The Corporate Health and Wellbeing Summit attracts a fantastic mix of inspirational speakers and successful case study speakers. The 2022 summit will build upon this tradition, with an agenda packed full of exceptional speakers.
“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
Adopted at birth and raised and schooled in Whakatane, Chris Roberts studied politics and history at Waikato University before beginning his working life as a radio journalist.
From a senior editor position at Radio New Zealand, he moved to Parliament to work for the Opposition before going into Government with the new Helen Clark-led administration. His time at the Beehive was followed by a decade of management roles in the energy sector before joining Tourism New Zealand in 2012 as General Manager Corporate Affairs.
In 2014, Chris moved to the Tourism Industry Association, as Chief Executive. The organisation, which changed its name to Tourism Industry Aotearoa in 2016, is the peak body for the New Zealand tourism industry. For seven and a half years, Chris was the Voice of the Tourism Industry, through all its highs and lows, a relentless champion for the industry and for visitors.
Tourism 2025 & Beyond – A Sustainable Growth Framework, and the New Zealand Tourism Sustainability Commitment are two key guiding frameworks that TIA produced under Chris’s leadership. Chris also re-introduced the NZ Tourism Awards and oversaw the delivery of other high-class industry events including the annual international trade show TRENZ and the annual Tourism Summit Aotearoa. Chris was a keynote speaker and/or MC at all these events.
Now working as an independent consultant with New Zealand and international clients, Chris is also on the New Zealand Cycle Trails Board and is a trustee of the Hospitality Training Trust. Chris is married to Rachel, lives in Wellington across the road from the Beehive, and they have two grown sons.
Ziena Jalil doesn’t believe in boxes and is hard to put into one.
With a career ranging from diplomat to business leader to entrepreneur across New Zealand and Asia, Ziena draws on a rich experience of many worlds to bring equity and opportunity to those with diverse cultures, abilities and experiences.
A staunch advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, Ziena regularly speaks and writes about diversity-related issues, including publishing internationally in the book Workforce Diversity: Global Perspectives.
As a young(ish) Kiwi Fiji Indian woman, Ziena identifies as much with Asia as she does with the Pacific. She assumed leadership roles from a remarkably young age, frequently the first in her demographic to be appointed to these positions.
She has helped some of New Zealand’s largest businesses build their reputation and revenue, advised Ministers, and supported the growth of Maori and Pacific young people in professional careers.
Ziena consults on strategy and stakeholder engagement, and is a board member of Manukau Institute of Technology, Unitec, Asia New Zealand Foundation, DNA Design, and the Cancer Society Auckland Northland. In 2022, Ziena was appointed to the board of Education New Zealand, an honour that she is delighted to take on to share her wealth of knowledge.
A New Zealand Women of Influence awards finalist, she was also recognised by Campaign Asia Pacific as part of its 2020 Women to Watch, a group of 40 outstanding women in the Asia Pacific.
Ziena has also received several international awards for her work promoting New Zealand trade and education in Asia, while in the roles of Regional Director (South & South East Asia) for Education New Zealand, New Zealand Trade Commissioner to Singapore, and Head of North Asia Marketing and Communications for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
Clinical Psychologist Jacqui Maguire is one of New Zealand’s key science communicators, providing authentic and relatable thought leadership on global mental health and wellbeing issues. Bringing her scientific knowledge of wellbeing to life, Jacqui translates the evidence into practical strategies that support people to optimise their wellbeing, work and relationships. Her entrepreneurial history and business acumen make her a keynote favourite, and she is known for engaging a diverse range of people, including those who may be sceptical of the benefits of psychological interventions.
Jacqui is TVNZ’s go-to psychologist and a regular contributor to Stuff, NZ Herald, Radio New Zealand and Newstalk ZB. She is also the founder of the #1 ranking Mind Brew podcast, where she has interviewed some of the world’s leading psychologists.
Her career has been anchored in corporate wellbeing. Jacqui works closely with clients to understand the unique needs of their organisation and develop tailored programmes to best fit. She draws on both her psychological and business expertise in this process, making sure her services are both effective and delivered to a high standard; lifting organisational performance by developing the resilience and wellbeing of employees.
For personal interest, Jacqui sits on the Board of Life Squared Trust. A trust dedicated to improving mental health in the legal profession. She is also a marriage celebrant, proud to utilise her communication, rapport and writing skills to support people on their special day.
Joe Davis is a leader, innovator and author with a deep passion for bringing teams together around big challenges with real purpose. Co-Founder & CEO of Nanogirl Labs with wife and business partner Dr Michelle Dickinson, Joe’s current mission is to democratise access to world class education, working across technology, education and entertainment to inspire, educate and empower learners.
Joe is the author of Silver Linings, a book (published by Penguin Random House) which explores the journeys of more than 100 NZ businesses and community leaders who have found ways to respond and thrive during New Zealand’s first COVID-19 ‘lockdown’. The work behind the book has led Joe, and co-author David Downs, to form a clear thesis as to what makes companies able to innovate and be resilient when a crisis strikes.
The book was inspired by Nanogirl Labs’ own lockdown experience. Faced with the loss of their business, Joe and Michelle pivoted from a live-engagement-led business to an online platform. They created a brand new digital platform in just 4 days, grew the business dramatically, and ultimately reached more than 340,000 young people with STEM learning during the lockdown period. “Everyone, everywhere deserves the chance to access a world-class education – and that’s now genuinely in our reach.”
Joe’s leadership career has spanned sectors from software development to design, performing arts to sea rescue, automotive CX design to education. The common thread – great people, deep culture, and a clear sense of ‘why’.
Outside of his professional career, Joe has more than 20 years’ experience as a sea rescue skipper in the Royal New Zealand Coastguard, and has been actively involved in political campaigning and advocacy.
Dr Rod Corban is a registered psychologist. He has over 30 years experience as an academic in the field of psychology and has worked in high performance sport in NZ since 2004. He has attended Olympic and Paralympic Games as a psychologist for the last three cycles.
Rod has worked in sports such as rowing, cycling, hockey, netball, paralympics and cricket. Most recently he had the privilege of being a part of the Silver Ferns World Cup winning campaign of 2019. He specialises in supporting athletes, coaches and all individuals to perform as human beings in all contexts of their lives, to pursue the things they care about and be well.
Sarah Tuck (they/them), is an award-winning social entrepreneur, mental health advocate, facilitator and theatre maker who co-founded and co-leads the impact-driven social enterprise, CoLiberate.
In the last five years, their change-maker spirit and empathetic leadership has contributed significantly to the positive rippling impact CoLiberate is having throughout New Zealand. Providing Aotearoa its first certified training in Mental Health First Response, CoLiberate has partnered with over 100 organisations, contributing towards their wellbeing strategies and provided effective training to over 2,500 people throughout workplaces.
Sarah is personally known for their relatable and influencing energy, clowning about the office, stopping for a giggle and always slowing down to take serious things seriously.
They are more widely recognized as an Internationally Award-Winning theatre performer (Best Theatre Show in Sydney Fringe Festival 2016), Young Innovator of the Year finalist (2017), TedX speaker (2017), Collective Global Accelerator Alumni (2018), Gold Awards Finalist, (2020) and winner of the Wellbeing – Impact Award (2020).
International speaker, coach and author of five personal development books specialising in mindset, performance and leadership. A well known expert with a background in Senior Human Resources roles and a decade working in leadership development.
A brush with burnout in her corporate career led Jess across the world to train with Buddhist monks and nuns. A decade later, after writing five books and running her own successful business she shares what she knows about mind-set, resilience and peak performance to empower people to unlock their potential.
I help busy high achievers go from burnout to brilliance, to cultivate a mindset of peak performance, lead with confidence, fuel our tanks to ensure we are a sustainable resource and can achieve our potential to have influence and impact.
Featured on TV3, BBC, RNZ, Dominion Post, Stuff and NZ Business Magazine. Described as inspiring, articulate and relatable by audiences. Jess has a passion for sharing her knowledge and motivating others with her words.
Associate Professor Aaron Jarden is Director of the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. He is a wellbeing consultant, social entrepreneur, has multiple qualifications in philosophy, computing, education, and psychology, and is a prolific author and presenter.
He has previously been a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University, and Head of Research at the Wellbeing and Resilience Centre at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). He is past president of the New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology, also co-editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing, lead investigator for the International Wellbeing Study, and Senior Scientist for Work on Wellbeing amongst others.