Our 2025 speakers
Daniel Aronson
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Daniel Aronson is the founder of Valutus, which specializes in creating value through sustainability and responsibility, the creator of the Value of Values™ Model, and the author of the book The Value of Values (MIT Press). He has helped leading companies identify and quantify over $2 billion in sustainability-driven business value.
Daniel coined the term “submerged value” and is the creator of Impact Science™, True Plastic Impact™, and Materiality Science.™ He has guest lectured at Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan’s Sustainability Lab and has written or been featured in over 100 articles and publications.Daniel holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a BA with High Honors from UC Berkeley. He lives in the New York City area.
Ben Redwood
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Dr Ben Redwood is the CEO and founder of Mutu. Ben has PhD in Mechanical Engineering and has spent the last 10 years of his career working in the tech sector all around the world, helping disrupt and shift traditional industry mindsets.
As the Dad of 2 young boys, Ben is particularly interested in elevating Aotearoa to become a leader in sustainability and climate tech while also facilitating the growth of the next generation of kiwi entrepreneurs.
Kristin Renoux
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Senior Associate - Sustainability - Climate & Nature at Beca
Kristin has an unrelenting drive to shape a better, more sustainable and climate resilient future for people and planet. She brings over 20 years’ experience as a senior risk and regulatory professional, supporting clients and communities in Aotearoa, UK, France and the Pacific to identify and respond to sustainability-related risk and opportunity. She specializes in climate and nature-related reporting, working with clients across sectors. Kristin brings her legal, enterprise risk management and corporate reporting background to provide tailored advice and guidance in line with the New Zealand Climate-Related Disclosures framework, and international nature-related frameworks, including the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure and Science Based Targets for Nature. She brings the lens that risk reporting needs to deliver strategic value beyond basic compliance.
Izzy Fenwick
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Izzy is an entrepreneur and sustainability advocate. She sits on the board of The Aotearoa Circle, a partnership of public and private sector leaders committed to pursuing sustainable prosperity and reversing the decline of New Zealand's natural resources. She is also founder of Futureful, a purpose led business developing innovative decision-making technology.
With a background in human-centred design and a passion for the environment, Izzy’s expertise sit at the intersection of human behaviour and corporate sustainability. Izzy also spends her time speaking on national and global stages, about leadership, sustainability and the power of purpose.
Jordi Beneyto-Ferre
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Jordi Beneyto-Ferre is Director Materials and Innovation Smartwool and Icebreaker, at VF Corporation.
He is responsible for the portfolio management of the VF’s brands Icebreaker and Smartwool in their activities.
Jordi has 16 years of experience in sportswear development and innovation within global leading brands (Puma, adidas, VF corporation).
His vision is for the apparel industry to stop being part of the problem and become an active part of the solution.
He envisions a world where petro-chemical synthetics are no longer needed because there are much better natural and renewable alternatives that can deliver the same or better functionality.
Natasha Telles D’Costa
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Natasha Telles D’Costa is the Director of Strategy, Asia, Consumer Products at Veeva Systems.
Natasha has spent the majority of her career advocating for an industry that is insight-driven, predicting challenges as opposed to reacting to them. She is a strong advocate of the belief that people-centered solutions drive true growth, and that we learn more from unintended consequences than we ever will from our successes.
Ultimately culture eats strategy for breakfast, everyday of the week. Organizations need to put people at the center of their design- particularly so for digital transformation projects.The Asia region is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this cultural vacuum to help drive innovation, as long as we invest in the right forms of assurance and trust.
Prior to Veeva, Natasha headed the APAC Agriculture & Nutrition consulting arm of a management consulting firm, and also held senior roles in the New Zealand government.
Tania Hyde
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Technical Director and Circular Design Lead at Beca
Tania is a Chartered Engineer, Technical Director and Circular Design Lead for Beca, based in Aotearoa. She has 25 years’ of international experience providing technical and leadership direction to teams across infrastructure projects. Since 2020 her focus has incorporated the implementation of the circular economy within the built environment and challenges how we can work within the planetary boundaries. Tania co-designed Beca's Circular Design Framework that brings together a holistic approach of cultural perspectives, circular economy, climate change and socio-economic impacts to projects.
Greig Brebner
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Greig Brebner, a constantly curious character, grew up with his dad’s workshop as his playground, the perfect stage to invent, build and tinker. He dreamed of one day creating a ground-breaking product, the very best of its kind that people around the world would love. Greig firmly believes that makers and creators of products have a deep responsibility for the products they bring into the world that extends far beyond the purchase transaction. With the right design, the right materials and the right after sales care, people can have much healthier, deeper and longer lasting relationships with the products they own.
Today, Greig is best known as founder and inventor of BLUNT, a beloved brand stretching to all corners of the globe. When he isn’t ideating new product designs he is playing on the water or working the land at his northern Auckland property.
Brendan Haigh
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Brendan Haigh is Kaitiaki at Miraka, one of New Zealand’s largest Māori export businesses. Their manufacturing plant, near Taupō, was the first geothermally powered dairy factory in the world and Miraka has taken a lead in driving sustainable farm practice through its Te Ara Miraka programme. As Kaitiaki, Brendan is responsible for Miraka’s kaitiakitanga strategy and delivery, both on and off-farm.
Laura Robichaux
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Senior Associate - Climate Adaptation at Beca
Dr. Laura Robichaux is a Chartered Member of Engineering New Zealand will more than a decade of experience in engineering and risk management research and consultancy providing guidance to governments, communities and private owners to manage climate change impacts. She provides a practical, implementation focused, multi-disciplinary lens to adaptation planning. She is one of a few of consultants in Aotearoa with dynamic adaptive planning pathways (DAPP) experience across multiple projects, including on the Clifton to Tangoio (Hawke’s Bay) Coastal Hazards Strategy 2120, leading adaptation planning for the Defence Estate, three waters systems and for South Dunedin.
Carolyn Mortland
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Carolyn is the co-founder of Futureful, a purpose led business developing innovative decision-making technology. Futureful Workplace matches talent to organisations based on aligned values and skills, giving an employee ROI to organisations with positive environmental and social practices.
Carolyn has been a sustainability professional for over 15 years, heading sustainability for New Zealand’s largest corporate and providing advice to land based or food & fibre export brands. She is a director of Service Foods, a private food distribution business, trustee of Pause Breathe Smile charitable trust and a member of the XRB's Sustainability Reporting Board. Carolyn lives with her family and beloved big dog in Tamaki Makaurau.
Johanna Cederlöf
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Market Manager, IKEA Sylvia Park
A passionate business and people leader, Johanna joined IKEA 13 years ago and has led store teams in Finland and Austria. This includes opening IKEA Vienna Westbahnhof in 2021, an innovative retail centre format with award-winning sustainability design. A forever dream to one day live in New Zealand, Johanna is assembling her team and operations for IKEA opening in Sylvia Park late 2025 and is motivated to deliver positive impact for people and our shared home, the planet.
Nicola Taylor
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Nicola is a people-centred, purpose-driven leader and co-founder of two innovative Kiwi fintech companies: Tax Traders and Taxi, the world’s first provider of tax-powered working capital for businesses. A commercial lawyer by training, Nicola was named SME Business Leader of the Year at the 2024 New Zealand Leadership Awards and has earned international acclaim for fostering an award-winning workplace culture. Taxi and Tax Traders also won New Zealand's Best Place to Work award in 2024. Nicola is married to Josh, and they have three outrageously wonderful teenagers and a beloved kaboodle, Kobe.