Tag: homes

Creative Welly Episode #31 | Victoria Crockford & James McCulloch

Courageous conversations with bold humans (from the most creative little capital in the world).

Victoria Crockford, Chief Executive Officer, Community Housing Aotearoa Ngā Wharerau o Aotearoa

Vic is the Chief Executive at Community Housing Aotearoa-Ngā Wharerau o Aotearoa (CHA), a peak body for Aotearoa’s community housing sector. With 90 members providing homes for over 18,000 households, CHA is working everyday towards a future where all New Zealanders are well-housed. With a builder husband and parents in the trades, Vic lives and breathes housing, and views it as the core around which all our lives revolve. Before joining CHA, Vic worked in the energy sector in communications and government relations, as well as in general community rabble rousing and the television sector in Tāhuna / Queenstown. She loves places where cultures collide and has lived in France, Italy, Ghana and the United Kingdom.

The work part adds colour, but the heart of Vic’s life is her family. She is a Mum to Eloise (7) and Cormac (5) and really digs her awesome husband, Rich.

James McCulloch, Chief Executive,
English Language Partners

I am currently Chief Executive of English Language Partners. ELP is the largest New Zealand education NGO working with former refugees and migrants, and helps over 7,000 people a year to settle and thrive in Aotearoa New Zealand.

I was approached to join ELP in mid-2020, as the world of work and learning rapidly shifted, to guide the team on a journey of rapid transformation and digital growth following my experiences scaling the learning company Inspire Group in NZ and overseas.

Prior to this, I led several NGO organisations in the UK and New Zealand and was formerly the Community Director at the City of London.

So, my roles have been diverse in location, but with one common theme, my why:

Life changing impact for individuals, teams and communities.

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Creative Welly Episode #30 | Pamela Bell & Josh Forde

Courageous conversations with bold humans (from the most creative little capital in the world).

Pamela Bell, Innovation Consultant

Pamela Bell is an Innovation Consultant and Board Director to a range of start-ups, Council controlled entities and commercial organisations. Her work is focused on innovative construction, affordable housing and added-value timber.

She founded PrefabNZ ‘the hub for innovative construction’ in 2010 from her Master of Architecture thesis Kiwi Prefab which was also turned into a book and museum exhibition.

Pamela has been the lucky recipient of several awards including the Victoria University of Wellington Alumni Award (2019). She is an Adjunct Professor at VUW investigating the relationship between design thinking and business. Most recently she has become intrigued about the interface between design thinking and governance for the boardroom with a series of articles for the Institute of Directors.

Josh Forde, Head of BD, Ackama

Josh is the cofounder of Ackama, a software firm focused on delivering tech with great social impact. Founded in Wellington and Melbourne he works with great teams to design and build online software and has worked with an incredible range of organisations around the globe.

Their work has taken them into organisations as diverse as the World Health Organisation to small clients in Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands while having our local roots.

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Creative Welly Episode #5 | Hiria Te Rangi & Guled Mire

Courageous conversations with bold humans (from the most creative little capital in the world).

Hīria Te Rangi, Kaiwhakahaere o Whare Hauora

Hīria (Ngāti Porou, Tūwharetoa) loves her community and loves technology, so Kaiwhakahaere for Whare Hauora was a natural role for her. With almost 20 years in tech with numerous technical and business roles in open data, open source, digital technologies, open banking and infrastructure, Hiria used all of her technical expertise to create the Whare hauora sensors and data platform. But it was for the love of her grandmother and the trust of her people that she determined that Whare hauora would be kaitiaki, not owners of the data collected, as it rightfully belongs to the family.

Guled Mire, Community Advocate & Co-founder, Third Culture Minds

Guled Mire is a senior policy advisor by profession and a writer, speaker and community advocate in his spare time. He was a finalist for the 2019 Wellingtonian of the Year Award and is recognised as one of New Zealand’s most prominent young voices advocating for a more humane, inclusive and welcoming society. Guled uses his platform and profile to facilitate courageous conversations about racism and discrimination in New Zealand and what we need to do to build a truly inclusive, welcoming society. He is a big fan of having open conversations about mental health and has been championing work, through Third Culture Minds as a founding member, to support young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds get the support they need.

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