is patron of Family Help Trust, the National Council of Women, Teach First NZ and Sistema Aotearoa.She has been appointed to a number of roles by Governments, including as a Director of the Northern Regional Health Authority, and a member of the Family Violence Advisory Committee to successive Ministers.She was a founding supporter of the Brainwave Trust and has filled advisory roles for a number of tertiary institutions. Lesley was awarded a MBE in 1994 and was made Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2010 for services to the community.