Speakers

MC

Mary Lambie

Day One MC
Mary is a well-known TV and radio personality and journalist, she hosted TV One’s Good Morning programme and presented the “Money Doctor” show as well as hosting on Newstalk ZB and Radio Live.
Mary is married to Radio New Zealand's Sunday Morning host Jim Mora and they have three teenage children.
Mary owned and operated a number of Subway franchises between 2007 - 2015 which provided a grounding in business financial systems, processes and management.
Mary now runs her own media consultancy company (socius.co.nz)- a business which is focused on media training and advising individuals and corporates on all manner of media matters.
Mary is regularly called on as a panellist for Radio Live, Newstalk ZB, TVNZ Breakfast, The Project and AM Show.

Brian Sagala

Day Two MC
As a public speaker with over 20 years’ experience, Brian can interact well with an audience, through humour, life experiences and relevant reflections. Brian currently hosts the breakfast radio show with Pacific Media Network.

Dr Isaac Warbrick

Dr Isaac Warbrick (Ngāti Te Ata, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngā Puhi) is an Exercise Physiologist, Māori Health Researcher, and director of Taupua Waiora Centre for Māori Health Research at AUT. His research explores the application of Māori knowledge and whakapapa within contemporary health settings, and the value of cultural reconnection for health. He is currently involved in a project around the maramataka, a Māori lunar calendar based on hundreds of years of observation and science, and its role as a guide for balanced eating, physical activity, and lifestyle management.
Watch Isaac Warbrick's Toi Tangata Webinar

Presentation summary
For decades now, weight loss has been part and parcel of living in a developed country. The media fusses about it, our social media feeds are full of it, and for many, it is the most important, and seemingly most unattainable of aspirations. With growing rates of lifestyle illness – diabetes, CVD etc. – It is no surprise that health promoters and medical professionals are quick to prescribe weight loss, usually through a ‘healthy diet’ or ‘more exercise’. But despite (or maybe in-spite of) all this fuss, those who struggle with ‘weight issues’ continue to struggle, and evidence suggests that our preoccupation with weight and weight loss may actually do more harm than good.
In Aotearoa, Māori are disproportionately affected by obesity related illnesses, and have much higher rates of obesity than non-Māori (other than Pacific peoples), similar to indigenous peoples around the world. On that basis, encouraging weight loss would appear a noble cause in the pursuit of Māori health. On the other hand, our traditional sources of knowledge provide another approach to health and well-being that is culturally relevant, and which is underpinned by principles developed over hundreds of years of observation – principles that enabled us to survive and thrive in the most difficult of environments.
This presentation will briefly discuss our current weight-centred approach to health, and then outline an alternative approach based on mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), including case studies of this approach in action.

Andrea Thompson

Andrea Thompson co-founded Catapult in 1998 and has more than 20 years experience in leadership and organisational development. She co-leads the Public Health Leadership Programme which has had over 400 participants since 2010. Andrea is a graduate of Harvard University’s Adaptive Leadership programme. She has a passion and recognsied expertise in facilitating multi-stakeholder engagements to help create meaningful progress on complex challenges such as sustainability and health.

Watch Andrea's Ted Talk here

Presentation summary
At some point as we try to make progress on complex challenges we think ‘this would be much better if we worked together.’ We realise that working alone – either in our own functions, teams or agencies – we can only do so much. Much more is possible through collaboration. So we look for others to join forces with and hope for green fields and new ways of working for better outcomes for our communities. As we start to walk across the bridge we can be surprised by nasty trolls living under the bridge. This presentation will reveal the ugly truth of collaboration – it can be really hard! We examine the ‘trolls’ of collaboration and approaches for navigating the challenges and working across boundaries.

Jeni Pearse MNZM	Jeni Pearce, one of New Zealand’s leading health and sports dietitian’s and performance nutritionists, works at High Performance Sport NZ leading the Performance Nutrition team and works many organisations including Athletics NZ & Canoe racing. Jeni has been a participant at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) medical commission consensus meeting for Sports Nutrition and has authored 3 titles on sports nutrition and health, co-authored research articles and book chapters, and continues to lecture in University nutrition programmes, present at conferences in NZ and off shore, and has been a regular media commentator in nutrition and sports nutrition issues. Jeni presents two sessions as part of the IOC Sports Diploma in Sports Nutrition (with the 2018 title translated into Spanish for global reach). She is excited to be working in a team sport and looking forward to integrating into the Women’s Hockey programme. Presentation summary Elite sport is not typical physical activity and Performance Nutrition is not always focused on nutrition guidelines.Many athletes are highly active for 30 hrs a week wither on the water, in the pool or on the track just as there may be times of targeted high sodium intake, caffeine use, high CHO intakes, use of sports drinks and low fibre intakes. The goal is to marry the expectation with the results of effort. Athletes know it takes hardwork and dedication to get the desired outcomes and can involve failure more than once while too often the media is full of the latest quick fix diet and exercise equipment that fits snuggly under the bed.
Professor Susan Morton	Professor Susan Morton is the Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Research at the University of Auckland. The cross-faculty, multi-disciplinary Centre is the home of the contemporary longitudinal study – Growing Up in New Zealand, which she has been the Principal Investigator of since its inception in 2005. Susan is a Public Health Physician and an expert in life course epidemiology, translational research and econometric modelling of life course outcomes. Presentation summary Growing Up in New Zealand is New Zealand’s contemporary longitudinal study of child development, tracking the development of over 6000 children in the context of their diverse families and environments from before their birth until they are young adults. The study has the capability to consider the determinants of health and developmental outcomes for children who identify as Maori and Pasifika in particular. The longitudinal resource the study is providing is regarded as a treasure (taonga) and has been explicitly collected to provide robust scientific evidence to inform strategies that support the delivery of services and create environments to nurture the diverse generation of children growing up in New Zealand today. To date the study has collected multi-disciplinary information from the families and the children on multiple occasions from before birth and throughout early childhood, largely via face-to-face interviews with dads as well as with mums, and via linkage to routine administrative datasets. There has been a focus on the nutrition and physical activity environments throughout the study as well direct collection of anthropometric measures of the children longitudinally. The multidisciplinary information on a group of children who represent the diversity of all current New Zealand births is designed to help understand what individual, familial, social and environmental factors can shape wellbeing from the earliest years for current New Zealand pre-schoolers.
Mark Curr	Mark Curr has spent his entire career helping others to build a lifelong love of sport and being active. Mark currently leads Hutt City Councils Active in the Hutt team- collectively they are responsible for 210,000 instances of physical activity per year across sport, active recreation and latterly, play. Presentation summary Imagine if every neighbourhood place and space supported our tamariki in getting outside, being active and playing. This presentation plots how we are taking action in our city to enable play everywhere. Play is a universal human experience, it is vital to our personal development and each of us possess fond memories of formative childhood play. Play is important because it allows tamariki to experience fun, joy and laughter in a way that is important to them. It is also how they keep active and develop physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively. Play is where children practice life. Will this generation, and the next, be able to look back with the same fondness? In Lower Hutt, we’re on a journey with our partners to address this question and to shape a bright and playful future for our Rangatahi and Tamariki. As a society we’ve engineered physical activity out of our daily lives and something has to change. Our children need the time, space and permission to have quality play experiences. What can we do together to create the opportunity and support for this vital part of a child’s life? Hutt City Council, Healthy Families Lower Hutt, and Sport NZ decided it was time to take action for our neighbourhoods and kick started “Play in the Hutt”. This presentation tracks our journey so far.
Claire Pascoe	Claire Pascoe is the Lead Advisor Urban Mobility at the New Zealand Transport Agency. In her current role, she provides technical expertise and leadership in relation to balancing the transport system, providing people with genuine options for getting around our towns and cities and making them healthier places to be. She was previously involved in developing and delivering the Urban Cycleways Programme and managing the national cycling culture change team. Presentation summary New Zealand is on a journey to create communities where it is easy to walk and cycle as part of everyday life. The New Zealand Transport Agency plays a role in this journey but can only achieve outcomes through collaboration with local government and the community. BikeReady, which includes the Bikes in Schools programme, is a good example of collaboration in action and has shown that by building trusted relationships, together we can have a greater collective impact. Transport has historically been treated as a technical discipline, with a strong focus on infrastructure and engineering. As we look to make changes to our transport system, particularly in urban environments, we need to consider the differences between technical problems and adaptive challenges. Changing urban mobility systems may be more of an adaptive challenge than we’ve previously considered, and if so, what does that mean for our response and required leadership?
Chloe Byran	Chloe Bryan is the Operations Manager for The Shift Foundation, which aims to improve the wellbeing of young women aged 12-20 through physical activity, leadership, empowerment and social connectedness. With a background in youth work, events and management she is passionate about using design led thinking and a human centered approach to build a community that empowers young women to lead, move, grow and inspire themselves and others. Presentation summary The Shift Foundation is a Charitable Trust based in Wellington, whose programmes and services are delivered in partnership with others across the Wellington region to help improve the lives of young women aged 12-20. Shift began as a pilot programme in 2016 under the umbrella of Wellington City Council, and in 2018 evolved into a fully-fledged Trust due to its authentic co-design and holistic approach to improving the wellbeing of young women. Chloe will share Shift’s story, insights into the unique values Shift lives by – building whanaungatanga, using co-design, empowerment, inclusivity and accessibility; as well as discuss the opportunities and challenges faced when taking a ‘collective impact’ approach. Shift currently partners with funders, schools, community groups and businesses to achieve wellbeing outcomes alongside young women.
Niki Bezzant	Niki Bezzant is a writer, speaker, editor and commentator. She is passionate about food, healthy eating and food culture, marketing and policy. As founding editor (now editor-at-large) of Healthy Food Guide magazine, a columnist for the NZ Herald and a frequent contributor to broadcast media, she has extensive knowledge of modern media and consumer attitudes to healthy eating. Niki has been involved in the food media for 20 years. She founded the website for Cuisine magazine and was that title's first web editor. She is a the former president of Food Writers New Zealand and a proud ambassador for the Garden to Table programme which helps kids learn how to grow, cook and share food. She is a member of the Council of Directors for the True Health Initiative, a global coalition of health professionals dedicated to sharing a science-based message of what we know for sure about lifestyle and health. She is a board member for the NZ Nutrition Foundation. Presentation summary Food and nutrition writer and media commentator Niki Bezzant kicks off the conference with a call to action: how to get this event trending. On day 2, she’ll report back on how we did.
Angela Berrill	Angela Berrill is a well-respected Dietitian, and is also a nutrition educator and accomplished speaker and presenter. Angela is passionate about health and nutrition, and believes in finding ways for people to enjoy food while also nurturing their bodies. Presentation summary Every day nutrition professional's communicate about nutrition - whether it be to our patients, clients, colleagues, or the general public. However, given the complexities of nutritional science how can we ensure that we translate messages effectively into every day language? During this session, Angela will give you her top tips to help you confidently talk, write, tweet or post about nutrition, so that your messages are not only 'heard', but also understood.
Carolyn Watts Julia Milne	Carolyn Watts joined the Board of the Common Unity Project Aotearoa (CUPA) in 2016. In her day job she is a Director at Quigley and Watts Ltd, a public health consulting company based in Wellington. Carolyn is passionate about collaboration that is community-led. Her working career has included roles in central government, university, non-government and now as a consultant. Julia Milne is the Founder of the Common Unity Project Aotearoa a community based urban development project established in 2012. Under Julia`s leadership, the project has grown into 14 different community enterprises that address community issues and challenges, with more than 300 people involved. The project began by working closely with Epuni School to establish a micro farm ensuring local children and families could be fed. There are now 11 micro farms across the Hutt Valley including Rimutaka Prison where she tutors weekly. The project has delivered over 9 tonne of produce back to an off grid kitchen that was built in 2018, with hundreds of meals now made avail each week to schools and community. Julia was awarded the Sustainability Champion Award 2014, and the Transforming Food Award 2017 from the Sustainable Business Network, the NZ Gardener magazine Wellington Gardener of the Year 2011 and a Kiwibank Local Hero Award 2012. Presentation summary CUPA started in 2012 when its founder, Julia Milne, noticed children and families at her local school without enough healthy food to eat. A conversation with the principal at Epuni Primary School, led to a disused soccer field being turned into a school/community garden. Working with the strengths of the Epuni community – time, fertile soil and each other we learnt that establishing a local food network to feed the children/participating families of Epuni was neither difficult nor expensive. We also learnt that it takes more than a garden to feed a community. We have learnt collaboration starts with people sitting down without the answers to talk. Our Urban Kai Network began with 12 people and a pot of soup. The Network now has 11 farms (including four at Rimutaka Prison and one in Tracy’s backyard). Tracy is a tenant of Housing New Zealand who brought local Housing New Zealand staff to the table. Produce is made into ready-to-eat meals by local school students for families seeking help at Women's Refuge. Our newly opened off-grid container kitchen will be used to prepare and preserve produce (2,500kg of fruit and vegetables in the last six months). Some of the produce is sold in the Common Grocer, a food cooperative started by local Mums with over 200 members. It is early days for Common Unity. We have created employment for local people earning a living wage and have developed a local food system capable of feeding our community. We have a generation of Epuni School children who have always grown food, helped to cook it and been part of feeding the whole school three days a week.
Wikiwira Pokiha Jo Cottrell	Wikiwira Pokiha is of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Porou descent. She has worked in the health sector for 10 years with particular focus on youth sexual health. Wikiwira currently works as a Kaiārahi Kura Rangatahi at Puna Waiora supporting and empowering Rangatahi Māori to pursue health careers. She has previously worked with secondary schools to review healthy policies in consultation with the whole school community. Jo Cottrell (BSocSci [Hons], DOHS, RGON) identifies as Pākeha with Irish and English heritage. A background in nursing education and 14 years in health promotion inform collaboration with early childhood education. Jo’s knowledge and passion is supporting wellbeing for mothers and their tamariki. Presentation summary To promote health and wellbeing in education settings in the Waikato, authentic relationships are being established and maintained to ensure sustainable outcomes for staff, tamariki, rangatahi, tauira/students along with whaanau. Relationships are critical to all health improvement engagement in a settings approach. This presentation will discuss the value of whakawhanaungatanga in supporting sustainable and authentic connections essential to long-term engagement and action with education settings and their communities. The whakawhanaungatanga approach as described by Kaupapa Māori theory facilitates a climate of collaboration and genuine power-sharing that is essential to engagement and constitutes best practice. It brings people together supporting strong relationships through sharing connections and experiences. Whakawhanaungatanga is an ongoing process connecting with other people, places or settings to establish understanding and meanings of belonging. This may begin with sharing your name and where you are from, however, the process continues with every interaction. Transparent and reciprocal relationships are developed and maintained through a process of engagement informed by the whakawhanaungatanga approach. Our presentation will highlight examples of how whakawhanaungatanga frames all of our health improvement interactions with education settings. Using three case studies we will show the ways we have used the whakawhanaungatanga approach with early childhood education services and secondary schools in the Waikato.