Our speakers

Troy is Beca’s Te Mana o te Wai lead, a member of the water market leadership team, and part of Te Ahi Tūtata, Beca’s Māori advisory rōpū leadership. With extensive experience as a kaitiaki, civil engineer, water practitioner, and cultural navigator, he integrates Tangata Whenua values into water and environmental management. Troy has expertise in engineering consultancies, civil contracting, and government roles, focusing on designing and managing water solutions. He works on projects that address water health, supply resilience, sea level rise, and flooding hazards, collaborating with tangata whenua at marae and community levels to ensure culturally-informed outcomes.

Val Wheeler is a Managing Director at PwC. She has thirty years supporting public service organisations in improving performance, including adopting AI into their strategies, operating models, and processes.

Vern sits on the board of the Real Estate Authority and was a Director of the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board (Chair 2009-2019) until 2021, a former board member of MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology), Council Controlled Organisations, Metrowater and The Edge and was an elected member for twelve years having served three terms as an Auckland City Councillor and one term as Chair of a community board.

Warwick has worked in local government for 32 years, firstly as Administration Manager at Papakura District in 1986 and Central Hawkes Bay DC, then as Returning Officer for electionz.com since 2000.

Warwick is Electoral Officer for 19 councils and 6 DHBs, and numerous public and private sector organisations. Warwick and his team carry out approx 200 elections in NZ each year, most of which use online voting.

Warwick has considerable experience in candidate management and electioneering/campaigning practices, particularly the use of social media by candidates.

Wayne Forlong is the Team Leader for LIMs and Property Files at Tauranga City Council and has over 11 years of experience in local government. He specialises in the statutory delivery of Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) and has contributed to national regulatory guidance, sector working groups, and industry discussions on LIM practice. Wayne has led the implementation of significant legislative and operational changes, with a focus on providing clear, accurate, and practical property information to customers. He is currently leading reviews of how building and development information is presented within LIMs, including approaches to managing complex consent and compliance information. His work combines regulatory expertise with a strong focus on customer experience, risk management, and continuous improvement.

Zofia is Head of Strategy and Performance at Greater Wellington, overseeing the Council’s Strategy, Corporate Planning & Reporting, Climate Change, and Emergency Management & Business Continuity activities. For the past seven years, she’s worked closely with councillors and senior leaders across the Regional Council and local government to improve planning, reporting and strategic decision-making.

In real terms, that’s three Long Term Plans, five Annual Plans, six Annual Reports, two Pre-Election Reports, a new Significance and Engagement Policy, new Strategic Direction, and a Climate Emergency declaration, to name some achievements.

Zofia is also a member of Taituarā’s Corporate Planning Reference Group