Ray Finch
Chief Executive Officer, Laura Fergusson Trust Inc.
2025
Ray is the Chief Executive of Laura Fergusson Trust in Auckland, New Zealand, and is a fierce advocate for the rights of disabled people, with over a decade of senior disability sector experience since immigrating from South Africa.
Laura Fergusson Trust is one of the oldest disability focussed charities in NZ and was a formidable force behind deinstitutionalisation and providing community-based care almost sixty years ago, when all others defaulted to aged care options for people with physical disabilities.
In the PCVE landscape, Ray recently championed the awareness and safeguarding efforts in NZ, of disabled people against the risk of violent online grooming. This was achieved through Public Private Partnerships with New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, The Department of Internal Affairs and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of NZ.
Most recently, Ray was integral to a collaboration between NZ & Germany where New Zealand Health Group (NZH) combined forces with The Violence Prevention Network (VPN) in Germany. Together NZHG and VPN made significant inroads to build NZ’s capability to respond to PCVE needs as well as the creation of vital education resources for Teachers and social workers in NZ.
My network of professionals working on countering hate in all its forms grew exponentially after attending Eradicate Hate in 2021. The myriad voices represented at Eradicate Hate, from big tech companies to academic researchers to those with lived experience, reinforced to me the importance of cross-cutting and collaborative approaches to counter hate and its devastating impacts on society. I’ve been fortunate to sustain and build those networks with many of those I met at Eradicate Hate in 2021.
