John Collyns

John Collyns was appointed Executive Director of the Retirement Villages Association (NZ) Inc (RVA) in October 2007.

The RVA represents the interests of retirement village owners, developers and managers around New Zealand. John is responsible for setting the Association’s strategy and policy direction, as well as developing relationships with members, key stakeholders, central and local government agencies, and the media. Key stakeholders include the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, the Retirement Commissioner, the Financial Markets Authority, the Office for Senior Citizens, District Health Boards, Business NZ, statutory supervisors, and consumer advocacy groups such as Age Concern and Grey Power, amongst others.

Prior to this appointment John was the Executive Director of the Bus and Coach Association (NZ) Incorporated, a position he had held since September 1994. Prior to this role John owned a ran a restaurant for four years (so has an understanding of the risks members face when running their own businesses), a marketing manager for NZ Railways in their freight business, and a Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Minister of Railways in the 1980s.

John was a founding director of the Road Transport and Logistics Industry Training Organisation and he is a Fellow of the Australasian Society of Association Executives.

He has a BA from Victoria University in Wellington.