Lisa Futschek, Education New Zealand

Lisa Futschek is the General Manager International of Education New Zealand. Lisa joined ENZ in 2013 after an 18-year diplomatic career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade which included five years as the Deputy Head of Mission at the New Zealand Embassy in Berlin, and three years as First Secretary and Consul at the New Zealand Embassy in Santiago.

As General Manager International, Lisa leads a global team of 30, based across more than 15 locations around the world, focussed on profiling New Zealand as an education partner and ensuring international education contributes to New Zealand’s international relations goals.

Lisa has been instrumental in expanding ENZ’s offshore network in Asia and establishing a permanent presence in North America. She brings a strong internationalisation lens to ENZ’s work, emphasizing the critical role of relationships and partnership for mutual benefit.

A graduate of Otago and Auckland universities, Lisa and her husband Regan are based in Wellington with their two teenagers, a son in tertiary studies and a daughter in year 11 at high school.

John Brooker, New Zealand Ministry of Education

John Brooker is the Group Manager, Education System Investment, at the Ministry of Education, Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga. His role includes responsibility for policy and strategy across a number of areas of New Zealand’s education system including early learning and schooling funding and infrastructure. John is also responsible for the managing the annual government Budget process for the Education Portfolio, from early learning through to tertiary education.

John has a 20+ year career in public policy, most of it in New Zealand. He has previously managed teams responsible for tertiary education funding, legislation and ownership, and access and participation to the tertiary education system in New Zealand. John also spent time in the United Kingdom working as a Senior Analyst in local government.

He completed his own tertiary studies at the University of Waikato, graduating with a Bachelor of Management Studies and Master of Management Studies, majoring in economics. He now resides in Wellington, where he lives with Jolanda and their two children.

Andrea Delaune, University of Canterbury

Andrea Delaune is a lecturer at the University of Canterbury, dedicated to raising social justice awareness, with a specific focus upon transformative change and pedagogical possibilities in a wide range of disciplines and research areas. Her research broadens our appreciation of the complexities of learning and teaching, disrupting binary and didactic enactments and promoting a pedagogy of attention.

Andrea is involved in projects on sustainability, anti-racism commitment, philosophy of education, early childhood education, teacher advocacy, and speculative thinking for educational change. She has researched gifted education, morality and ethics education, and conceptualisations of wellbeing.

Christine Vincent-Snow, New Zealand Tertiary College

Christine Vincent-Snow is a Lecturer of Teaching at New Zealand Tertiary College and an active conservationist with a focus on sustainable development. Christine has been involved in early childhood education as a teacher and leader for over twenty-five years. She has published a number of articles on sustainability and the influence of the environment on children’s holistic wellbeing and play based learning. Christine’s professional interests and passions lie in the professional development of student teachers, culturally responsive practice, sustainable practices and play-based learning and development.

Nasser Giacaman, University of Auckland & ByteEd

Nasser is a Senior Lecturer in Software Engineering at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where he is currently Director of Software Engineering as well as the Software Engineering Masters Advisor.

Extremely passionate about teaching, he has won a number of teaching excellence awards and dedicates his research efforts towards digital educational engineering.

Nasser is the Science Lead at BytedEd, supporting research an innovation in computer science.

Nola Harvey, University of Auckland

Nola is an Honorary Academic, School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland specialising in the area of languages and literacies in the early years and researching bilingual experiences of bi/multilingual children and teachers. See text for teachers. Teachers voyaging in plurilingual seas. Nola has been a member of OMEP Aotearoa since 1997, and is past President 2016 -2020 of OMEP Tamaki Makaurau. Nola joined Play Aotearoa (Branch of IPA) Te Ropu Tākaro 2003 and is Secretary 2015-2022. She is a member of the Centre for Refugee Education Advisory Committee.

Fiona Card, Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand

Fiona Card (Btchg ECE), is of Ngāpuhi, Tūhoe, Tainui, Ngāti Pākeha descent. She has worked in the early childhood sector for over 20 years and recently was successful in securing the role of Pouako/Cultural Advisor and Lecturer in the Mātauranga Māori Teaching and Learning courses of Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand in our Hamilton teaching office. Fiona provides a learning environment for her students that encourages an authentic experience of kaupapa Māori teaching practices and protocols. Fiona is passionate about her cultural background that shapes who she is.

Dr Sean Dolan, New Zealand Tertiary College

Dr Sean Dolan is the Academic Dean of New Zealand Tertiary College and the editor of the journal He Kupu. Sean has been involved in education as a teacher and leader for over two decades. Sean’s professional interests and passions lie in the professional development of student teachers for the early childhood sector and the area of first and second language acquisition. Sean has recently published on the topic of adaptive expertise in early childhood teachers and how this can be best fostered and developed for students in initial teacher education.

Miranda Herbert, Education New Zealand

Miranda took up her appointment as Director – Greater China in June 2019. She is based in the New Zealand Embassy Beijing concurrently as Education Counsellor. In this role Miranda is responsible for leading ENZ’s team based in China in their education diplomacy, maintaining public relations, and business development efforts. Miranda came to ENZ with over 15 years' international education experience both in New Zealand and China. Her role has allowed her to extend her capabilities, providing leadership at a national level. This is Miranda’s first role for ENZ, having previously spent 11 and a half years at the University of Auckland, most recently as Deputy Director (International Marketing and Business Development). She has also worked in the private education sector and spent over four years living and working in China from 1999-2003.