OUR TEAM
we are experts at using technology to eliminate, automate or simplify work, dramatically improve performance, minimise overheads and save time…
our story
CommunityWorks is a family-run business owned by Carolyn and Lilia Santiago. The company was founded in Wellington in 1995 after Carolyn’s unplanned early retirement on medical grounds from a diplomatic service career. Several decades on, we have grown from reliance on Carolyn to be a jack-of-all-trades supported by a teenage Lilia, to having a multi-talented, multi-cultural team specialising in fundraising, governance support and management services for community sector organisations. Lilia is now a former NZ Police Officer based at Pirlangimpi in the Tiwi Islands. She makes regular trips back ‘home’ however and juggles a virtual CommunityWorks role with being a busy stay-at-home mum as well as part-time work for the NT Police, Fire & Emergency Services at Pirlangimpi and Milikapiti.
meet the team
Our staff and business associates are highly motivated to achieve the best possible outcomes for our clients. We’re driven by a shared hate of waste - wasted opportunities, time, effort or resources. We place a high value on really understanding where you’ve come from, where you’re going and the existing institutional knowledge you have - in whatever form that may exist. We love showing you how to make use of technology to preserve and strengthen the crucial foundational knowledge base of your organisation.
Each of us is a perpetual student. We invest a lot of personal time and money into research and intentional learning so that we can be as “current” as possible in this fast-changing world. We are always on the hunt for ways to refine and improve how we do what we do for our clients. Our goals are to save you time and money while helping you to improve the quality, impact or value of your services.
CAROLYN SANTIAGO
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Carolyn’s qualifications include a business degree majoring in management and communications, certificates in public relations and adult teaching.
MARICRIS LAPUZ
SENIOR ACCOUNTGANT
Maricris is a Board Certified Accountant who loves unravelling financial chaos and creating precision. She is Xero Certified and leads our accounting and bookkeeping team, all of whom are experts at automating tracking for tagged funding and grant accountability reports, creating Charities-compliant annual performance reports, Treasurer’s reports, GST returns, budgets, cashflow forecasts and financial planning.
FIONA LEIGHTON
COMMUNITY EDUCATOR
Fiona is a registered nurse, Careerforce Assessor, a trainer and a former rehabilitation service manager. As our resident budding ‘social media maven’ she now helps charities use Facebook as a community education tool. Fiona’s professional and personal involvements include health, social services, rehabilitation, environmental and animal groups.
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TODD WILLIAMS
PROJECT ASSISTANT
Todd’s qualifications include a Diploma in Tourism & Business Management and he is currently studying for Diploma in Information Technology Technical Support at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.
GLORIA HENDERSON
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER
Gloria has an MBA in Staff Development, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Psychology and 20+ years experience designing training and facilitating workshops. She loves helping people navigate personal or workplace challenges. She’s an MBTI Registered Practitioner, and an NLP Master Practitioner. Her coaching focus includes time management, productivity, decluttering, dealing with overwhelm and burnout, dealing with difficult people, and workplace wellbeing.
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TIA SMITH
EVENTS & ACCOUNT MANAGER
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CAROL JAMES
OFFICE MANAGER
Executive Assistant Carol is responsible for ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently on a day to day basis at our operational hub in Rotorua.
LILIA SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
After years of single-handedly packing hundreds of conference goodie-bags at midnight, collating and assembling mountains of manuals, processing event registrations 24/7 and chasing slow-payers, Lilia is now blessed with three extra pairs of “helping hands”.