DAY 2 - Rātū 15 Ākuhata / Tuesday 15 August 3pm

Lourdes Vano

Kia ora koutou, my name is Lourdes and I hail from Nuhaka on our east coast, the Cook Islands, and Samoa.

I have been involved in activism for pretty much my whole life. In recent years I have worked in climate action, politics, and community outreach all while studying here in Tāmaki.

I try to bring kōrero about Te Tiriti justice into all the spaces I'm in, and hopefully we'll be able to discuss it here too.

Prof Thomas (Tom) Wilson

Tom is the Chief Science Advisor for the National Emergency Management Agency | Te Rākau Whakamarumaru. He is also Professor of Disaster Risk & Resilience at University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha. In other words, he’s a disaster nerd who tries to use science to keep people safe and help make Aotearoa more disaster resilient.

As NEMA’s Chief Science Advisor (CSA), Tom’s role is to provide high-quality, independent, scientific advice to NEMA and the wider emergency management sector to support good decision making in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tom lives in Ōtautahi Christchurch with his wife and two amazing and sassy young kids. He loves sport, the outdoors, and has recently become passionate about suburban lawn maintenance.

Kelly Francis

Whenua Warrior was founded in 2017 by Kelly Francis who one day, while working at her corporate job, came to the realisation that the food systems needed to change in order to address food insecurity in Aotearoa.

The way that Kelly envisioned this happening was to reflect on the solutions of our tupuna and bring them forth to solve the social issues we face today.

Soon after Kelly then made it her mission to grow an edible garden accessible to every New Zealander. In doing so, Kelly had dremt that she would feed the community, teach the community to feed themselves, and empower them to feed each other.