Meet the team
We’re a small and focused team with big aspirations for Auckland’s city centre. Find out more about each of us and what we bring to Heart of the City.
Viv Beck - Chief Executive
Viv leads Heart of the City, which champions a successful city centre economy with a vibrant and thriving heart.
Kate Cleaver - Head of Marketing
Kate is our destination marketing and events lead, managing strategy and partnerships and overseeing our campaigns and agency relationships.
Kate’s favourite thing about the city centre is that it is many things: vibe, architecture, trees against heritage buildings, festivals (Auckland Writers Festival and NZ International Film Festival are at the top of her list), cafés, restaurants, laneway bars… She could continue for days.
Micaela Daniel - Head of Operations
Micaela leads our operations, which includes organisational planning, delivering strategic projects, and optimising internal processes so we can all do our best work.
The theatres of the city centre are her turangawaewae, and she also loves the buskers, hare krishnas and other performers who give the streets a sense of variety. Her inside scoop on the city is that we have a huge variety of books and fashion boutiques - second hand, top of the range and unique one of a kind.
Mitchell Estrop - Membership and City Management Specialist
Mitchell helps support Auckland’s city centre as a vibrant and safe environment for its businesses and visitors. As the key point of contact for Heart of the City members, Mitchell is constantly engaged with city centre businesses and assisting them to operate successfully in the heart of the city.
Experiencing the thrill of live music is Mitchell’s favourite thing to do in the city centre. He’s got eclectic taste and listens to everything from Dolly Parton to Arctic Monkeys. So, when he’s not working ‘9 to 5’, you can find him in one of the city centre’s live music venues where you can “bet he’s looking good on the dancefloor.”
Emma Jones - Marketing Manager
Emma manages our destination marketing campaigns and oversees our always on activity and projects for heartofthecity.co.nz and social media.
Her favourite thing about the city centre is the sense of discovery. "Working here, there’s always a new lunch spot to try – though it’s hard to go past Chuffed’s chicken toasted sandwich - or some cheeky shopping to do on your lunchbreak.”
Tania Loveridge - Head of Advocacy and Engagement
Tania leads our advocacy and engagement programme to ensure what’s happening in the city centre will deliver good outcomes for business, as well as delivering special projects.
She loves how quickly she can get around the city on her e-bike or by foot, as well as the buzz from people talking about how much they love the city and its ongoing evolution.
Fiona Murphy - Digital Executive
Fiona is our Digital Executive, one of our eyes and ears of the city centre, seeking out news and events to share with our audiences across our digital channels and in our weekly newsletters. She helps run our digital ad activity and campaigns and contributes to projects and content for heartofthecity.co.nz. Fiona loves that there’s always somewhere new to discover in the city centre. It’s an ever-evolving space that’s always offering up something innovative, stylish and different for its ever-evolving audience.
Kate Powell - Communications Specialist
Kate helps spread the word about important city centre news and developments. She works to keep our members, city stakeholders and wider public ahead of the curve via hotcity.co.nz, social media and newsletters. Highlighting how city-centre businesses and their people are at the forefront of the changing city is at the heart of everything Kate does.
She loves exploring the city centre on foot and discovering previously hidden gems. As someone with an eclectic taste in food, fashion, art and culture, Kate is invigorated by the breadth of what is on offer in the heart of the city- there is always something to match her mood.
Jessie Vlasich - Office Assistant
Jessie has a dual role as the Personal Assistant to the CEO as well as the Office Assistant. Jessie supports our team by ensuring that the office runs smoothly and is the first point of contact that members have with Heart of the City.
Jessie loves the diverse range of activities that the city centre has to offer. There are different eateries, retail stores, activities and shows on each corner, creating a lively environment which perfectly balances work and play.
