Our Leadership Team

David Ferguson, Chief Executive and Chief Review Officer

David Ferguson is ERO's Chief Executive and Chief Review Officer (CRO).

David joins ERO following a career in education leadership spanning schools, governance and system improvement. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive of the Teachers' Institute and has also held leadership and governance roles as Chair of the Teaching Council and a member of the NZQA Board. Prior to this, David was Headmaster of Westlake Boys High School for 15 years.

David brings extensive experience in education, organisational leadership and public service. He is committed to ensuring ERO's work provides high-quality evidence and insights that support better decision-making and improved outcomes for learners across Aotearoa New Zealand.

As Chief Executive and Chief Review Officer, David leads ERO’s work to evaluate and improve the education system, providing trusted evidence and insights to government, educators and communities, while also driving continuous improvement across ERO’s own practices and performance. 

Ray McMillan, Deputy Chief Executive Regulation and Early Childhood Education | Director of Regulation

Ray McMillan is ERO's Deputy Chief Executive Regulation and Early Childhood Education and Director of Regulation.

Ray leads ERO's regulatory and early childhood education functions, supporting the organisation as it takes on responsibility for the regulation of early childhood education services. These bring together ERO's early childhood evaluation, review, assurance and regulatory functions to provide a more integrated approach to supporting quality, safety and continuous improvement across the sector. Ray is responsible for ensuring ERO's regulatory approach is effective, consistent and focused on improving outcomes for children and whānau.

Ray is passionate about creating clear expectations and ensuring ERO's regulatory work is fair, transparent and evidence informed. He is committed to supporting providers, educators and communities to deliver high-quality learning environments for every child.

Deborah Wood, Deputy Chief Executive Review and Improvement Services Māori and Acting Deputy Chief Executive Evaluation and Policy

Deborah leads ERO’s Education Evaluation Centre | Te Ihuwaka, delivering independent national research and evaluation to strengthen decision‑making and improve outcomes across Aotearoa New Zealand’s education system. She also leads ERO’s cross-functional team that focuses on evaluation supporting 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 focus areas is on modernising our systems and equipment to support our work.  

Shelley Booysen, Deputy Chief Executive: Review and Improvement Services Schools

Shelley leads ERO's programme of review and evaluation in English-medium school settings, ensuring that our engagement with the sector drives improved outcomes for all learners.

Shelley also leads ERO's review and evaluation work for bilingual education pathways within English-medium schools, ensuring these settings benefit from specialist evaluation approaches and support for continuous improvement.

Shelley has held various leadership roles at ERO following a career as a secondary school teacher, senior leader, and principal in New Zealand schools.

Shelley is committed to supporting schools to focus on what matters most for learners, lifting education outcomes for every learner 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.