Theme: Connection

TEDxNelson's second event will bring together 12 speakers around the theme of Connection.

Annesbrook Events Centre
40 Saxton Road
Stoke
Nelson, Nelson City, 7011
New Zealand

Chris Rodley

Founder and CEO

Chris is the Founder and CEO of Snap Information Technologies Ltd (SnapIT) and chairman of Teem Fish Monitoring Inc. He has been designing and developing camera hardware, communication and AI systems for the past 15 years. The Teem Fish Monitoring marine systems have been specifically created for data collection in harsh fisheries environments. SnapIT's AI infrastructure technology in the food industry and on fishing vessel's allows for classification and data extraction that can begin before the video and data leaves the vessel. SnapIT focus on providing value to fishers and farmers by making data available for business intelligence, marketing as well as compliance purposes.

Dawn Marron

Certified Eating Disorder Recovery Coach and Counsellor

Dawn Marron is a Certified Eating Disorder Recovery Coach and Counsellor. She is also trauma-informed and trained in Somatic Experiencing and Polyvagal Theory, IFS Internal Family Systems and Equine Assisted Therapy. Dawn has lived experience of anorexia and knows how destructive and consuming it can be. Being completely anorexia-free for more than a decade now, Dawn dedicates most of her professional life to working alongside others journeying with anorexia and bulimia. Horses were pivotal in Dawn’s recovery and she's on a mission to open more minds and hearts to this amazing form of healing. Having lived experience gives Dawn a different outlook on things and an insider's edge. She doesn’t pretend to know exactly what is going on for others, but she does have an understanding of what is likely to be happening in there. Surprisingly, the horses do too.

DK .

Creative Producer + Speaker Coach

DK https://justadandak.com is a Creative Producer who 'crafts delicious learning experiences' online, in-studio or in-person. He spent nearly a decade as the TEDxWellington / TEDxWellingtonWomen licensee plus founder of the unique video podcast Creative Welly https://www.creativewelly.com and the annual Creative Leadership NZ conference https://www.creativeleadership.nz. He’s also a Speaker Coach, working with CEO’s and senior executives plus a random ex-All Black and Dame thrown into the mix plus delivers internal masterclasses on the topics of 'purposeful storytelling' to leadership groups. He has spoken on five continents to audiences large & small, and is driven to enable people find and have voice.

Gael Gordon

Social Alchemist + Conscious Change Maker + Transformational Leadership

Gael is a lover of life and one that says ‘Yes’ to opportunities without knowing the outcomes or what it entails. All of her most memorable experiences have happened this way and enabling others to see their greater potential is what lights her up. In her professional life, she’s bounced around a lot – her parents used to say she was “flakey”. Today, it is that background that enables her to comfortably work with people across any race, gender, age, culture, position or title. From managing multi-million dollar companies, developing business throughout the Pacific Islands, packing apples in Motueka, selling starch, setting up a business in an industry she knew nothing about, or trapping rats on Stewart Island, Gael has always stuck to her strong belief that treating all people with dignity and respect (even if you don’t like them) is the key to thriving – in life and in business.

Jo Blundell

CEO and Founder

Jo Blundell, CEO of CarbonCrop, is an entrepreneur and business leader with decades of experience creating brands and products before taking them to market globally. Jo launched New Zealand’s first ecommerce platform, created for ethically and sustainably minded consumers in 2008, before stepping into product and revenue leadership roles for high-growth B2B SaaS businesses. As CEO of CarbonCrop, Jo and the team use remote sensing, AI, automation to measure the carbon stock and carbon sequestration of forests. This helps the landholders access financial incentives that enable forest restoration and carbon removals. It also offers businesses and individuals carbon removal offsets that support biodiversity. Their collective mission is to suck a billion tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere and lock it up in trees, improving climate resilience and biodiversity.

Kylie Matthews

Co-founder and COO + Social worker

Kylie is the co-founder and COO of AWWA. She is the driving force of AWWA’s sustainability transparency, and working toward getting AWWA B-corp certified. A qualified social worker, Kylie is passionate about helping others bring about positive change in their lives. She’s worked primarily with young offenders and their whānau so have seen first hand the impact that poverty, and period poverty, can have on young people and their ability to effectively engage in education or work. A single mother of three Kylie has worked hard to transform her outlook and redefine what success looks like for her and is proof that a purpose driven outlook can bring you true happiness. Kylie is passionate about helping others bring about transformational change, and live a life they have designed. In her spare time you will find Kylie out running, or connecting with nature in and around Waiharakeke.

Lisa Lawrence

Community Development

Born in Otautahi, Lisa Lawrence (Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu) is the Immediate Past National President for NCW-New Zealand. Founded by Kate Sheppard, NCWNZ is an umbrella organisation leading the new Gender Equal NZ conversation campaign. Lisa’s previous career has involved working for an iwi based health and social service, NZ College of Midwives, St John, NZ Family Planning and a governor of Nelson Bays Primary Health. She is currently the Kaiwhakahaere (Manager) of the Motueka Family Service Centre, a core stakeholder of three reducing family violence community networks, Pharmac and Deputy Chair of the NZ Psychology Board. Lisa believes in helping people to help themselves. This ethic has shaped her career & understanding that relationships are a key component to enabling positive community-led change. Her current conversations of interest are Māori, and men. Both marginalised, stereotyped populations & sadly, expected to fail.

Lucy Summerfield

Singer and Songwriter + Student

Lucy is an award winning singer/songwriter who uses both English and Te reo māori in her music. She’s 17 years old, a Head Student at Motueka High School and the recent recipient of the Young Totara award. She is also a member of the Project Janszoon board. During her time at Motueka High School she has pursued te reo māori, she is a member of her school's Kapa haka group and a tuakana (leadership/pastoral care role) in the whānau form class. As a pākeha Lucy strives to embody Te Tiriti o Waitangi in all that she does but acknowledges that working in bi-cultural spaces is something that’s hard to get right. She believes that partnership comes from connection and connection comes from understanding. When Lucy’s not busy studying for calculus, she likes to spend her time writing music, cooking and getting outdoors.

Melissa Muirhead

Founder + Executive Coach

Melissa Muirhead is a recently returned kiwi who left Amsterdam where she was a Global HR executive. Overseeing people capability in 80 countries, led Melissa to explore her obsessions with growth mindset and design thinking, while being deeply involved with global people strategy and culture transformation. She has an absolute belief that investing in people is what makes the difference, as we continue to navigate in an uncertain and fast changing world. Melissa has over 20 years in HR roles both in New Zealand and abroad and works with leaders and organisations around the world. Her return to Aotearoa New Zealand has led to the formation of The Great Work Lab, which is around re-imaging work and designing organisations for performance through culture and leadership.

Nate Wilbourne

Environmentalist

Nate Wilbourne is a 14-year-old environmentalist from Nelson, NZ. By harnessing his passion to create change, he is inspiring and involving young people to protect planet earth and do their part to reverse the crisis facing nature in New Zealand. Through his involvement in conservation, Nate is nationally recognized by several environmental organisations and charities. He believes that by connecting youth to nature through education and inspiration, we can change the world. As young people are spending more time indoors and less time outdoors, youth need to be at the centre of decision-making tables to ensure that their voices are heard in the decisions that will affect our future. Sharing his personal experience and affirmation on statistics and reports, he shows us what it’s like to be in the shoes of a high-school student, and the importance of environmental education.

Tina Manker

Performance Life Coach + Teacher + Athlete

Tina is a coach, a teacher, an Olympian, a world champion. She is also a daughter, sister, aunt, a friend, and a colleague. Her favourite colour is blue, she likes chocolate, herbal tea and jumping in the sea. Tina has been an athlete for twelve years, worked as an English Teacher for seven, and is now back working in High Performance Sport supporting New Zealand’s athletes as a Performance Life coach. During her time as a teacher, Tina and a group of like-minded friends created Through the Blue Charitable Trust and collaborated with Victoria University's Youth Wellbeing Study to develop professional training and resources on emotions and emotional regulation. She's since used these skills to support teachers, students, coaches and athletes to be more connected with themselves and with each other.

Zafir Ivanov

Researcher

Zafir has been interested in belief formation and how we think about evidence for as long as he can remember. Recently he has been focusing his research on how we respond to counterevidence. He writes articles explaining some of the concepts relating to the ‘Bayesian Brain Hypothesis’ and its implications for how we think about evidence for and against contentious issues. These articles are informed by recent research in neuroscience and cognitive psychology. He has collaborated with the Cognitive Immunology Research Initiative on a model to help people respond appropriately to counter evidence.