Our speakers

Frances Dagg (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa / Ngāti Kauwhata) is the Water Manager at the Commerce Commission, where she supports the development of the regulatory framework for water services in Aotearoa. With a background spanning policy, iwi/Māori relationship management and partnership‑building, she joined the Commission in July 2025 and committed to approaches that reflect local perspectives and deliver positive outcomes for communities across Aotearoa.

Ganesh is well known to local government having previously been the Chief Economist for BERL.

As the Former Chair of the Productivity Commission, he oversaw the Fair chance for all inquiry into reducing persistent intergenerational disadvantage in Aotearoa.

Ganesh outlined some of the findings from the inquiry, including a review into the recent progress of joined-up social services. Read the review Together alone: A review of joined-up social services or a summary here

Hamish is a Senior Associate in Simpson Grierson’s local government and environment group, based in Wellington. He is a specialist local government and resource management lawyer. His practice encompasses all aspects of resource management law. In addition, he regularly advises and represents local authorities in relation to judicial review, compensation disputes, and enforcement matters, including issues relating to: rates and rating valuations, building code compliance, liability issues, natural hazards, compulsory acquisition of property, infrastructure projects and dog control.

Isabella has a 20-year career as a process-designer and independent facilitator. She brings together community experts and technical specialists and creates spaces where people can disagree constructively and move forward together. She has been sought after to work in diverse infrastructure-related decision spaces inside and alongside government and councils – from cycleways through urban renewal to road-building and wind-farm construction.

Isabella’s energetic and engaging facilitation draws on rich experience in brokering multi-stakeholder partnerships, and in catalysing conversations that set groups up for success. Learning with Isabella is stimulating, rewarding and even fun.

When she’s not out cycling, sailing or walking with her dog Tahi, Isabella is an active volunteer. She founded Talk Wellington, currently hosts Urbanerds, and is always keen to kōrero about liveable towns and cities.

James (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Konohi, Ngāi Tai) is Director of Internal Partnerships and Protection at Gisborne District Council. He leads teams across People & Capability, Health & Safety, Legal, Information Services, Regulatory Compliance, Public Protection and Maritime Safety. With over 20 years’ local government experience, James brings deep expertise in statutory compliance, governance, corporate services, and partnerships. He is a member of the Taituarā Electoral Reference Group and contributes nationally to strengthening Māori representation and democratic integrity. Known for his calm, values-driven leadership, James is committed to building collaborative, community-focused solutions that reflect the aspirations of tangata whenua and wider communities.

Janine McKenzie is the NSW Regional Manager for Morrison Low Advisory. She has extensive experience in local government financial sustainability and strategy. Janine has worked with councils across New South Wales on long term financial planning, rating strategies and special rate variation applications, helping councils understand their financial position and make informed decisions about sustainable services and investment.

Jarred Griffiths is Practive Lead – AI Transformation at MartinJenkins and an experienced leader and advisor across strategy, policy, and communications. He has worked at all levels of government on complex political and operational issues, with a focus on building public trust and supporting organisations to navigate change.

In his previous role as Director of Strategy and Engagement at Hutt City Council, Jarred led one of New Zealand’s most successful AI adoption programmes. This included scaling tools across the organisation and embedding new ways of working that delivered practical value.

Jarred is known for his calm, clear‑headed approach and his ability to provide practical advice that organisations can apply. He focuses on what it takes to adopt AI effectively in the public sector, recognising this as a shift in how people work and how organisations function over time.

Jason Larkin is a senior executive in New Zealand’s energy sector, serving as Group General Manager – Customer, Commercial & Regulatory at Unison Networks which is responsible for the electricity networks in Hawke’s Bay, Taupō and Rotorua as well as providing managed services to Centralines in Central Hawke’s Bay.

With over 17 years’ experience in the electricity industry, Jason has developed deep expertise in commercial management, strategic business development and customer engagement in a regulated environment.

He is passionate about the role of energy and infrastructure in supporting community wellbeing, regional prosperity, and decarbonisation goals.

Jennifer is the Delivery Lead for Spatial Planning for New Zealand’s planning system reform. With Queensland and New Zealand experience spanning local government, state government, central government, and the private sector, she has led major initiatives in planning system reform, spatial planning, and cross-government and cross-sector city deals. Prior to her current role, Jen developed the strategic case for the Government’s investment in new digital and data platforms for the planning system, and helped shape new approaches to planning system stewardship and performance.

Jennifer Lamm is a lawyer, public health specialist and advisor. Her professional experience is broad. She has worked in central and local government, not for profit and private practice. Jennifer held a regulatory health promotion role at Auckland Regional Public Health Service (smokefree, alcohol and resource management). As a Senior Lawyer at Auckland Council, she specialised in public law, including bylaws, and provided advice on Auckland’s local alcohol policy. Jennifer has also worked at the Ministry of Health, where she managed a portfolio of public health contracts including those covering alcohol health promotion and the statutory role of Medical Officers of Health. Jennifer is currently with Alcohol Healthwatch, an organisation dedicated to reducing and preventing alcohol harm and inequities in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Jennifer Parker is the Manager of Governance and Democracy Services & Deputy Electoral Officer at Wellington City Council, moving to this role in August 2019 after an earlier position leading the Council’s City Partnerships team. Jennifer has a background in strategy, communications and mediation with management experience in central government, business and the not-for profit sector. She describes the 2022 inauguration ceremony as a career highlight – the culmination of a successful election, the development of the Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward, the appointment of two mana whenua representatives and the first WCC inauguration to be held on marae.

Jenny is a senior leadership development practitioner, specialising in the Neuroscience of Leadership. She has a business background, having begun her career in the City of London, as a shipbroker and member of the Baltic and Mercantile Shipping Exchange. She has held senior roles with the global organisation P&O Nedlloyd and her career has been internationally focussed, encompassing London, Australia, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. She set up her own consultancy in 2007 in New Zealand where she works with government and private sector organisations. 

Jenny has a passion for effective leadership, believing that a combination of evidence and practical applications leads to learning and behaviour change. 

Jessica Martinson is fascinated by the messy middle of organisational life: where strategy, people, systems and real-world conditions collide, and where some of the most interesting work happens.

She is Principal Advisor Change Management at Palmerston North City Council, where she works with leaders and teams to make sense of change, build practical capability and turn organisational priorities into practice. Before moving to Aotearoa New Zealand, Jessica spent two decades in the US healthcare sector, working across professional development, strategic initiatives and system-wide change.

Jessica holds a Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and is currently completing a Master of Change and Organisational Resilience, reflecting a curiosity about people, systems and how organisations work.

As a guest speaker in Leading Through Uncertainty, Jessica will share insights from supporting leaders in council environments, exploring what helps, what makes change difficult and how leaders can support their teams when they don’t have all the answers.

Jessica Ranger is a General Manager in MCERT’s Planning System Reform Group, leading delivery of land use and spatial planning reforms, as well as urban and infrastructure policy. Her career spans planning, urban development, public transport, spatial planning, and building and construction policy, including leadership roles at the Ministry for the Environment, MBIE, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Jim was the Chief Executive of Waimakariri District Council for 17 years, retiring in 2021.  He led the Council’s recovery from the Canterbury earthquakes and oversaw two decades of strong growth in the District and Greater Christchurch. Following his retirement, he chaired the panel that undertook a two-year Ministerial review into the Future for Local Government and was the independent chair of the Greater Christchurch Partnership.

Jo Pellew is the Customer Services & Rates Manager at Bay of Plenty Regional Council. She leads the Customer Services and Rates teams, overseeing rating operations, customer experience, and service delivery. With extensive experience in local government rating legislation, process improvement, and digital transformation, Jo is passionate about finding practical ways to improve customer outcomes through technology, automation, and innovation. She is actively involved in sector collaboration and initiatives that support more efficient and customer-focused local government services.

Joanne spent 16 years working in the public sector prior to joining FrankGroup, at the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Police, and in Crown Research Institutes. Much of Joanne’s policy work had a focus on interagency collaboration and stakeholder engagement. With years of experience as a diplomat, she has a strong grounding in relationship management and interpersonal communication and enjoys teaching people from diverse career backgrounds. Joanne’s introduction to using AI came while working at Scion and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. She has been an active user of large language models for the last two years, in particular to help with research and analysis. 

John is a Senior Structural Engineer at Beca specialising in bridge and structures asset management. He brings 12 years’ engineering consultancy experience across New Zealand, Australia and the UK, spanning structural engineering, asset management and decarbonisation. John works with road controlling authorities to turn condition, criticality and risk information into practical maintenance, renewal and long-term investment decisions.