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 #26 | Glenis Hiria Philip-Barbara & Sam Trubridge

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

Glenis Hiria Philip-Barbara, Assistant Māori Commissioner for Children, Ngāti Porou/Ngāti Uepōhatu

Glenis has committed a lifetime to the restoration and recovery of matauranga Māori (Māori knowledge systems) as a direct response to the impact of colonisation on her whānau, hapū, iwi and the wider community. 

Her thirty year career serving the public sector, iwi and community has been primarily focused on bringing Te Tiriti o Waitangi to life in practical ways in order to address chronic disparities between Pakeha New Zealanders and Māori peoples across all measures of well-being. 

Glenis has been on a mission of late to figure out how to help end racism in Aotearoa and help create the conditions for peaceful co-existence for our collective mokopuna.

Sam Trubridge, Director, Designer, and Performance Artist

Sam Trubridge is founding director of The Performance Arcade: a festival of performance art on Wellington Waterfront that is attended by 60-90,000 people each year since 2011.

His exciting career has involved making performance art underwater in The Bahamas and Croatia; running a festival of NZ theatre in New York; collaborating with sleep scientists; staging productions in swimming pools, carparks and paddocks; and presenting work in London, Prague, Rome, Florence, Kyoto, Rio, Melbourne, and Sydney.

He is currently senior design tutor at Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa: NZ Drama School.

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