Panel Presentations

Hearing different perspectives: leadership in action

Another highlight of the conference will be the panel presentations on both days. Local leaders who are approaching their work in new ways and making meaningful progress will share their perspectives. These sessions will give participants the chance to hear how others are navigating challenges, experimenting with different approaches, and shaping change in our communities. Listening to these stories will spark fresh thinking, highlight possibilities, and provide practical insights that participants will be able to adapt in their own mahi. Experiencing innovation and resilience in action will make it tangible, relatable, and energising for everyone.

Panel Presentation Day 1: Sharing Different perspectives

The first day’s panel will shine a light on leaders across diverse sectors who are doing things differently. Rather than presenting a set of instructions, the session will invite participants to listen, reflect, and gather ideas to take back into their own mahi.

Drawing from her experiences in the community, Maria will explore how familiar approaches can be adapted or reimagined to better meet local needs.

Slay will share insights into the mindsets and guiding principles that will help leaders stay grounded when challenges start to accumulate, highlighting resilience and thoughtful decision-making.

Jeremy will illustrate how collaboration and creative thinking can spark unexpected breakthroughs, showing the potential of collective effort to open new possibilities.

Jo will explore how innovation and sustainability can work together, reflecting on how thoughtful risk-taking can remain connected to purpose and long-term aspirations.

Ellie will encourage participants to notice opportunities that might not yet be fully visible, prompting reflection on how looking for what is “beneath the surface” can guide meaningful action.

Participants will leave this session with fresh perspectives, practical ideas, and encouragement from seeing what’s possible when creativity and thoughtful experimentation guide leadership. Most importantly, the session will provide opportunities to make connections with others exploring similar questions and approaches.

Jo Wrigley

Kaiwhakakaha/ CEO of GO ECO

Jo’s role is to strengthen and uplift others by bringing life to collective practice, amplifying the kaupapa and leading with relational integrity. I believe leadership is a relational practice that is grounded in humility, collective care, and courage. I include courage because our political fast-track context requires cultural integrity, ecological responsibility, and intergenerational legacy in every decision we make.

Slay Way

Engagement Lead at Rainbow Hub Waikato

My role is primarily public visibility, collaboration and outreach, with a focus on events, education, and engagement opportunities. My current leadership philosophy is that hauora, wellbeing and kindness come first, and that includes leading by example in these spaces and ensuring our values of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, wairuatanga and kotahitanga are embedded in my leadership style, communication and decision making.

 

Dr Jeremy Mayall

CEO of Creative Waikato

Helping to lead the elevation of creativity, and collaborating to provide opportunities for cultural wellbeing to ensure Waikato thrives with diverse and transformative creative activity. 

Leadership is a creative act. Holding a vision with both the flexibility to respond with curiosity to emerging elements, and the clarity to hold true through uncertain times. It is also helpful to embrace a spirit of play and kindness along the way. 

Maria Bradshaw

Manager at Te Rau Awhina, Tokoroa Womens Refuge

My role is to lead our team to provide responsive, innovative and accessible services to victims of family violence.

I try to practice feminist leadership with a strong focus on leading collaboratively and sharing power not just with team members but with clients and partner agencies. Feminist leadership involves using power and privilege for social and structural change and challenges entrenched ways of leading that rely on hierarchies, positional power and top down leadership.

 

Ellie Wilkinson

CEO at HMS Trust

Based at the Settlement Centre Waikato, HMST was established in 1999 to provide language services to newcomers to Hamilton. Language was identified as a significant barrier to information and services.  With over 25 years of supporting settlement the Trust provides a range of services and events which have an overall positive impact on settlement outcomes for migrant and former refugee communities. 

I get to connect with wonderful people who want to live a good life in New Zealand and take hold of all the opportunities they have.  Like other organisations we are navigating rough waters and as a leader it is important to take the initiative to anticipate and respond to changes rather than just reacting to them, adjust expectations, and lean into key relationships.

Panel Presentation Day 2: Leading through change

The second day panel will take participants into the realities of leading through change, exploring how leaders guide organisations through uncertainty while keeping people, purpose, and values at the centre. This session will focus on navigating pivots, adapting to unexpected circumstances, and maintaining a long-term perspective.

Rangimahora will reflect on a pivotal moment, sharing strategies for keeping teams focused and aligned with purpose during times of uncertainty.

Jennifer will highlight approaches for supporting people through change while keeping the organisation’s intentions and aspirations in focus, demonstrating how empathy and practical direction can work together.

Resilience will take centre stage in Tony’s reflections, framed as an active practice that will shape decision-making and sustain momentum even under pressure.

Garth will explore how challenging situations can lead to creative and unexpected solutions, demonstrating that constraints often spark innovation in surprising ways.

Joanne will share perspectives on maintaining a future-focused approach, emphasising how long-term vision can stay central even when immediate demands require attention.

This panel will leave participants inspired and equipped with practical approaches to apply in their own mahi. The stories will highlight perseverance, adaptability, creativity, and people-centred leadership, while prompting reflection on how each participant will take these insights back to their own context.

Garth Nowland-Foreman

Director, LEAD

I am a part of an amazing team offering training, coaching and consulting with non-profit leaders across Aotearoa and the Pacific, and where I specialise on issues of governance, strategy, outcomes and lobbying. I am continually excited by the difference that small groups of committed people can make in the world; I particularly love the enthusiasm of young people in emerging leadership roles; and I am a believer in Hope - a hope that emerges from a dissatisfaction with the way things are/things should be better (or the alternative is complacency), AND a courageous, even crazy belief that we can make a difference (or the alternative is fatalism). And our role as a sector is to be 'carriers of hope' in & with our communities.

Jennifer Calley

CE of Interactionz

As Chief Executive at Interactionz, I make sure our team and organisation have what they need to succeed, while building connections and collaborating with communities to create meaningful, sustainable change.

Working in the sector right now, I feel driven by both the challenges and the opportunities—working alongside others to make change that’s real, lasting, and led by the community.

 

Joanne Turner

Kaiwhakahaere Matua/CEO of Te Whare Korowai Taangata o Kirikiriroa/ Hamilton Christian Nightshelter Trust

Te Whare Korowai Taangata o Kirikiriroa is a charitable trust in Kirikiriroa Hamilton that provides safe accommodation, advocacy, and wraparound support for people experiencing homelessness. Under Joanne’s leadership, the organisation has expanded from providing an emergency nightshelter to developing a continuum of housing solutions, including 24/7 emergency, and transitional housing, alongside a central hub of wellbeing and social services.

Her philosophy of leadership is grounded in whanaungatanga and collaboration—working alongside others to create change that honours both lived experience and te ao Māori. Working in the sector right now, she feels both urgency and hope.

Rangimahora Reddy

CEO of Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust

 

Tony Marsters

General Manager, Whitianga Community Services Trust

I lead the Whitianga Community Services Trust, overseeing operations, community programmes, and strategic development to meet the needs of our local residents. I believe leadership is about empowering others, fostering trust, and creating a shared sense of purpose. Working in the community sector right now feels more important than ever, as we navigate complex challenges and find innovative ways to support resilience, wellbeing, and connection.