CONGRESS SPEAKERS
7th - 11th September 2020
PAM FORD
GM Economic Development, ATEED
One of New Zealand’s foremost economic development leaders, Pam is committed to using her knowledge, experience, intuition and influence to build inclusive prosperity.
As GM of Economic Development at ATEED, the region’s economic development agency, she leads international business and investment attraction, innovation, business growth, and sector and skills development. She is also the newly-appointed chair of the national professional body, Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ). A skilled, influential and authentic networker, Pam is one of those people who seems to know everyone, and is universally respected. She is a strong advocate of inclusive economic development and champions New Zealand's cultural diversity as one of our best features as a region and a nation.
BENJE PATTERSON - ECONOMIST AND STORY TELLER
Benje Patterson Ltd.
Benje Patterson helps organisations understand what makes regions tick. He works with staff and leaders to empower better decision-making in regional New Zealand.Benje is not your run-of-the-mill economist. He cuts to the chase without the jargon. He is fiercely independent and speaks his mind.Use Benje as a sounding board for your next policy or business decision. Bring him in to work together with your team or present his findings in engaging workshops and concise reports.
BRAD OLSEN
Economist - Infometrics
Brad is a Senior Economist at Infometrics and a leading economic commentator across New Zealand who focuses on getting useful information to businesses, decision makers, and the public. At present, he is focused on the economic effects of COVID-19 and the reimagination of the New Zealand economy, as jobs are lost, business practices change, and a “new” normal emerges.
SHAMUBEEL EAQUB
Sense Partners
Shamubeel Eaqub is an experienced economist who makes economics easy. He is also an author, media commentator and a thought leading public speaker.
He has over a decade of experience as an economist in Wellington, Melbourne and Auckland in leading international banks and consultancy.
He is on various boards of charities and commercial firms. He writes books in his own time on issues that matter to New Zealand and gives voice to the unheard.
Shamubeel lives in Auckland with his wife and son. He grew up in Canterbury and holds a BCom with Honours in Economics from Lincoln University.
JUSTINE GILLILAND
CE Venture Taranaki
Justine is the chief executive of Venture Taranaki, and is on the boards of Economic Development New Zealand and AGMARDT (Agricultural Marketing, Research and Development Trust). Prior to joining Venture Taranaki, she was Deputy Director-General, Sector Partnerships and Programmes, at the Ministry for Primary Industries.
She has held a number of other senior management roles across the public service in innovation, strategy, communications, policy and operations, including as Executive Director of the Royal commission of inquiry into the Canterbury earthquakes’ building failures. She resides in Taranaki with her young family.
DR GANESH NANA
Research Director - BERL
Ganesh is a first generation New Zealander, born, bred and educated in Wellington. His interest in economics was originally founded on his fundamental love of numbers, which in turn derives from his passion for cricket. However, his lack of talent (which he puts down to his poor eyesight) cruelly cut short his stellar cricket career that prematurely peaked with a top score of 17 runs and best bowling figures of one for 35 off two overs. And so economics developed as his third love.
OUR MC
Patrick McVeigh
Patrick has more than 25 years’ experience working across the public and private sectors in strategy development, policy formulation, research and evaluation, scenario planning and visioning. He has delivered a broad range of projects in a variety of subject areas and locations, bringing high-level political understanding and finesse. Patrick is a hands-on practitioner who focuses on the client’s needs.
Patrick’s strong consultancy background is based on eight years’ experience in public policy and economic development roles in London, where he worked with clients in local, regional and central government.
Before joining us at MartinJenkins, Patrick spent five years at ATEED (Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development), where he led the organisation’s business, innovation and skills activities as well as the wider economic insight and analysis programme.
CAROLYN TREMAIN
CE, MBIE
Carolyn has over 20 years' experience leading large, complex service delivery organisations, and substantial change management programmes.
Carolyn joined us from the NZ Customs Service, where she was the Chief Executive and Comptroller.
As well as her Chief Executive responsibilities, Carolyn is Chair of the Public Sector Auckland Career Board, and a member of the Victoria University of Wellington Business School Advisory Board.
DAVID PERKS
Chair or Regional Tourism NZ
General Manager, WellingtonNZ
David's experience in the tourism sector in New Zealand spans over 20 years.
Following a decade with Millennium Hotels in metropolitan and provincial destinations, David led Positively Wellington Tourism and when WellingtonNZ was formed as the capital’s EDA he became General Manager – Regional Development, Destination & Attraction.
David lead the tourism, business events and i-SITE teams at as well as work developing a regional destination plan and the Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre. Being responsible for the workforce and business growth team has enabled tourism to be at the heart of economic development activity.
David has been a Trustee of RTNZ for ten years and previously sat on the board of TIA, CINZ and i-SITE NZ representing the voice of local government. He is passionate about creating the optimum environment for the development of a sustainable tourism sector that benefits every community.
IFOR FFOWCS-WILLIAMS
CEO of Cluster Navigators
for Ffowcs-Williams is the CEO and founder of Cluster Navigators.
Prior to establishing Cluster Navigators in 1997 Ifor was the General Manager, Strategic Development Unit of Trade NZ. Under the umbrella theme of "Cooperating to Compete" Ifor introduced the Joint Action Group (JAG) and the Hard Business Network (HBN) Programmes and the New Zealand cluster development initiative.
PROFESSOR SHAUN HENDY
Professor of Physics, Uni of Auckland
Shaun is Director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence focussed on the study of complex systems and networks.
He grew up in Palmerston North and received a Bachelors degree from Massey University and a PhD from the University of Alberta, Canada.
He has been awarded a New Zealand Science and Technology Post-doctoral Fellowship, which he took up at Industrial Research Ltd in Wellington
Shaun has won numerous awards, including the Prime Minister's Science Media Communication Prize and ANZIAM's E. O. Tuck Medal. He is a member of the RSA and currently serves as a professor of physics here at the University of Auckland.
CE of Poutama Trust
Richard has been leading Poutama for over 20 years. While he is involved in the strategic development of the Trust’s services, he also takes a hands-on role in working with Māori businesses on a regular basis. Richard hovers all over Aotearoa and handles Poutama’s international services. He has a particular focus on collaboration among Māori businesses and drives Poutama’s project activity.
Jason Krupp
Deputy CE, Advocacy. We are. LGNZ
Jason leads the advocacy, policy, communications and stakeholder functions as its Deputy Chief Executive Advocacy. He is a policy, media and advocacy professional, with two decades of experience in business and financial reporting, public policy and corporate communications. He has worked in South Africa, Hong Kong and for the last nine years New Zealand, and is an avid mountain biker.
Joseph Stuart
GM Business Innovation and Growth
Joseph oversees the Business Development Strategy for Northland Inc, which incorporates the Regional Business Partnership with NZTE and Callaghan Innovation. His specialist areas are high value manufacturing and growth, capital raising, exporting and technology innovation.
Dr Jason Mika
Indigenous Entrepreneurship Researcher
Dr Mika is Senior lecturer in the School of Management and codirector of Te Au Rangahau alongside founding director Dr Farah Palmer. Research and consultancy interests are indigenous entrepreneurship, innovation, management and organisations.
Jayne Russell
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GM Employment Services, MSD
In September 2017 Jayne took up a new role within the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) as the Group General Manager Client Experience and Service Design.
The new business unit of Client Experience and Service Design is responsible for ensuring the voice of the client is embedded in the way we design, develop and deliver services to New Zealanders. Never satisfied with the status quo, we are always looking for more effective services and how we can deliver the right services to the right clients at the right time. To do this, we need to harness a wide range of information and evidence to determine which services and programmers work best for which clients..
Pania Tyson-Nathan FSC
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Chief Executive NZ Māori Tourism
NZ Māori Tourism is the national Māori tourism organisation, representing and advocating for more than 200 Māori tourism businesses. With a high degree of knowledge, extensive expertise in the private sector, and a full understanding of the workings of local and central government, Pania has ensured that NZ Māori Tourism has become a key influencer.
Pania’s breadth of experience has provided her with an understanding of the importance of the operational, policy and commercial imperatives required to achieve successful outcomes for Māori tourism. Having owned and operated a number of successful small- and mediumsized hospitality and retail businesses, Pania can clearly see why tourism is a key opportunity for Māori economic growth and the potential in the collaborative development of tourism and international trade.
Ben Wallace
Principal Analyst, MBIE
Research and analysis are a passion of Ben's. He has used these skills to write extensively on the labour market, economics, organisation and society, producing reports and other publications for government agencies, industry training organisations and professional bodies.
Ben is also an experienced manager, managing in small and large organisations - this helps give him an informed perspective on organisational change and the systems that work to help people and organisations realise their potential.
In addition, Ben is a passionate advocate and user of the Internet, developing or contributing to many websites over the years, including the former Labour Market website and Careers NZ websites.
Kylie Ruwhiu-Karawana
Consultant - TRC Tourism
Kylie is an experienced tourism marketing specialist with over 20 years’ working in the tourism sector, in both a public and private capacity. Kylie has an extensive portfolio of knowledge related to international and regional trade marketing, visitor strategy development, event management, stakeholder relationship management and small business management. She has in-depth knowledge of New Zealand and global tourism in general, but she has passion and expertise in values-based tourism, specifically Māori and Indigenous tourism experiences.
Hon. Shane Jones
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Minister for Regional Economic Development
Shane Jones is a List MP based in Kerikeri. He was Ambassador for Pacific Economic Development, with a particular focus on fisheries, agriculture and tourism, given the significance of these resources to enhancing economic development in the region.
Mr Jones was a Member of Parliament from 2005 - 2014. During his nine years in Parliament, Mr Jones held positions that included Minister of Building and Construction, Associate Minister of Immigration, Associate Minister of Trade, Associate Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, and Chair of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee.
Mr Jones has a long history of involvement in the fisheries sector and New Zealand’s Māori fisheries settlement. Mr Jones was Chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana (the Māori Fisheries Commission); Chairperson of Sealord Products Limited, and has held a number of senior positions more broadly in the public and private sector.
Shane Jones was born in Awanui, Northland, New Zealand. His Maori tribal links are to Te Aupouri, Ngai Takoto. He has a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University earned on a Harkness Fellowship.
Tony Henderson-Newport
Chief Kiwi - Pop Up Business School
Kiwi to the bone, Tony spent many years living in the UK before returning to New Zealand in 2014. Tony is an experienced project, programme and portfolio manager.
He works with start-up and stay-ups, and has worked in the IT space in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Europe. Tony has spoken at Westminster through his work with CEO's in the UK and been to an audience at No 10 Downing Street for his work in raising funds for charities in the UK.
Tony founded PopUp Business School Aotearoa in 2017. The PopUp team have now run 17 events in New Zealand, have over 700 graduates in their Alumni program, run a Longitudinal Study to assess graduate business impact on regional growth. PopUp recently introduced an app (www.bizeziapp.com) to support entrepreneurs and business owners globally.
Tony is also an author, poet, and proud dad, passionate about all things Kiwi. Through his various ventures he has been delving into what makes up the Kiwi DNA... in other words, “what makes a Kiwi tick?”
Kylie Hawker-Green
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CEO Enterprise Great Lakes Taupo
Kylie leads the team at Enterprise Great Lake Taupo.
With more than 25 years’ experience in management, economic development, communications, marketing and events, she is well known in the Taupo business community through her business, PR Plus, and the many and varied community groups and businesses she's been involved with since moving here in 2007.
Kylie holds a number of qualifications and professional memberships, and in 2019 completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in Innovation & Design Thinking.
As well as her role at EGLT, Kylie serves as a Director of Bay Venues Ltd, is Deputy Chair of Northern Districts Cricket Association, and Chair of One Taupo Trust (who present the annual 'Taupo Winter Festival').
In her spare time, she masters the art of falling off her mountain bike on Taupo's great trails, playing cricket with her kids, traveling to new places, adventure racing with a gaggle of girlfriends and enjoying a glass of Riesling.
Michelle Hollands
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Strategic projects and partnership Manager
Michelle moved to Waikato from Christchurch in May 2013 and is currently the Strategic Partnerships and Projects Manager at Te Waka, the Waikato’s Regional Economic Development Agency.
Prior to joining Te Waka Michelle was the General Manager Regional Leadership at Sport Waikato and is a former self-employed strategy and business performance consultant whose 15 year career as a consultant had seen her deliver strategic projects in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors across a variety of industries in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, United States and European markets.
Michelle is a Chartered Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and is the current Board Chair of Northern Districts Cricket, former Board Chair of Badminton New Zealand and an existing Board Member with the Go Waipa Trust.
Hon Todd McClay
National Party Spokesperson for ED
Hon Todd McClay is the Member of Parliament for Rotorua.
He was first elected to Parliament in 2008 after winning the Rotorua seat from the Labour Government with a majority of more than 5,000 votes. Since then he has been re-elected in 2011, 2014 and 2017, where he increased his vote and majority each time.
In 2017 he received the highest vote and majority in the history of the Rotorua seat and is the first MP in 21 years to have been elected for a fourth term as Rotorua’s MP. Mr McClay’s majority is currently 7,901.
Mr McClay was appointed Minister in the fourth and fifth National governments and has held the portfolios of Minister of Trade, of State Owned Enterprises, and of Revenue. He has also been the Associate Minister of Health, of Tourism, of Trade, and of Foreign Affairs.
Since entering Parliament Mr McClay has been the Chairman of the Finance and Expenditure, and Commerce select committees. He has been the Deputy Chairman of Social Services Committee, and a member of the Law and Order, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade committees.
Todd lives in Rotorua with his wife and four children.
Lisa Thompson
General Manager, Customers
Lisa leads NZTE's Customers team and is responsible for NZTE's work with companies and coalitions throughout New Zealand. She has considerable experience in international business and sales.
She joined NZTE in 2016 as a customer manager, working with premium consumer brands. Prior to this, she spent 16 years working for Icebreaker in a number of roles across multiple global markets, including as United States general manager and New Zealand general manager. She also has commercial experience in the media, hospitality and transport sectors.
Her board roles have included the Children's Cancer Association, Portland Outdoor and Athlete Development Commission, Parisian Neckwear and ilabb.
She is a mum to four awesome kids and has a huge affinity for being outside