Charlotte (Charlie) Goodall
– Systems Innovator
GET TO KNOW CHARLIE
What is your vision for health and wellbeing in the Hutt Valley?
Dream big! It would be amazing to live in a time where there is no need for mental health workers or wrap around support services because our people are well and healthy. I would love to see families living in safe, supportive and healthy homes where tamariki and their whānau have room to move, be active and thrive.
What do you like to do in your free time?
My kids take up most of my ‘free’ time but I love spending quality time with them and our extended family. My partner comes from a big whānau and we try to catch up monthly for whānau kapa haka and kai which always fills my cup.
What is your favourite book and why?
I struggle to sit still long enough to finish any book but one I did enjoy was Holes. The book is based on a character called Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to a correctional boot camp in a desert in Texas, after being falsely accused of theft. The interconnecting themes such as racism, homelessness and illiteracy mirror what we sometimes see in our own communities today.
Charlie was born and raised in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai and carries whakapapa connections to England, Ireland, and Scotland. Although Charlie’s own lineage is not Māori, her deep connection to te ao Māori comes through her tamariki, who whakapapa Māori, and through her commitment to learning, upholding, and honouring the tikanga, reo, and mātauranga that guide and strengthen her whānau.
Charlie joined Healthy Families Hutt Valley in February 2023 and brings a strong passion for improving equity, wellbeing, and long-term health outcomes for communities across the Hutt Valley.
In her role as a Systems Innovator, Charlie works alongside whānau, community champions, local organisations, and sector partners to strengthen the conditions that enable healthier lives. Her mahi spans smokefree and vapefree environments, alcohol harm prevention, food security and sovereignty, active transport, and physical activity initiatives shaped by community voice and grounded in lived experience.