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Zeal announces new CEO

Jesse Boyce has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of youth organisation Zeal.

Jesse replaces Matt Grey, who finished with Zeal in June 2018 after nine years of service, including one as CEO. Jesse will begin the role in August 2018.

As CEO, Jesse will lead Zeal’s youth development work across New Zealand. Zeal supports young people through youth centres, creative programmes, all ages events, mentoring groups, social enterprise initiatives and online crisis intervention.

Jesse comes to Zeal from World Vision New Zealand, where he served as Church Relationships Manager. Prior to that, Jesse was a Digital Marketing Strategist at NV Interactive. He has also held roles at Bible Society New Zealand, Ministry of Youth Development, Upper Hutt City Council, and Wellington Boys’ & Girls’ Institute. He founded Zion Dance Studios in Christchurch, which has impacted thousands of young people and community members.

“I’m humbled at the opportunity to be part of a legacy of building authentic, meaningful connections with young people through creativity,” Jesse said.

“What I love about Zeal is how the values Zeal hold are not just something written on a page on the website but something the Zeal whānau carry and embody. It excites me to serve this awesome mission in this next season.”

Zeal Board Chair, Bruce Pilbrow, said: “This has been a robust and transparent process where we saw some exceptional candidates. Jesse brings the energy, smarts and heart to take Zeal on an exciting journey. Watch this space as Zeal continues to make a massive measurable difference to the lives of our young people in Aotearoa.”


Read more from Zeal:

At Zeal, we don’t want a culture by default; we want to name it, create it and hold each other to it. And the way we arrive at shared culture is through embodying shared values.


On his announcement, Matt said: “After eight and half years at Zeal, I have decided to move on. What an incredible journey it has been.”