| Speakers Day 1 |
| Esther Abram Esther Abram is Giving Green Manager for the Australian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network (AEGN). She has more than 20 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, and was previously executive officer of Changemakers Australia, where she worked with the Board to pursue a progressive philanthropic agenda and focused on developing resources to inspire and support grantmakers to adopt social change philanthropy practices. She has a long history of working for environment organisations, including spending 4.5 years as director of Environment Victoria. From 2005 to 2010 Esther consulted to a wide range of not-for-profit and government organisations, providing strategic advice, policy and program development on sustainability issues. | |
| Nicki Ashton Nicki Ashton is the Head of Strategic Partnerships for Russell Investments. She is based in Australia and is responsible for building and maintaining strategic relationships for Russell in the institutional market. She is a passionate advocate of social impact investing and of the positive impacts it can have on communities. Previously, Nicki was a Director of Australia’s first clean energy fund and co-founder of Ecofin Australia (formerly known as Change Investment Management) – an environmental business looking at social impact investment. Nicki is active in the not for profit sector and is on the board of Fighting Chance Australia and Cerebral Palsy & Recreation Association. | |
| Moi Becroft Moi Becroft (Ngā Puhi) is Team Leader Māori & Pacific Strategy & Programme at ASB Community Trust. Before joining the Trust Moi worked for the Department of Internal Affairs for 11 years, doing community development work and coordinating Auckland COGS committees. Moi is well networked and known within Auckland’s social service sector; she has a profoundly deaf daughter, which also connects her to the deaf community. | |
| Sara Bennett Dr Sara Bennett is Principal Advisor with the ASB Community Trust’s Centre for Social Impact. She leads the design and delivery of the Centre’s core programmes and co-ordinates the Centre’s team of specialist advisors and associates. Sara is experienced in supporting organisational and strategic development, capability and capacity development, evaluation, mentoring and coaching, and providing research support to a range of health and social sector agencies. Sara works with organisations to strengthen them and support their sustainable growth and development. | |
| Simon Bowden Simon Bowden has been leading the Arts Foundation as Executive Director since 2002. The Arts Foundation is a 100% privately funded patron organisation that gives over $400,000 in awards to artists every year. In 2010 Simon visited the USA on an International Leadership Programme to study philanthropy and the arts. Inspired by what he learnt, he established Boosted, an arts focused crowdfunding website where every donation gets a tax credit. | |
| Mark Brighouse Mark Brighouse is Chief Investment Officer with Fisher Funds. He is responsible for overseeing the investment team and the asset allocation in portfolios. Mark has been working in the investment industry for 26 years, including five years in London. His experience includes global bond portfolio management, asset allocation, currency management, derivative hedging and external manager selection. Mark has a Bachelor of Management Studies with honours for the University of Waikato. He is also a CFA charterholder and has served as president of the CFA Society of New Zealand. | |
| Catherine Cooper Catherine Cooper is Director of The Cube New Zealand a collective impact organisation that brings together organisations and young people to co-create, co-design and co-deliver new ways of working with young people with disabilities throughout New Zealand. She previously worked as Principal Strategic Analyst for I Am Auckland – The Children and Young People’s Strategic Action Plan, which was launched by the Auckland Council in September 2013. The plan drew on the views of 6000 under 25-year-olds to inform and propel major transformational shifts across the Auckland Council. Catherine is passionate about young people, social justice and equity; her previous jobs include working on a needle exchange programme with IV drug users and with young people who are going through palliative care. She also once worked as a stunt woman. | |
| Fiona Cram Dr Fiona Cram is Associate – Māori Development with the ASB Community Trust’s Centre for Social Impact. She leads the delivery of Māori capacity development and evaluation programmes for the Centre. Fiona has tribal connections with Ngāti Pahauwera. She is the Director of Katoa Ltd, a research and evaluation company. She is involved in a wide range of kaupapa Māori research and evaluation with iwi and Māori groups, philanthropic organisations, district health boards, and government agencies. | |
| Louise Edwards Louise Edwards is Chief Executive of the Canterbury Community Trust. She has over 20 years senior executive experience across a number of industries, both in New Zealand and overseas. They include senior executive positions within the New Zealand financial services industry; she is also an experienced leader with a wealth of financial management acumen. Louise has always maintained strong community sector links, volunteering and working for many years across a wide range of NGOs including the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, University of Canterbury Foundation, Christchurch Resettlement Services, Canterbury Earthquake Children’s Trust, Alzheimers Society Wellington and the NZ Council of Victim Support. She became particularly interested in social enterprise given the challenges and opportunities arising in Christchurch following the earthquakes. | |
| Terri Eggleton Terri Eggleton has been Community Development Advisor at BayTrust since 2009. She is responsible for stakeholder engagement, community investment (including granting), projects, policies and research. During her time she has been instrumental in exploring new ways and developing practices to support communities – beyond granting. Terri holds qualifications in business studies, management, accounting and economic Development. Terri was also a trustee of BayTrust from 2000to 2008, and holds other governance positions in the social service, education and conservation sectors. | |
| Candy Elsemore Candy Elsemore is Project Director for the Arts Regional Trust Te Taumata Toi-a-iwi, an innovative investor in Auckland’s creative sector through a range of programmes that accelerate development and capability building. She has over 20 years’ experience as a senior manager in Auckland's creative and cultural sector. Candy previously worked as the Director of Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, where she fundraised for and managed a million dollar building refurbishment project. Prior to that she was the Collection and Public Programmes Manager at MOTAT (Auckland’s Museum of Transport & Technology), and the Manager of the Mairangi Arts Centre. | |
| Allan English Allan English is a Brisbane-based entrepreneur who founded ASX-listed Company Silver Chef in 1986. In 2010 Allan stepped down as CEO of Silver Chef to set up the English Family Foundation. Allan is an engaging and inspiring speaker who has set himself some “big hairy audacious goals” – including funding 1 million people out of poverty in India by 2020. He admits that the space he works in is not particularly sexy: “I tend to go for the tougher issues in our community, those which sometimes get ignored or put into the too hard basket.” Allan was named the 2014 Australian Philanthropy Leader of the Year. He also serves on a number of not for profit boards. | |
| Rob Fenwick Rob Fenwick is co-founder and director of Living Earth Ltd, an organic waste processing business. He has sat on most sides of philanthropy in the environmental space – he’s been a donor, a recipient and has had numerous governance roles in environmental and conservation organisations. He is currently on the advisory boards of NEXT Foundation, Westpac and Air New Zealand. He is chair of Antarctica NZ, Kiwis for Kiwi, Predator Free NZ and the Waste Advisory Board, and the former chair of the Antarctic Heritage Trust. In 2001 Rob and his family gave land on Waiheke Island to Auckland Council for a 5km public walkway through native forest; the land is vested in the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. In 2008 he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the environment. | |
| Kate Frykberg Kate Frykberg is chair of Philanthropy New Zealand, chair of the Thinktank Charitable Trust and until recently was Executive Director of Todd Foundation. Kate, now an independent community and philanthropy consultant, is active both personally and professionally in philanthropy. Her background includes information technology and entrepreneurship, with Thinktank Charitable Trust established after the sale of the Internet development company she and her husband co-founded. Kate is a recipient of the NZ Order of Merit and is a former ASB Business Woman of the Year. | |
| Catherine George Catherine George is a Senior Grants Advisor at the ASB Community Trust, and has worked in grantmaking for more than 20 years. Catherine led the ASB Community Trust Emerging Artists Pilot, an innovative programme which explored, demonstrated and evaluated new ways the philanthropic sector can support emerging artists. A passionate advocate for the development of the arts in Auckland and Northland, Catherine has a particular interest in seeing young people participate in and experience the arts. She has had extensive involvement with children’s and youth theatre, and is on the Board of the National Youth Theatre Company and Auckland Fringe Festival Trust. | |
| Ross George Ross George is a founding director of Direct Capital and has been in the private company investment industry since 1985. He established Direct Capital in 1994 following his return from Hong Kong where he had been a director and shareholder of a locally based private equity firm. Ross leads Direct Capital’s investment activities as well as having primary responsibility for developing and managing the firm's Limited Partner relationships. He has been the firm';s director representative on a number of portfolio companies and is currently a director of Bayley Real Estate and Cavalier Wool Scours. Since its establishment Direct Capital has raised more than $800m and invested in 69 private companies to fund growth, acquisition and succession initiatives. Its current active funds, Direct Capital III and Direct Capital IV, have invested in 19 portfolio companies that have aggregate annual revenues of $1.5 billion and employ more than 4,500 staff. | |
| Liz Gibbs Liz Gibbs joined Philanthropy New Zealand as Chief Executive in January 2013. She was previously chief executive at Save the Children New Zealand where she led a significant expansion of services, revenue and profitability. She also chaired the Every Child Counts Coalition, a group of child-focused organisations including Plunket, Barnardos, UNICEF and Ririki; she is currently a member of the UNICEF board. Liz has wide-ranging experience in corporate marketing, fundraising, advocacy and government relations, as well as a keen interest in social enterprise and social finance. Her interests include competing “rather too slowly for my liking” in duathalons. | |
| Elsa Goldberg Elsa Goldberg is a vice president and senior product manager responsible for Global Fixed Income strategies at Franklin Templeton Investments. She is based in California. Elsa has over 17 years of experience in the investment industry. Prior to joining the Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group in 2007, she worked at BNP Paribas Asset Management in Paris, France where she served as a senior product manager responsible for international equity products. Ms. Goldberg began her career at Exane BNP Paribas, Paris in 1996 as an equity sell-side analyst covering the insurance and banking sector. She also worked as a credit analyst for BNP Paribas in Athens, Greece. Elsa is a certified European Financial Analyst and she holds NASD Series 7 and Series 66 licenses. | |
| Bevan Graham Bevan Graham is chief economist with AMP New Zealand. Prior to taking up this job in 2011 he was chief economist at AXA Global Investors. Bevan has held a number of senior economist positions across both the private and public sectors. He began his career in financial markets at ANZ Bank before moving to Westpac where he was chief economist from 1994 to 2000. In 2000 he became chief economic advisor to the Leader of the Opposition, a position he held until the end of 2002. Following a period back in financial markets as Head of Client Relations at Alliance Capital Management, Bevan became Chief Executive at the Economic Development Association of New Zealand (EDANZ), a position he held until his move to AXA Global Investors in 2008. | |
| Trevor Gray Trevor Gray is Special Projects Manager for the Tindall Foundation. He previously spent 12 years as manager of the Foundation; he stepped down from that role in March 2014. Trevor’s background includes time spent in education, agriculture, community enterprise and community development, mostly in the very far north of New Zealand where he lived with his family for more than 30 years. This experience has helped inform his work at the Tindall Foundation, which operates across the full spectrum of philanthropy, from ‘altruistic’ giving for people in need, through capacity-building and empowerment, to systems change and social entrepreneurism. | |
| Tony Hildyard Tony Hildyard is a PIMCO consultant responsible for developing new business opportunities and servicing existing clients in New Zealand. He is based in Wellington. Prior to joining PIMCO as a consultant in 2008, Tony spent 20 years with TOWER Asset Management, where his positions included portfolio manager, CIO and head of fixed interest, and CEO of investment businesses encompassing wholesale asset management, managed funds, superannuation and platforms. Prior to joining TOWER, Tony worked in commercial banking, investment banking and brokering. He has also served on the board of the Investment Savings and Insurance Association of New Zealand and as chairman of their Superannuation Committee. | |
| Iain Hines Iain Hines has been the Executive Director of the J R McKenzie Trust for more years than you need to know. Prior to that he was a social worker, and manager of a community organisation working in the mental health field. He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2002 to study aspects of philanthropy. He is on the Ngāi Tahu Fund Committee, and was a Board member of Philanthropy New Zealand for 10 years. Iain strongly supports the J R McKenzie Trust’s vision of ‘a socially just and inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand’, and is both curious and determined about how philanthropy can help achieve that. | |
| Mae Hong (Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, US) Mae Hong is a director at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. She is based in Chicago and is responsible for building RPA’s presence in serving individual donors, foundations and corporations throughout the Midwest. She was previously programme director at the Field Foundation of Illinois. Her funding expertise includes children, youth and families; poverty alleviation; women and girls' issues; and advocacy. She has also been actively involved in RPA’s leadership on the issue of diversity in philanthropy. She currently serves on the board of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, the Illinois Humanities Council, and the Daystar Center. | |
| Ovidio Iglesias Ovidio Iglesias is a founding partner of Continuity Capital Partners, an investment management and advisory firm specialising in private markets. He has worked in private capital markets in Asia for more than 15 years. His clients/investors include New Zealand and Australian foundations and charitable trusts. Ovidio began working in private capital markets in the early 1990’s at Commonwealth Funds Management, researching and advising on investment portfolios for Australian superannuation funds. In 1995 he moved to Total Risk Management (Towers Perrin) advising clients on global asset allocation between public and private capital markets. Before founding Continuity Capital Partners in 2010, Ovidio spent 10 years at Wilshire Associates Incorporated, where he eventually led the firm’s Asia-Pacific operations and served as a member of the global investment committee. He led a local investment team which committed more than $3.0 billion to private equity investments creating one of the leading fund-of-funds in Asia. | |
| Louise Marra Louise Marra is Leadership Advisor with the ASB Community Trust’s Centre for Social Impact. She has many years experience of working both in leadership and on leadership in all three sectors – not-for-profit, government and the private sector. Louise has capabilities in strategy development, social innovation and innovative thinking, general leadership development, executive coaching and mentoring, and creating coaching cultures. | |
| Donna Matahaere-Atariki Donna Matahaere-Atariki (Ngāi Tahu, Taranaki) is chair of the Otakou Runanga on the Otago Peninsula and director of Arai Te Uru Whare Hauora, a community-based provider of health and social services. Donna has a long and varied career in health and social development. She is a Trustee of the Southern PHO, Deputy Chair of the NGO Council to the Ministry of Health and a member of the National Taskforce for Family Violence. Donna has more recently been appointed a Gambling Commissioner. She is a passionate advocate of the right to health, particularly on behalf of those most vulnerable within our society. She has spent time working in the public sector and also for the Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu as CEO of He Oranga Pounamu where she was responsible for co-ordinating health and social services. She is a ministerial appointment to the University of Otago Council for a second term having also served on the council at Canterbury University. | |
| Kate McKegg Kate McKegg is one of four evaluation consultants who work for the Kinnect Group in Auckland. She has specialist skills in policy and programme evaluation, evaluation capacity building, research, teaching, training and facilitation. Over the last 15 years Kate has applied these skills in many sectors, including education, health, social development, Māori development, sport, broadcasting, employment and housing. Her work spans a wide range of roles: mentoring and training staff to conduct research and evaluation; delivering evaluation training and workshops to policy and community organisations; developing evaluative systems and frameworks. She is also highly skilled at facilitating strategic capacity building to monitor and evaluate organisational performance and outcomes. | |
| Rebecca Mills Rebecca Mills is founder and strategist at Rebecca Mills and Co. She builds strategies that create a brighter future for the wellbeing of people and the planet. A systems thinker and scientist she finds leverage points which, when activated, result in high impact, transformative and scalable models for individuals, business, cities and entire countries. Rebecca is an expert at using a regenerative lens with the established outcome of competitive advantage. In December 2011 she dedicated two years of her life to working as a senior strategist alongside Sir Richard Branson, Jochen Zeitz and many other global leaders, creating what is now known as The B Team. | |
| Nigel Parker Nigel Parker the director of the developer experience (DX) team at Microsoft New Zealand. He believes that technology should complement and not be a hindrance to human interaction. Nigel has years of experience working with New Zealand media companies, top websites and start-up’s to implement cutting-edge video, PaaS and mobility solutions. He is motivated by big ideas and smart, unconventional execution and challenges himself and others to fail fast and drive forward innovation. Nigel has numerous successful “start-ups” under his belt. He took some risks and broke some new ground during the first “.com” bubble and was one of the few that despite losing money didn’t lose heart for the unrealized potential of the tech industry. | |
| Max Rashbrooke Max Rashbrooke is a Wellington journalist and author. He has written for national newspapers and magazines in New Zealand and the UK, including The Guardian, the New Zealand Herald and The Listener. He was the 2011 recipient of the Bruce Jesson Journalism Award. Max is the editor and co-author of Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, which looks at the rising gap between New Zealand’s rich and poor. The book, published in 2013, received widespread media coverage and generated a lot of discussion about income inequality. The first two chapters of the book were rewritten to produce ‘The Inequality Debate: an Introduction‘, a short guide to income inequality in New Zealand published in March 2014. | |
| Justin Rockefeller Justin Rockefeller is a New York City-based entrepreneur and impact investor. He runs special relations at Addepar, a Silicon Valley-based technology company that provides investment professionals with the tools required to manage complex global portfolios. He is also co-founder of TheImPact.org, an organisation inspired by The Giving Pledge whose mission is to increase the probability and pace of solving social problems by improving the flow of capital to businesses creating measurable social impact. Justin serves on the board and the Investment Committee of Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and on the boards of Japan Society and The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art. | |
| Sita Selupe Sita Selupe is CEO and co-founder of The Rise UP Trust which was established in 2006 as a Saturday morning home school. In 2009 the Trust was given a five-year grant by the ASBCT’s Maori and Pacific Education Initiative for the ‘Building Learning Communities’ project. The Trust has now worked with over 200 whānau across South Auckland, setting their children up for success in learning. In February 2014 the Trust opened the Rise Up Academy, New Zealand’s first primary-level partnership school (kura hourua,) in Mangere East. With support from the ASBCT and Kinnect, Rise UP Trust have worked hard to ensure strong evaluation practises are embedded into their organisation. This means they can effectively ‘know and show’ outcomes, and develop successful sustainability plans. Sita was named the 2014 NEXT Woman of the Year for her contribution to education. | |
| Sam Snedden Sam Snedden is co-general manager of Basement Theatre in Auckland. He graduated from Toi Whakaari in 2006, and since then has worked consistently as an actor, director and producer. Since joining The Basement team he has worked as the bar manager, cleaner, venue manager and even spent a brief stint as the house technician. He is responsible for writing funding proposals that have brought nearly a million dollars in historic and committed funding to the organisation. | |
| Tā Mark Solomon (Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu) Tā Mark Solomon (Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Kurā) has been Kaiwhakahaere of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu since 1998. He is a strong advocate for the Māori economy and was instrumental in setting up the Iwi Chairs Forum in 2005. Tā Mark believes a true rangatira is a servant of the people. He is especially proud of his tribe’s achievements in education and in the development of the iwi savings scheme, Whai Rawa, which encourages iwi members to save for their future. He is a committed advocate of the sanctity of whānau and he takes a strong stance against whānau violence. He is passionate about his people and is determined to facilitate both iwi and wider Māori success, by unlocking the potential of the Māori economy for the good of all. | |
| Elise Sterback Elise Sterback is co-general manager: community and marketing at the Basement Theatre in Auckland. She recently completed the development of a creative ecology model for Auckland as part of a research project by local advocacy group – Creative Coalition. In the past, she has worked closely with local government and arts organisations to develop community arts strategies and engagement plans. As part of her own creative practice, Elise designs immersive experiences inspired by the 1960s Fluxus movement of instructional performance art – some of which have appeared at Splore Festival and We Can Create. | |
| Annah Stretton Annah Stretton is the founder of the Annah Stretton fashion label and is a successful New Zealand entrepreneur, author and speaker. With an online following of over 210,000, over 30 retail stores, three books and a strong business leadership programme under her belt, Annah frequently appears in the media and on stage discussing everything from entrepreneurialism, living fearlessly, females in the work force, through to her philanthropic efforts which provide substantial support to a wide range of charitable groups and organisations across New Zealand. They include RAW, her newest initiative, working with women and domestic violence. In September 2013 Annah released her third book, Rock the Boat. She has also been the recipient of the coveted Veuve Clicquot Award and has an Order of Merit for services to fashion, business and community. | |
| Alison Taylor Dr Alison Tayor is head of the ASB Community Trust’s Centre for Social Impact. She was appointed to head the Centre after joining the Trust to lead the development of its high- engagement funding programmes and capacity-support programme. The Centre was founded to support innovative responses to complex social issues and to work collaboratively with community organisations to support the design and development of effective social change programmes. Alison is also a Trustee of the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation and has held a number of senior public health and social sector leadership roles in the UK and New Zealand. | |
| Dave Turner Dave Turner is an Australian-based independent consultant with 30 years’ experience in youth employment and careers education. In 2001, Dave developed the Four Pillars of Career and Transition Support concept for the British Government’s Connexions Program. This has provided a backdrop for his work in both Britain and Australia since then. More recently Dave helped develop and introduce the UK Work Inspiration initiative in Australia. The initiative is a work exposure project that has been led and resourced by employers (alone, or in a cluster) in order to re-imagine work experience in Years 9 and 10. At the heart of Dave’s work lies a commitment to the importance of employer-education collaboration, and a belief in the vital role that young people can play through peer support in meeting the challenges facing teenagers. | |
| Elisabeth Vaneveld Elisabeth has extensive experience as a strategist, project leader and process facilitator in the creative, community and public sectors in New Zealand and Australia. She is the Executive Director of The Big Idea Te Aria Nui Trust; Programme Director: ART Venture (a unique acceleration programme for creative entrepreneurs); and Senior Project Leader: TBI Assist (which is the professional services arm of The Big Idea Trust). She is also a founding member of the Board of Directors, Q Theatre Ltd. | |
| Antony Welton Antony Welton is director of HR at Vodafone New Zealand and chair of the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation. He trained as an occupational psychologist and has worked in HR, strategy and marketing with Vodafone in the UK, Japan, India and New Zealand. For Antony, being involved with the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation is a chance to work with an inspiring group of people who are passionate about supporting the community, with a strong focus on youth development: “Who wouldn’t be motivated to become part of this group of amazing people?” he asks. | |
