The Corporate Health and Wellbeing Summit attracts a fantastic mix of inspirational speakers and successful case study speakers. The 2023 summit will build upon this tradition, with an agenda packed full of exceptional speakers.
Amanda is fascinated by the “why” of human behaviour. In her role leading the research programme at Umbrella Wellbeing, Amanda draws on her experience to generate reports and journal articles on workplace wellbeing and uphold scientific rigour across Umbrella’s services. Her work supports diverse workplaces around Aotearoa to strengthen employee mental health and wellbeing using evidence-based strategies.
As a thought leader in the field of behaviour change and wellbeing, Amanda is a regular contributor to media publications, including The Guardian, sharing her research-backed commentaries on both individual and organisational wellbeing. Her passion is in translating research into practical strategies for change and she is dedicated to expanding our collective knowledge about “what works” when it comes to behaviour change and workplace wellbeing.
Amanda graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a PhD in Psychology, along with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours). She also holds a Diploma in Positive Psychology and Wellbeing. Her doctoral research, for which she received a Fulbright award, examined drivers of behaviour change, the core principles of which she now applies to her work with organisational wellbeing.
David Knoff is an Antarctic Expedition Leader, Author, and leadership expert who specialises in remote leadership, hostile environment diplomacy, and resilience.
David’s international career has taken him across the globe with experiences as an officer in the Australian Army, diplomatic postings in Pakistan and Iraq, and most recently with the Australian Antarctic Program. In 2019, David was given a leadership challenge unlike no other in modern history, as the Station Leader at Davis Station, Antarctica, he was leading a team of just 24 through the isolation of an Antarctic winter when the COVID-19 Pandemic broke out.
The impact of the pandemic on Antarctic operations saw David’s team without a ride home as planned and facing one of the longest periods of isolation in modern Antarctic History. Returning to a changed world in mid-2021, David’s book, 537 Days of Winter: Resilience, Endurance and Humanity while stranded in Antarctica during the Pandemic tells the story of what it was like to lead a team through unprecedented uncertainty and how to find resilience in the most extreme environments.
David’s experiences in high-pressure and remote environments has given him a depth of experience from which he has developed his own unique leadership style and enjoys working with organisations seeking to rebuild workplace culture and adapt to the rapid changes of the last few years.
Dr Denise Quinlan is acknowledged internationally as a world-class trainer and facilitator. A global thought leader in wellbeing and resilience, Dr Quinlan synthesises deep insights from her multi-disciplinary background to develop integrative approaches that address the urgent issues facing the contemporary worlds of work, family and sustainability.
Co-founder of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the University of Canterbury, Denise regularly presents at global conferences, creates and teaches online courses, and authors books – all part of her mission to help more people live more satisfying lives. Denise’s work is delivered with her characteristic Irish humour, guaranteeing you will laugh while you learn, and that your teams will leave with practical steps they can use immediately.
Originally an equity analyst and dealer-broker on the London Stock Exchange, and a consultant with Deloitte and KPMG in Europe and NZ, Denise’s corporate background informs her work with senior executives across the globe, including as an award-winning guest lecturer at globally ranked IE Business School, Madrid.
Denise is the only New Zealand trainer to have worked alongside Prof Martin Seligman and Dr Karen Reivich delivering the Penn Resilience Program in Australia and the UK. Her research is published in international academic journals and numerous edited volumes and her award-winning Podcast, Bringing Wellbeing to Life, shares wellbeing insights from leading researchers and practitioners from around the world.
James Laughlin is a sought-after High Performance Leadership strategist. He has worked with hundreds of high performers to get transformational results in their personal and professional lives.
James has won seven world championship titles as a musician, made world history by leading his underdog kiwi team to world champion victory, hosts global leaders in his sold out high performance leadership programme and is the mental skills coach for Canterbury Rugby.
James is the founder and host of the Lead on Purpose podcast where he interviews former world leaders, pro athletes, Fortune 200 CEOs and more. As a speaker James is invited to speak at summits, conferences and events throughout New Zealand and Australia.
James’ day job involves mentoring and coaching CEO’s throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Dr Natalie Flynn is a Senior Clinical Psychologist who has worked in the area of mental health for 27 years. In that time she’s worked in an extensive range of settings both in New Zealand and the UK.
Dr Natalie has practiced at Broadmoor High Security Psychiatric Hospital in Berkshire, a number of Community Mental Health Centres both in Auckland and London, Mental Heath Crisis Teams in London and Auckland, Community Alcohol and Drug Services, the Early Intervention Psychosis team, Maternal Mental Health Services, Auckland inpatient Psychiatric Services, the Regional Eating Disorders Service, Auckland Prison, the Kari Centre, and Tranx (working with prescription drug dependence).
She received a ‘Bright Future Top Achiever’ Doctoral Scholarship for her research in neuropsychology (understanding how the brain relates to behaviour), and more recently has written a bestselling book, Smart Mothering—which examines the research behind parenting choices. She also co-founded the Parentland app with Nigel Latta.
Currently, Dr Natalie is running a successful private practice in Auckland focusing on adult mental health.
Callum McKirdy is a speaker, author, mentor and facilitator specialising in workplace dynamics and behaviour having spent the past two decades assisting Australasian leaders and teams to leverage their uniqueness. In particular, Callum specialises in helping workplaces harness the power of different thinking – those cohorts of the workforce that have always existed yet have slipped under the radar (or appeared on the radar for all the wrong reasons).
Proudly dyslexic and ADHD-positive, Callum champions organisations to think differently about different thinking, and views the neurodivergent staff as the innovative super-workforce of the future. Callum speaks at industry conferences, facilitates high-impact workshops, trains teams, and mentors professionals with ADHD via his ADHD+ online community, as well as hosts the You, Me & ADHD podcast.
Andrew Hore started his career in rugby administration with Canterbury and the Crusaders rugby organisations as the Performance Manager. In the early 2000s Hore worked in Wales, eventually becoming the CEO of Ospreys. In 2016 he returned to the Southern Hemisphere as CEO of NSW Rugby in Australia overseeing both the professional and community game in Sydney.
Hore accepted the role of CEO for the Blues in 2019. In 2021 the Blues won the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman trophy and Hore is now committed to ensuring the Blues can achieve sustained success and help usher in a strong high-performance programme for the nib Blues women.
Nick Hau is in a unique position of seeing first hand just how much financial stress can impact people of all walks of life. Having worked at ACC, Work and Income, for a leading insurance provider and now as a financial adviser, Nick knows the importance of wellness, including financial wellness, and the impact it can have on a business’ team, families and individuals.
“I’m a big believer in helping people remove financial stress and I’ve seen the difference it can make,” he said. “We offer companies’ biggest assets – their people – personalised advice to help give them financial security.”
Financial Wellness Partners offer a wraparound service to help Kiwi businesses in supporting their staff with medical and personal insurance, KiwiSaver and retirement planning, and financial literacy.
Charlotte Ward is a global HR executive with a wealth of expertise in organisational change and transformation, HR strategy and planning, talent acquisition, assessment and development, and coaching.
Charlotte joined Kiwibank as their Chief People Officer in September 2020. She has led the organisation through many major initiatives that have further strengthened the bank’s reputation as a great place to work, including a culture re-set, creating a more inclusive and development focused workplace, and the recent launch of new benefits for Kiwibank people including the shift to supported leave, extended bereavement leave, and the introduction of four wellbeing days per year for every employee.
Following a successful career in the construction industry, Lance spent 22 years with the NZ Police, becoming the leading crisis negotiator. Qualifying in NZ, Australia, and with the FBI, Lance taught crisis intervention to police & prison negotiators. Described by senior police as “The most qualified and highly skilled negotiator within NZ Police,” Lance trained and operated with the elite tactical teams of Police, Corrections, Fire, Ambulance, Military, and the FBI.
Qualifying as a Personal Protection Officer, Lance oversaw the protection of the Prime Minister, international dignitaries, and people on the witness protection programme. He was the principal security officer at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and the 2012 London Olympics.
As a commissioned officer, Lance directed the immediate response to the full range of critical incidents and was a senior detective leading investigation teams on complex criminal cases. Responsible for recruitment and training for the Police Emergency 111 call centres, Lance developed and delivered coaching programmes on handling emotional conversations and coping skills. His resiliency programme is part of the NZ Police mandatory training.
Lance has a Master of Arts Degree, majoring in terrorism safety & security, a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies, a Diploma in Policing, and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Management. He is working on a Diploma in Positive Psychology.
Suzanne Waldron is a behavioural change facilitator whose masters research focused on moving ideas into action through pro-social leadership. Working globally with influential leaders, her focus is on explicit communication and solid peer-to-peer relationships.
She’s an active ambassador for RUOK?, TEDx curator, and co-founder/director of short doco series Stories Out Loud. A twice published author, Suzanne has been nominated for Western Australian of the Year 2016 for her community work and twice 40 under 40.
Simon “Mo” MacRae is one of Australia’s most in demand commercial directors, with over 25 years experience in advertising & film production in Sydney, Singapore and New York.
In 2007 Mo won the million dollar screenplay competition, Project Greenlight Australia, with his brother Kenn, going on to direct their feature film “The View From Greenhaven”.
He has since directed some of Australia’s most loved TV commercials including Mother Energy Drink, and the Sam Kekovich Australia Day Lamb ads.
Mo helps business coaches and consultants develop their on-camera presence to engage with any audience and leverage the power of video to scale their business.
Mo also delivers entertaining keynotes on our favourite movie moments and how they relate to our worlds and how we can all create moments that matter in work and life.
“A really impressive, well thought-out Summit. I enjoyed hearing the presenters and I was pleasantly surprised to see the variety of speakers and their influence and impact in this space to people and communities generally.”
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners