About

Rural, Māori, urban, multiculturalist

I have the tremendous fortune of ancestors from far away (England, Ireland) and very deeply here in Aōtearoa New Zealand. My grasp of my whakapapa, my sense of belonging here by tracing ancestry to the earth and the sky, has been ingrained always by my upbringing among my whānau in Coromandel.

Growing up in rural New Zealand before the ease of communications we have now also instilled a sense of isolation – at times a great heartache for an individual, but also a privilege. Particularly illustrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when isolation and independence have felt like survival skills.

Understanding first-hand the concerns of people living in remote communities with limited access to services that are ubiquitous in towns and cities lends me the ability to test both perspectives of a solution. The smaller rural communities also have their own fabric, Coromandel nurtures creativity – in problem solving as well as in the art-making sense. I consider myself equally of Auckland and of Coromandel – opposites in a whole.

From web design to digital strategy

I shifted into digital technology in the late 2000s, training in web design and development at Media Design School. That formal grounding in front‑end and interaction design has stayed with me: I still think in terms of interfaces, content, and the lived experience of the person on the other side of the screen.

I’ve worked as vendor, client and consultant across a wide range of brands and sectors: media and entertainment with some of NZ and Australia’s biggest radio brands, consumer products such as EasiYo yoghurt, tourism clients, and local government including Auckland City Council and Palmerston North City Council. Throughout I’ve honed skills in how to translate between marketing, technical teams, and other stakeholders with very different definitions of “success” – and very different levels of understanding across team and organisational lines.

Working with community and impact organisations

A consistent through‑line in my work has been supporting people who are trying to do good work in the world, often with limited resources. I spent several years volunteering as a digital architect with the yMedia Group, helping connect graduates in digital media and marketing with community organisations that needed practical assistance with their projects.

That experience, combined with my own non‑linear career, led naturally into roles that focus on employability, creative careers, and impact storytelling. At FutureMakers (for The University of Auckland), I worked as online editor and digital strategist, making sure programmes and tools were accessible online and joining the dots between workshops, resources, and digital channels for students in the Creative Arts and Industries faculty. I’m drawn to spaces where digital isn’t just “a channel”, but part of how people find work, community, and agency – sometimes with no other “channel” to tune into.

Leading digital transformation as a contractor for Foundation North in 2019 highlighted the deep value of amplifying my own personal impact by making accessing funding easier for community based organisations, no other work has felt as broadly meaningful at such a scale as this – and I have felt the anchor to community work ever since.

Fractional leadership, data, and product

Today, my work centres on fractional leadership and product development for organisations that need senior digital capability, but don’t necessarily need (or can’t support) a full‑time executive. That looks like:

• Shaping data and digital strategy ensuring it’s grounded in real constraints, and real users.
• Translating between deeply technical teams and non‑technical decision‑makers.
• Ensuring solution meets genuine need, and considering the non-linear paths to realise that solution.
• Designing and iterating products that make complex information more insightful and more actionable for the greater good.

My focus is on building solutions that last with integrity, and I hold that learning is lifelong with lessons learned as they unfold for each person on their individual journey. Respect is central to moving forward together.

AI, impact, and storytelling

I’m interested in how the use of “AI” systems encode bias, who is visible in the data, and how we can ensure community organisations who lack resource don’t get left behind as the proliferation of tools compounds and multiplies faster by the day. Careful use of data processing power and resources when they return a social and environmental positive is important.

A big part of my work is helping organisations tell nuanced stories about their impact: combining quantitative data, qualitative insight, and emotional narrative in ways that feel inherently true at the human level. I am eager to ensure that human creativity is respected and centralised when telling these stories, our fingerprints should be on what we create.

Artist as systems thinker

Alongside my digital technology work, I maintain an art practice that explores systems, care, bodily autonomy, self-expression and the lived experience of navigating institutions while also interrogating the assumptions that underpin impulse and intuition.

My expression of my art is mostly in the format of nail art, and I am a lifelong artist in many media – painting, photography, edible arts, crafts, writing. I don’t see my identity as an artist as seperate. The same instincts that feed my art – curiosity, imagination, learning through doing (and through failure), dissatisfaction, and discomfort, also shape how I approach my digital work.

Work with me

I’m available for digital work through simpact AI, for mentoring as a nail technician through Monaco Nail Academy, and for artwork directly.

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