Keynote Speakers

Lisa Davis
Chief Executive Officer of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust

She / Her

Lisa Davis is a direct descendent of the revered Ngāti Whātua ancestor Tuperiri and is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust. Born and raised in Ōrākei, Lisa is also the first Ngāti Whātua descendent to attain the role of CEO for the Trust. Her whakapapa, background and experience is what drives Lisa in everything she does. She knows that her whānau are the priority.  Lisa understands the unique position of her people, who actively live and celebrate the role of ahi kā in the economic powerhouse that Tāmaki Makaurau is. And she is well aware of the opportunities and responsibilities that come with this locality. Lisa is guided by the saying ‘Mō tātou, mō ā tātou Tamariki, ā, mō ngā uri kei te heke mai’ which encourages the application of an intergenerational perspective over anything that she does in her role as CEO, and as a proud uri of Ngāti Whātua.

Julia Lynch (Jules)
Regional Commissioner for Auckland South, Ministry of Social Development & Tāmaki Makaurau Regional Public Service Commissioner

She / Her

Of Te Arawa and Waikato-Tainui descent, Jules is passionate about the role of agencies working collaboratively with iwi/Māori, community and partners for collective impact and better wellbeing outcomes for all New Zealanders. Jules has wide-ranging experience with over 26 years with New Zealand Police in various operational capacities, including frontline response; youth and community services; criminal investigation branch; road policing; Area Commander; and Principal Strategic Advisor to Assistant Commissioner Districts.

In 2018, Jules started a three-year secondment with the Ministry of Justice as Director Tāmaki Makaurau Justice Sector Strategy. Key highlights include the collaborative mahi with the Tāmaki Makaurau Justice Sector Leadership Board and the development and implementation of the Māori, Pasifika and Rangatahi Action Plans. Key initiatives she was involved with, alongside Justice Sector agencies and MSD, was helping whānau get their driver licences, as well as supporting whānau with outstanding fines obtained through not having a driver licence and financial hardship. She is proud to have been one of the wāhine in the Justice Sector working group that developed with Mana Whenua in Counties Manukau the Tumanawanui “Strength to Stand Strong” Māori and Pasifika Wāhine in Justice Sector Mentoring Programme in 2019.

Keen to be part of the solution for better wellbeing outcomes for New Zealanders, Jules joined the Ministry of Social Development in August 2021, as the Regional Commissioner for Auckland South. In November 2021, she was also appointed to the role of Regional Public Services Commissioner for Tāmaki Makaurau, where she has been working with iwi/Māori, community and partners as part of the Caring for Communities welfare response and the Extreme Weather response for Tāmaki Makaurau.

“Every day around Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa, public servants are doing magnificent work to make a difference for New Zealand and New Zealanders. Their contribution is wide and varied. The opportunity to collaborate with iwi, communities, agencies, and other providers has enabled us as a region to be more responsive to whānau needs” – Jules Lynch.

Ehara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, engāri he toa takitini.

Anita Edwards
Te Tāhū o te Ture, Ministry of Justice

She / Her

Anita is the current Chair of the Government Women’s Network and has been an active member for over 6 years. Of Cook Island decent and connected to Ngāpuhi through her Tāne, she has spent twenty plus years as a people and thought leader with Inland Revenue, Health, and Ministry of Justice. Most of the time spent has been working in the frontline through to advisory positions and is currently a Principal Advisor, Design and Implementation for Te Ao Marama, Ministry of Justice. Tooled with a background in coaching and development she leads with the goal to open spaces in places for those who struggle to advance their careers in the public service.

Saunoa (Noa) Samasoni
Winner of Te Tohu mō te Kaiārahi Rangatahi o te Tau | Young Leader of the Year at Te Hapai Hapori | Spirit of Service Awards 2023 

She / Her

Noa was nominated and won the Te Tohu mō te Kaiārahi Rangatahi o te Tau | Young Leader of the Year at Te Hapai Hapori | Spirit of Service Awards 2023 for her phenomenal leadership in the Auckland Flood Recovery – Property and Affected Household - project.  Intelligent, dependable and grounded in her core pacific values, Noa commenced her Kāinga Ora career within the customer support centre in 2016 at the age of 21. Although her latest leadership role as Senior Project Manager – PM Lead, in this project, has been challenging, Noa embodies the ability to navigate uncertainty with poise and determination as she runs a new team responsible for the management of major works required in our 657 flood-impacted Auckland homes. 

Carolyn Cooper
Aged Care Commissioner New Zealand

She / Her

Carolyn Cooper is New Zealand’s first Aged Care Commissioner, appointed in March 2022 to provide strategic oversight of health and disability services for older people in all settings. In addition to being a statutory decision maker on complaints about care provided to older people, Carolyn strongly advocates for older people’s rights to quality health and disability services to support them to age well. Her 40-year career spans governance, executive and clinical leaderships roles across the public and private sector in New Zealand and Australia. Previously, she was Managing Director and Lead Nurse for Bupa Villages and Care New Zealand, which supports more than 5,500 residents nation-wide. Carolyn began her career as a registered general and obstetrics nurse and has since held leadership positions across the health sector in aged care and hospital and specialist services. She is passionate about using innovation and collaboration as tools to achieve great quality of care and life for older people and brings to her roles her lived experience caring for older people as a daughter and niece.

Hon. Carmel Sepuloni
Government Minister and Labour MP

She / Her

Carmel is a mother, wife, daughter of a migrant, current caregiver Government Minister and the proud MP for Kelston. She has served as the Minister for Social Development and Employment, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Minister for Auckland, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs (Pacific Region). She also served as the 20th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, the first Pacific and third female in the role. She has previously also held the portfolios of ACC, Disability Issues and Associate Pacific Peoples.

Carmel is proud to be Kelston’s voice in Parliament and around the Cabinet table, delivering for the Kelston community and West Auckland.Born in Waitara, Carmel is of Samoan, Tongan and New Zealand European descent.

Carmel entered Parliament in 2008, having worked in the tertiary sector as a literacy educator, a student mentor adviser, an equity manager, and a Pacific health research project manager.A brief break away from Parliament in 2011-2014 saw Carmel become Chief Executive of Vaka Tautua, a national ‘by Pacific, for Pacific’, health, disability and social services provider.

Carmel is committed to transforming the welfare system so that it’s fairer and treats people with dignity, and providing opportunities for people to get ahead in life – including better opportunities to get into meaningful and sustainable employment. She’s also committed to building a sustainable, diverse, inclusive and resilient arts and culture sector, and strengthening Aotearoa New Zealand’s ties with the Pacific region.

Olivia Shivas
The D* List

She / Her

Olivia Shivas (she/her) has worked in the media industry for a decade, both in the disability sector and in the mainstream media. As editor at The D*List, her job is to write, commission and curate stories and relatable content for a proud disabled audience. Prior to this, she was a journalist at Stuff for five years and produced a podcast about disability called 'What's Wrong With You?' She is passionate about authentic storytelling and bringing disability rights to life. Olivia has Malaysian and Scottish roots and lives with muscular dystrophy. 

Jane Wrightson
Retirement Commissioner

She / Her

Jane Wrightson became the Retirement Commissioner, head of crown entity Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission, in early 2020 and is now serving her second term. She has been the chief executive of public media funder NZ On Air; of the Broadcasting Standards Authority, a regulator; and of advocacy body the Screen Producers’ Association. Jane became NZ’s first woman chief film censor after a decade in various programming and commissioning roles with TVNZ. Jane is also Chair of Experience Wellington, a council-controlled organisation (CCO), and a director of Radio NZ.  She holds an MBA with distinction, a BA in literature, and is a Distinguished Alumnus of Massey University.

Parekawhia McLean
Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive of Te Kāhui Te Tātari Ture | Criminal Cases Review Commission

She / Her

In 2020, Parekawhia McLean (Ngāti Mahanga, Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto) was appointed the inaugural Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive of Te Kāhui Te Tātari Ture | Criminal Cases Review Commission. The Commission is an independent Crown entity tasked with investigating potential miscarriages of justice.

She has previously held executive roles at the Counties Manukau District Health Board as the Director of Strategy and Infrastructure, Regional Director for Waka Kotahi | NZ Transport Agency, and Chief Executive of Waikato-Tainui.

Parekawhia holds several governance roles including Chair, Te Whakakitenga o Waikato (shareholding body of Waikato-Tainui); Transpower NZ, Sport Waikato, and the Waikato University Council. She also chairs the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee that reports to the Minister of Health.

Her previous governance experience includes roles with the Gas Industry Company NZ, Oranga Tamariki Risk and Assurance Committee, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Crown Research Institute, Te Māngai Pāho (Māori Broadcasting Funding Agency), Mighty River Power, and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (Māori Tertiary Education Institute).

Parekawhia spent almost six years as a strategic advisor working in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet alongside three Prime Ministers. One of her major achievements as a government official was the establishment of the Māori Television Service – where she was the lead Crown advisor at the time of its establishment.

She has a Master in Social Science degree from Waikato University and a Master of Arts in Public Administration and Development Policy from the University of Wisconsin, USA. She is a Distinguished Alumni of Waikato University.

Kerri Fergusson 
Te Kāhui Te Tātari Ture | Criminal Cases Review Commission

She / Her

Ngāti porou and Ngā puhi – Kerri grew up in the Wairarapa and her family were predominantly from Pōneke – Wellington, she has 28 years in the public service, 15 of those managing investigation teams, starting with the NZ Police in 1990 she was posted to Tāmaki Makaurau. 

Kerri qualified as a Detective and Sergeant and left in 2002 to complete a Bachelor of Health Science degree wanting to do different things than Policing. She was drawn back into the field of investigations to work with MBIE – Immigration investigations for 9 years and worked on some large investigations including people trafficking, smuggling, exploitation and a raft of Immigration fraud related crimes. In this role she was lucky to travel for work to places like Tonga, China, India, Malaysia and Australia and worked on the first two Trafficking in Persons cases for New Zealand also helped influence a change in legislation for Exploitation at the time. She was invited to present at the Bali Process, a group of Anti-Trafficking in Persons (TiP) and Anti-People Smuggling units across South East Asia, on the use of Data Analytics to identify potential victims or offenders of exploitation/TiP in an effort to help prevent people trafficking. 

Kerri was invited to work with the Filipino government on a project using her algorithm with success. Whist at Immigration NZ, Kerri worked as an Operations Manager – Investigations and set up a specialist unit targeting immigration employer crime including exploitation of migrants. As training investigations is her passion, she set up a training system to introduce new investigators into these roles that didn’t have a traditional investigation background. 

Kerri then moved to Auckland Council where she was the team manager for the compliance investigations team and later unit manager for Compliance & Investigations. She recently started what is probably her dream job with Te Kāhui where they review and investigate applications where a miscarriage of justice may have occurred. This is a new organisation of only three years and is vitally important for New Zealand with being only the 4th organisation of its kind in the world. Kerri worked as an SME with G-Reg to develop the Diploma of Investigations (pilot) and continue to work to ensure there is training in the field of investigations available to organisations with this as their core role, and as such was contracted to work with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in 2022 to develop a training programme for their member states on how to use criminal statistics in the field of organised crime, a dream she had for several years was to work for the UN, it was a very happy moment to achieve this. 

Whilst in the NZ Police she was a national delegate for the then women’s committee and have been involved with AGWN for the past 3-4 years. Kerri has a Master of Arts – Fraud and Financial Investigation.

Session Speakers

Dr. Parin Rafiei-Thompson
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited

She / Her

Parin is the Head of Climate Innovation & Sustainability at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU). She leads the organisational response to climate change, and Tātaki ‘s contribution to Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland's Climate Plan. One of her focus areas include establishing a climate innovation hub to support the business community across Tāmaki Makaurau & Aotearoa to solve their climate change issues through innovation. In her previous role at the Chief Sustainability Office of Auckland Council, Parin co-lead the development of Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland's Climate Plan, and Auckland Urban Ngahere(Forest). Parin has over 17 years of experience in climate change & sustainability, including international development where she managed energy efficiency and forestry projects in collaboration with the World Bank and Standard Bank of Africa, including the development and roll-out of Africa’s first ever reforestation carbon program. In addition to a PhD in Engineering, and formal studies in corporate sustainability, Parin also gained Partnership Brokering accreditation from the international Partnership Brokers Association. The Association provides a formal qualification pathway in the practice of supporting and strengthening partnerships through the management of collaborative work processes. 

Janet Whiteside
RMA compliance practitioner

She / Her

Janet is a highly regarded and experienced RMA compliance practitioner with 33 years of experience in compliance and enforcement. Janet held senior positions with Auckland Council, specializing in RMA compliance, for the last 17 years. Her focus has been on technical advice, training, and best practice development. She recently joined Brighta Consulting as a Strategic Environmental Consultant.

Janet holds a Master in Laws with Distinction in Environmental Law and has lectured stage 2 Auckland University planning students on resource management law. In addition to her extensive experience and passion for environmental compliance, Janet is dedicated to helping people develop as effective compliance practitioners.

Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo 
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | New Zealand Human Rights Commission

She / Her

Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo (Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, and Acting Race Relations Commissioner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | New Zealand Human Rights Commission)

Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo is the proud mother of a son and two daughters. She is of Samoan descent, originally from the village of Vailima, Upolu, Samoa. 

She comes to Human Rights Commission from working as a Principal Practice Advisor (Pacific) at Oranga Tamariki, to improve outcomes for Pacific children and families. Her previous experience within the public sector includes roles with the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Tertiary Education Commission, and the Auckland District Health Board.

Her professional and academic background has involved advocating for the promotion of economic development, social, and employment interests of marginalised groups, particularly women, Pacific peoples, learners, and young people.

Karanina holds qualifications in social work, social policy, mediation, and science, including a Ph.D. in public policy from the Auckland University of Technology.

Theresa Peters 
Ministry of Social Development, CARN Co-Chair

They/Them

Theresa Peters (they/them) is a gender diverse activist and community leader who has been working in the public sector for the past 12+ years.  A founding member and co-chair of the Cross Agency Rainbow Network (CARN), Theresa has been instrumental in the governance of this cross-agency public sector employee led network.  They have led the CARN working group that delivered the Transitioning and Gender Affirmation in the NZ public sector guide, as well as the working groups for first two CARN conferences. Theresa is also a member of Whakamana Ira Tangata, the Gender Diverse sub network of CARN.

During their tenure at Ara Poutama Aotearoa (Department of Corrections), Theresa led inclusion and diversity, including designing and delivering rainbow diversity training across the department. This training is credited with helping to transform a binary prison system to be more inclusive and safer for trans and gender diverse people.

Theresa is the Principal Advisor People Experience with Te Manatu Whakahiato Ora, Ministry of Social Development (MSD), where they lead the Diversity and Inclusion portfolio.  

Originally from the United States, Theresa has called Aotearoa home since 1998. 

Theresa is a panellist on ‘How to influence change.’

Sonja Lister
Auckland Transport

She/Her

Sonja Lister is an active delegate and co-convenor of the Womens Network for the Public Service Union and has held this role for the past 3 years. She regularly advocates for women and children rights in respect of policy and legislation changes as part of the PSA role. Collectively with other PSA Womens Network members, PSA is actively seeking for pay transparency – equal pay, ethnic gender pay gap and the ratification of the coalition for a safe world of work under International Labour Organisation Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (C190). 

Briar Fredericksen
Air New Zealand

She / Her

Briar Federicksen (she/her) is a 54 transgender woman, currently Inflight Service Manager in Air New Zealand's International fleet. Prior to that she was a Sales Leader in the electrical industry, where she transitioned some 12 years ago. She was lucky to be the first transgender group fitness instructor for Les mills, Air New Zealand's first transgender cabin crew and currently the only one in an onboard leadership role. She also races Waka Ama outrigger canoes, loves her sports, and her two dogs, Fraggle and Shay. From an industry perspective, she is a strong supporter and advocate of equal respect for all walks of life, but also a staunch believer that respect must be earned, not demanded. In business our diversity of thinking comes from the diversity of our people and their experiences. Our role as leaders is to harness that strength. 

Jade Tang-Taylor 
Tang Taylor

She / Her

Jade is a purpose-driven, design-led, creative & social entrepreneur. Endeavouring to connect across sectors, inter-disciplinary spaces, inter-cultural communities and find ways to collaborate, co-design and co-create positive social impact together, using design thinking, systems thinking & futures thinking.

Over the past 10-15+ years Jade’s career has been more of a squiggly line than a straight one; across the design / creative industries, digital / tech sector, not-for-profit / community sector, social enterprise, academia higher education, philanthropy and consulting. However, the common thread through them all is that Jade is deeply passionate about design for social innovation, social change & more recently systems change.

Over the next 10-15+ years she would like to continue to challenge herself, to keep learning and developing her leadership experience, particularly in the area of governance. Providing strategic advice & advocating for marginalised communities, ethnic communities with a focus on women, ethnic women, economic empowerment and diversity, equity & inclusion overall. She's also particularly interested in exploring how we as tangata tiriti can authentically partner with tangata whenua. 

Currently, she wear a few hats; Innovation Director at academyEX | Tech Futures Lab and an Associate of Toi Āria and Innovation Unit. Alongside this, she has served on a few governance & advisory roles, from a grassroots community level; Healthy Families Waitākere, to a regional level: Chair or Iti Rearea Collective & Deputy Chair to Ethnic Peoples Advisory Panel, to ministerial level; National Advisory Council for the Employment of Women (NACEW). She is an Edmund Hillary Fellow, a CoDesignCo member but most importantly she's a proud working mum of 1.

Lynette Reed 
Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Auckland Council

She / Her

Lynette Reed CEO/Founder Hybridges and Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Auckland Council - Lynette is a trailblazer in the fields of public service and DEI. With an illustrious career marked by innovation and transformation, Lynette has left an indelible mark on the landscape of Pasifika engagement, strategy development and leadership. As the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Auckland Council, Lynette spearheads efforts to create an inclusive and equitable environment, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued. Her leadership in this capacity is a testament to her commitment to driving positive change within public service organisations. Lynette's consultancy, Hybridges, is renowned for its pioneering work in the development of the Pasifika Engagement and Strategy Framework, "Fatu." This framework has become a cornerstone for fostering meaningful engagement with Corporates, setting new standards for inclusivity and impact. Her experience extends to a transformative leadership role, where she played a pivotal part in Pasifika strategy development and transformation. Her visionary approach has not only revitalized corporates but has also served as a model for others in the public service arena striving to connect with Pasifika employees and communities in a meaningful way. Lynette is a scholar and researcher as well, having delved deep into the intricacies of Pasifika Leadership Frameworks during her academic journey. She brings insights from her thesis and her Masters of Technological Futures program at AcademyEx. Lynette's impact is extending to pursuing a Doctorate at University of Otago, where she continues her work on the very topic she is passionate about. In essence, Lynette Reed stands at the intersection of leadership, Equity and public service, setting the bar high for what can be achieved through dedication, innovation and a commitment to making a difference.

Workshops

Wendy Rowe
Leadership and Career Development Coach 

She / Her

Wendy is a Leadership and Career Development Coach who has extensive experience encouraging women in a wide variety of roles across both Local and National government to have confidence and the know-how to take control of their careers. 

Wendy encourages women to maximise their potential by making career development an integral part of their working lives not another item on the bottom of their busy to-do list. She has been Director and Principal Consultant at Wendy Rowe and Associates Ltd for 15 years. 

Prior to setting up her own consultancy, Wendy had ten years’ experience working with a global Human Resources Consultancy as a Principal Consultant, Coach and Career Counsellor.

Before that she worked in a range of leadership, advisory and education roles in the public and private sectors gaining significant experience in management and team leadership, career counselling, organisational development and project management.

Philly Powell
Wellbeing Tick

She / Her

Philly Powell is a self-confessed wellbeing junkie! With 20 years in various HR roles, she merged her passion for wellbeing with her profession in 2015. Since then she’s designed and led a triple-award winning wellbeing programme and launched Aotearoa’s first Wellbeing Tick accreditation programme – designed to raise the bar and set the standard for best practice.

Philly’s committed to working together with Kiwi workplaces to help transform the dire state of wellbeing in Aotearoa, along with supporting organisation’s to reduce the detrimental impacts work pose’s on their people’s wellbeing.  Her passion and advocacy for the ripple effect workplace wellbeing can have on individual, family and community wellbeing is infectious!

Hannah McQueen
enable.me 

She / Her

Not happy with the status quo and paying banks thousands of dollars of interest on her mortgage, she set out to find a way to pay it down faster, while paying the least amount of interest possible, and retaining the flexibility to live life on her terms.

The result was a patented mortgage optimisation formula and the seed from which enable.me – her financial strategy and coaching company – grew.

As well as a qualified Financial Adviser and Chartered Accountant Fellow with her Master’s in Tax, Hannah is a best-selling personal finance author, media commentator, columnist, and public speaker whose expertise is often called upon to help Kiwis make sense of what’s happening in the financial landscape, how financial stress impacts their life, their work, and what they can do to improve their financial wellbeing.

She understands how important it is for women to be financially independent and how their financial well-being impacts not only their personal life but their professional life too. Never shy about sharing her own experiences and financial tendencies (she’s a shopper), Hannah is able to communicate financial matters in a way few other speakers can – combining expertise and depth of experience with humour and relatability to show her audience just what they’re capable of achieving.

Mihi Whakatau

Cheryl Mikaere 
Northern Region Manager Māori Partnerships

She / Her

Cheryle Mikaere joined the Department of Corrections in 1989 as frontline prison officer and progressed through the ranks to Prison Director at Auckland Region Womens’ Corrections Facility (2013 to 2018).  

As Principal Strategy Adviser Cheryle had an exciting opportunity (“outside the wire”) to engage with community providers and other agencies to achieve better outcomes for Māori.  More specifically with rangatahi and wāhine.

Another career opportunity in 2019 saw Cheryle accept the role as Northern Region Manager Māori Partnerships.  This role encompasses relationships and partnerships with numerous stakeholders starting from those in our care and extending to their whānau and their community.

It is vital to involve whānau, hapū and iwi – their success is our success. 

MC

Michele A'Court
MC and Comedienne

She / Her

Winner of “Comedienne of the Decade” at the 2010 NZ Comedy Awards, Michèle A’Court is a stand-up comedian, writer and bestselling author.She has been on New Zealand TV screens since 1987 and still turns up all over the place. She talks a lot – sometimes on radio and TV, sometimes in pubs and clubs – and works the comedy circuit in places like San Francisco, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Brisbane, Adelaide, Auckland and Mangawhai.Michèle has authored two books, and has been writing a weekly opinion column since 2008, initially with the Press and Stuff, and now for the iconic NZ Woman’s Weekly. She is also in demand as a social commentator on television and radio. She likes to say she has a “portfolio career” which includes work as a corporate MC and entertainer, an actor, voice artist, podcaster and freelance feature writer.