The Reality of Everything - Tāmaki Makaurau

Dr Catherine Knight is an award‑winning environmental historian and author of several acclaimed books including New Zealand's Rivers: An environmental history, Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand and most recently An Uncommon Land, which weaves together ancestral family stories and wider social and environmental history to trace the process of enclosure and the rise of private property, and offers a compelling vision for a regenerative, re‑commoned future.

Catherine has a strong interest in post-growth and wellbeing economy and writes on these topics on Newsroom, The Spinoff and on Substack. Catherine works in public policy and is an Honorary Research Associate at Massey University. Catherine recently convened the Reality of Everything Symposium, hosted by Victoria University of Wellington.

Victoria Mulligan works with leadership teams to navigate uncertainty - helping them identify emerging risks and opportunities, challenge the assumptions their strategies depend on, and make better decisions in changing conditions.

Her background is in forensic psychology and public health. After working in London and Swaziland, she spent a decade working across the Pacific and Timor-Leste, leading complex cross-sector initiatives and helping governments and organisations develop strategy and policy for rapidly changing environments.  

Today, Victoria advises organisations globally on strategic foresight and scenario planning, working with CEOs, strategists and leadership teams across sectors including financial services, health, insurance and technology.

She is co-founder of Design Futures Aotearoa, serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Futures Society, and is ANZ Regional Chair for the Millennium Project, a global futures think tank founded in partnership with the United Nations.

Bill Murphy founded Enterprise Angels in 2008 to help establish early stage investing in NZ. Bill founded Purpose Capital in 2019 to establish impact investing in NZ.

Purpose Capital uses the power of investment to drive social and environmental change and demonstrate a new way to make money work. At $45m AUM, Purpose Capital’s first fund is the largest private impact investing fund in NZ.

Purpose Capital invests in companies and projects where the long terms impacts include environmental regeneration; mitigating climate change; sustainable, secure affordable housing; and social equity alongside full market rate investment returns.

Bill co-founded Sustainable Finance in 2025 to help finance the renewable energy transition in NZ.

Under the leadership of Helen Paul-Smith, ŌKU New Zealand is transforming traditional Māori knowledge into innovative, sustainable solutions for health and environmental challenges.

Helen leads ŌKU New Zealand with a powerful vision that blends cultural wisdom and scientific rigour. Through ŌKU New Zealand, Helen has spearheaded impactful projects like the Koi Carp Project, which repurposes an invasive fish to create advanced wound care products. Her leadership has also driven research into rongoā (traditional Māori healing) as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes, reflecting ŌKU New Zealand’s commitment to culturally relevant healthcare.

As the visionary founder of TROW Group, Saia leads one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most innovative waste recovery enterprises, a business whose kaupapa at its core begins and ends in anchoring the strength of our people and the vitality of our land.

He envisions a future where business is used as a tool to decolonise the waste system while restoring papatuanuku and creating pathways of autonomy and mana for Māori and Pasifika communities.

For him, every building repurposed, every material salvaged, and every opportunity created is a step toward an equitable Aotearoa, where growth is measured in the strength and resilience of the people, and whenua we leave behind.

Drawing on two decades of experience, he bridges policy, enterprise, and community, turning high-level strategy into tangible outcomes for our people and Papatuanuku. 

Simon Wilson is a freelance journalist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, where he writes about politics, climate change, social issues, urban development and culture.

He publishes a Substack called Hopetown, contributes regularly to the NZ Listener and RNZ, and was formerly a senior writer at NZ Herald and editor of Metro magazine.

He is the author of HomeGround: The story of a building that changes lives, a book on the Auckland City Mission’s mothership building and the people who live and work in it.

Anne is a Senior Research Fellow at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, and Director of the Complex Conversations Lab. With a background in science, risk, and public policy, she specialises in helping decision-makers and communities navigate complex challenges through evidence-informed dialogue and collective decision-making. She previously served as a Senior Analyst in the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor, contributing to a range of influential reports and policy initiatives on environmental, public health, and societal risks.

Anne's current work focuses on deliberative democracy, public participation, and how societies can make better decisions in the face of uncertainty and long-term challenges. She has helped design and facilitate citizens' assemblies and other participatory processes across Aotearoa New Zealand, exploring new approaches to building social cohesion, resilience, and public trust. In 2020, she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to science and the State.