Ronda Amende - A biography

Ronda has an obscure passion, she loves disputes! She loves helping people to resolve their disputes. She gets a buzz from going into a room with people that are clearly not happy with each other and then leaving the room with those same people now willing to work with each other.

Ronda grew up in Kawerau in the 80’s. It is a mill town that went through several high profile industrial disputes. Everyone in the town was affected by the disputes with even the kids at school being on opposite sides. Each time mediators were called in to help and Ronda was able to meet with them personally and observe how they were able to help resolve the disputes and heal the town.

After completing her degree in political science she could see the possibility of motherhood on the horizon so decided to focus on learning skills in a totally foreign world to what she was used to. Ronda completed a Montessori ECE Teaching Diploma and taught for several years. Although she enjoyed teaching Ronda knew that she wanted to get back to what she loved eventually.

Ronda did a Dispute Resolution Graduate Diploma while living in Tonga. Living in Tonga was a great experience for Ronda and her family. They got to have a two year holiday! They were able to experience being a guest in another country, being a minority, and to see people living with nothing but being very happy. Ronda would fly back to New Zealand occasionally for practical courses. It was at a practical course that Ronda had one of those rare life moment s where she realized she had found the essence of what she loved ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’.

Once back in New Zealand Ronda worked with the Environment Court in Central Auckland as a Mediation Case Manager. She was able to see Mediation in action as it helped to resolve disputes from simple neighbour disputes to large complex community ones. She was able to learn from the Environment Court Commissioners who shared their wealth of knowledge and experience.

After a couple of years Ronda moved on to work for the Department of Building and Housing as a Mediator. Ronda would mediate up to 7 disputes every day. Some would be fairly simple while others would take most of the day. She was able to learn from some of the most experienced mediators in the country. Ronda loved mediating and would have been happy to continue there if it wasn’t for Zeald’s unique approach to customer disputes. Ronda is excited about incorporating “Alternative Dispute Resolution” into Zeald’s customer service processes.

Outside of work Ronda is kept busy with her three children who are into a myriad of after school activities including competitive swimming. So it means 4.30am starts 6 days a week. Ronda enjoys playing the flute and loves to read a wide range of books in her spare time.

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