Sustainable Business Awards

Barry Coates is founder and CEO of Mindful Money, a social enterprise shifting investment towards ethical investment and sustainability. Barry has been active in sustainability since the Earth Summit in 1992, working in NZ and internationally on fair trade, climate change and poverty. Barry has worked across business, government and charities. Since returning to NZ in 2003, he was head of Oxfam Aotearoa for a decade, initiated a sustainability programme at The University of Auckland and was briefly a Green Party list MP. Barry has a Master’s in Management from Yale University and was awarded Sustainability Champion in the 2016 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards. Barry has many years of governance experience, including on boards of member organisations. He is an enthusiastic supporter of SBN’s work.

Dawn is a highly experienced sustainability business leader. She has a passion for embedding sustainability into core business strategy, building purpose led brands and strong customer and employee value propositions. Over the last 5 years, Dawn has worked with the integrated thinking and reporting (International Integrated Reporting Council) framework as a critical tool for understanding all forms of value creation.

Dawn has worked for 11 years as a sustainability professional working in New Zealand and Denmark, 8 years as Head of Procurement at Westpac Banking Corporation, New Zealand and 10 years in social housing in the UK.

She is the editor and initiator of the Change the World for $15 book in New Zealand.
Dawn holds a Masters of Science in Responsibility and Business Practice from Bath University, UK and is an alumni of the Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership Executive programme.

Jacqueline is a founding Partner of The Purpose Business. She is a passionate advocate for values and purpose driven business, and bringing the customer’s voice into an organisation to drive better decisions, performance and results. She has over two decades of experience working with leading New Zealand businesses and brands to improve the quality of their stakeholder engagement and reputation capital. Jacqueline is recognised as a thought leader in sustainable business and brand strategy. In her previous role leading New Zealand’s most respected market insights agency, she created The Colmar Brunton Better Business Report, a seven year longitudinal study into the growth of conscious consumerism in New Zealand.

Dr Bruce Burns is an Associate Professor in Ecology at the University of Auckland. His passions are native plants and forests – how they work, how they survive in the face of multiple threats, and how we can conserve and restore them. He is also active in promoting and progressing sustainability within the University. Bruce previously worked as a scientist at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, is a past-President of the New Zealand Ecological Society, and has served previously as a trustee on several conservation and restoration committees and projects, e.g., Tāne’s Tree Trust, WWF-NZ, Motutapu Restoration Trust. Currently, he is a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.

Sophia is a woman on a mission; to effect positive change for future generations.

Her Te Ao Māori and Fa'asamoa upbringing have instilled in her a deep understanding and passion for kaitiakitanga - the guardianship and protection of the environment. She believes that one cannot be separated from the other, that we are all connected ancestrally.

As Social Responsibility Manager, Sophia fosters Dempsey Wood's kaupapa, implementing initiatives and long-term objectives that positively contribute to, and enhance our social fabric.

Sarah Holden has 20 years’ experience helping organisations achieve measurable success through business sustainability. She has worked with a range of businesses including Westpac NZ, IAG NZ, AA Insurance, Suncorp NZ, Audi, Allpress Espresso, Spark NZ, Stride, Bupa, Naylor Love, Stuff, OfficeMax, Oji Fibre Solutions, Port of Tauranga, European Motor Distributors and Trade Me on the development and execution of sustainability strategy and corporate responsibility measures.  

Sarah has a PhD in environmental and marine science, and is a member of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps, Carbon and Energy Professionals NZ.  She is a B Consultant, trained by B Lab ANZ to help companies become certified B Corps.  She is a volunteer in her local Fire Brigade.

Juhi Shareef is the Chief Responsibility officer at Tourism Holdings Ltd where she oversees risk and sustainability for the business, including their commitment to the Future-Fit Business Benchmark. As Chair of the Battery Industry Group (B.I.G.), Juhi led the design of a product stewardship scheme for large batteries that supports a circular economy.

Juhi is Co-Founder of PROJECT:MOONSHOT, an initiative that aims to accelerate the shift to regenerative economic systems. The latest Moonshot initiative is the Moonshot Map of circular and regenerative projects across Aotearoa NZ.

Juhi is Global Strategic Advisor for Eco-Age. Working with Eco-Age in the UK she was responsible for sustainability strategies and ethical supply chain for clients including: Marks & Spencer, the Kering Group, Stella McCartney, Wembley Stadium, the British Film Institute (BFI) and The FA.

Vincent is an award-winning communications expert with 25 years’ experience in media and advertising. A creative thinker and business developer, he’s launched multiple brands, including Idealog and Good and been a co-founder of multiple awards programmes. Science, tech, sustainability and business are his thing. He established the Science Media Centre, taught science and maths at High School, and is the host of the podcast ‘This Climate Business’.

Now he’s turning that experience into advice, helping businesses grow their influence through storytelling and market-readiness. He’s an Executive Director with Anthem, an integrated marketing communications group, and a freelance consultant to startups and cool companies.

Olie Body is an Edmund Hillary Fellow, Obama Foundation Leader, TEDx Speaker and an award winning storyteller and social entrepreneur. Through giving people the tools to manage menstruation sustainably, she's is at the forefront of a paradigm shift: shaping what it means to inhabit this earth consciously, and with a pair of ovaries. Olie founded the social enterprise Wā Collective to connect people with their own bodies and to Papatūānuku (mother earth), using humour, heart and inclusivity.