Kris was elected as the Member of Parliament for Mana in November 2010, following more than a decade working as a journalist at both TVNZ and the BBC. As Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, he is committed to bridging the digital divide to allow consumers and business to benefit from technology, and to ensuring New Zealand culture is reflected in broadcasting.

Graham Mitchell is CEO of Crown Infrastructure Partners, the Government agency responsible for funding and managing the UFB, Rural Broadband and Mobile Black Spots, Regional Digital Connectivity Programmes, Infrastructure Funding Financing and Infrastructure funding as part of the COVID-19 recovery. Prior to CIP, Graham was CEO at Private Equity and Venture capital funded technology businesses and was also a senior executive of Telecom NZ in New Zealand and Australia.

Mike Smith is the CEO of Ultimate Broadband (UBB), a Wireless ISP that Mike started in 2009 to provide broadband to regional and rural customers in Mid Canterbury.  UBB has now a full service communications provider over the Canterbury region. 

Mike is also the Chair of industry association WISPA.NZ which gives Wireless ISPs a common voice and presence. Its 23 member companies are regional telecommunications companies. All of them use wireless technology to deliver affordable high speed broadband to the most challenging of rural areas, while most also resell fibre and other related services. 

Anna has a solid track record in the Satellite Communication and Broadcast industry.  Anna has a wealth of knowledge and experience from her career with major international communications and media services companies, such as Arqiva, Level 3 Communications (Centurylink) and Telenor.

John’s extensive experience in radio, telecommunications and infrastructure has seen him seamlessly step into the role of CEO at RCG and lead the team to deliver the projects ambitious targets.

With his passion for motivating and leading teams and his ‘make it happen’ attitude John has made a huge impact at RCG. John has considerable experience in all aspects of senior management, spear heading substantial telecommunications projects over the past 25 years including CEO of Telecom Cooks Islands where he was” hands-on” in all aspects of the network and was responsible for over 200 staff. 

John has held senior roles in NZ working for Spark, The Warehouse Group and 2Degrees where he has proven his ability in making the big decisions, managing resources and operations and deftly managing communication between the Board, the Shareholders and corporate operations

With nearly 20 years experience in the industry, Vanessa has played leading roles in significant change environments. She’s an expert in complex stakeholder strategies and policy change interplays with commercial operations, particularly regulated infrastructure businesses. She’s played various roles in governance and organisational change during her career in the public and private sectors. She was the General Counsel & Company Secretary at Chorus between 2011 and 2018 leading a range of functions and programmes including the turnaround in 2015 of the regulatory decisions that implied a billion dollar funding gap.

As a leader Vanessa is passionate about people and culture. She takes a values-based and outcomes-focused approach. She is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and a member of the International Coach Federation. She’s actively involved in the development of others both inside and outside her organisation.

Vanessa has an LLB (Hons), postgraduate certificates and is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Fiona Gower is the National President of Rural Women New Zealand and is a true “rural woman” having lived and worked in the rural sector most of her life. Much of Fiona’s career has been in the rural service industry. It was the start of her role ensuring that people understand the pivotal role women play in the rural sector, as leaders and decision makers and to have women recognised for the contribution they make to their communities and to the economy.

Along with being National President of RWNZ, Fiona is the Chair of the Rural Communities Trust and NZ Landcare Trust. She is also the Deputy Chair of the Waikato Conservation Board and has many other community roles including being a Scout Leader and Surf Lifesaver and Instructor

When not busy with these positions, she is very much at home working on the farm where her partner works, caring for and supporting her two children and helping out in the local community, taking time to enjoy fishing, walking and sitting down with a good book.

Sarah Clarke is a senior rural doctor with experience ranging from emergency medicine to expedition medicine to general practice and many things in between. She is currently working in Rural Hospital Medicine in Kaitaia and around the country while also studying for her Master of Public Health on an attachment to the Ministry of Health central Covid response.

Sarah’s interests include health equity, systems, and the use of information technology and communications to make the most of health care.

Rachel is a professional with a background in Science and Business and for 15 years worked on public and private sector projects including large infrastructure developments in the UK and NZ. Dairy farming is her livelihood as she and her husband milk 700 cows on 300 hectares south of Rotorua. Until recently she worked with DairyNZ’s DairyBase team, managing special projects focusing on farmer liaison and engagement.

Over the past 3 years she has been involved in bringing together a fantastic team of Rotorua leaders, all on their own individual leadership journeys, in our Business Groups Pilot. Rachel is proud to be a NZ dairy farmer feeding the world and proud to be a woman in dairy.