The Chief Executive/Chief Review Officer and Deputy Chief Executives make up the Leadership Team.
Nicholas Pole - Chief Executive/Chief Review Officer
“I have a clear vision to strengthen the quality and equity of education outcomes for all children in New Zealand.”
Nick joined ERO in 2017. He was previously the Deputy Chief Executive for the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, and spent time heading up special education services at the Ministry of Education.
While living in Australia, he was the Deputy Secretary with the Victorian State Department of Education and Training. He was responsible for maternal and children’s health services and school operations.
Nick is committed to ensuring that children from all backgrounds, at all levels of education, experience learning and teaching that is culturally appropriate, supportive and inclusive. He is firmly committed to helping ERO achieve its ambition of Māori enjoying and achieving education success as Māori.
Ruth Shinoda - Deputy Chief Executive Evaluation and Policy
Ruth leads Evaluation and Policy including Te Ihuwaka, ERO’s Education Evaluation Centre.
The Centre brings together evidence and insights to understand how good education provision is nationally, evaluate initiatives and promote good practice.
Ruth is passionate about ensuring all children get the education they need to thrive. Her role enables her to do that through looking at education outcomes for children, what contributes to them and identify opportunities to improve them.
Previously, Ruth has worked in education in New Zealand (including as Associate Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Education), in England (for the Department of Education) and Japan (as a Dawia Foundation Scholar). She also has wide experience in evidence and policy both here in New Zealand and the UK and has a BA Honours Degree in Economics.
Deborah Wood - Deputy Chief Executive Review and Improvement services Māori
Deborah leads a cross-functional team supporting the best outcomes for Māori learners across the education system. This team focuses on evaluation that supports quality education for learners and their whānau, while growing what the system understands about kaupapa Māori, te reo Māori and te ao Māori to benefit all learners.
Deborah arrived at ERO in 2017 after a lengthy career as a teacher and a leader in both primary and secondary education. Joining ERO first as a Review Officer, before becoming manager of Research and Rangahau Māori where she led foundational research relating to te reo Māori and Māori learner success, and evaluated external agencies work to drive improved decision making. While her time as Acting Deputy Chief Executive Review and Improvement Services enabled Deborah to focus on ERO’s evaluation approaches to drive improved outcomes for learners in English-medium education.
Deborah has a relentless focus on ensuring quality education for all tamariki and mokopuna, so they have equal opportunities to learn and thrive in inclusive environments. She has a Bachelor of Education and Master of Education with honours.
Jeremy France - Deputy Chief Executive Corporate Services
Jeremy leads the Corporate Services Group. Jeremy joined ERO as the Manager Human Resources and was then appointed to the current role which has allowed him to gain a wide range of knowledge and experience while working with the expert practitioners in the group.
One of the key foci is on modernising our systems and equipment to support our work.
Shelley Booysen – Deputy Chief Executive: Review and Improvement Services
As Deputy Chief Executive of the Review and Improvement Services group, Shelley is responsible for our programme of review and evaluation in English-medium early childhood education and school settings, ensuring that our engagement with the sector drives improved outcomes for all learners.
Shelley has held various leadership roles at ERO over the past 20 years, following a career as a secondary school teacher, senior leader, and principal in New Zealand schools.
Shelley is committed to supporting early childhood education services and schools to focus on what matters most for learners, lifting education outcomes for every child in every community.
Carolyn Palmer – Deputy Chief Executive: Performance and Implementation
Carolyn joined ERO in 2025 bringing with her a wealth of public sector experience. She has held senior roles with New Zealand Treasury, Te Whatu Ora and most recently with the Ministry of Social Development as Director – Office of the DCE - Strategy and Insights. Carolyn holds a PhD in public finance from Victoria University.
Carolyn sees equity and excellence in education outcomes as key enablers for improving the social and economic wellbeing of New Zealanders.