About me

The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.

– Bertrand Russell

My PhD research is on intra-organisational pro-social behaviour within community social service providers that have new government contracts.

As well as an MBA I have a Bachelor’s of Education and a Bachelor’s of English Literature. I’m Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and a member of the Royal Society of New Zealand, as well as an accomplished public speaker. In 2014, I won a debate at the Cambridge Union; and in 2013 I was a panellist alongside Richard Dawkins, Richard Fortey, and Richard Wiseman speaking on the importance of science in public life. I’ve run and chaired numerous conferences and events, including international philosophy festivals, and delivered training courses and workshops on diverse topics.

My governance roles include:

• chair of Wellington Sexual Abuse HELP
• President of Humanists NZ and the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists, two not-for-profit charities

Previously I was a board member of Wellington Women’s House, a charity providing housing and support for women moving from homelessness, national secretary of the Guild of Agriculture Journalists and Communicators, a professional members’ association for those working with a focus on agriculture, and a member of the Community Governance Aotearoa Steering Group.

Full disclosure: I built this website to practice editing CSS.