Nicole Rosie is an experienced leader, she has been the Chief Executive of NZTA, Waka Kotahi for the last 5 years during a period of significant change in transport strategy including leading Road to Zero initiatives.  Priorto this she was the Chief Executive of WorkSafe New Zealand and has been the executive team leader of Health and Safety, risk and cultural change programmes within Fonterra and KiwiRail.

For more than 10 years Viv Bull was the General Manager People and Culture at Napier Port.  During that time, she led the Port’s implementation of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and established Napier Port’s health and safety framework, including oversight of the 4-year Health and Safety Roadmap to identify and manage critical risks in the port environment.  Under her watch the port was recognised as an industry leader and innovator by regulators.  Her wider career in culture and organizational development, has been defined by a steadfast belief in the transformative power of engaged teams to drive organisational success.

Kate is a registered organisational psychologist with over 20 years’ experience working in leadership and strategic roles. She is currently working as the Organisational Development Manager with the New Zealand Police. She has previously worked at Umbrella Wellbeing, leading their strategic wellbeing programmes and customer relationships teams. Prior to this Kate served for over 20 years in the NZ Army (both in the regular force and reserve).

Kate is passionate about supporting people to be better leaders, and driving change in organisations to create mentally healthy workplaces where people can thrive. Her approach to leadership is based on collaboration, innovation and a focus on doing better for our people.

Kate has a Master of Science (Psychology), Post Grad Dip in Industrial /Organisation Psychology, Post Grad Dip in Bus Admin (HR). 

She lives on the Kāpiti Coast with her husband, and two teenage kids. In her spare time (between running kids to sports and activities) she enjoys walking the coast and is learning te reo Māori.

Superintendent Mel Aitken has been a Police Officer for over 26 years, spending the majority of her career in an operational capacity leading front line emergency response in a variety of roles. For the last 6.5 years she has been the Director of Safer People, responsible for NZ Polices' health, safety, wellbeing, Injury management, physical education and health promotions workstreams.

International speaker, coach and author of seven personal development books. Mindset, leadership and gender balance expert with 15 years in HR and a background in the corporate world working with leaders across many countries and industries, businesses find Jess can speak their language. A brush with burnout in her corporate career led Jess across the world to train with Buddhist monks and nuns. A decade later, after writing seven books and running her own successful business she shares what she knows about mind-set, resilience and self-belief to empower people to unlock their potential. Highly acclaimed event speaker and proud member of the rainbow community. Featured on TV3, BBC, RNZ, Dominion Post, Stuff and in NZ Business Magazine. Described as inspiring, articulate and relatable by audiences. Jess has a passion for sharing her knowledge and motivating others with her words.

Katie Peri is a seasoned Health and Safety professional with over 13 years of experience leading safety initiatives across a variety of high-risk industries, including the horticultural, energy and Infrastructure sectors.

Katie is known for her proactive, coaching leadership style, which fosters collaboration and engagement at all levels of an organization. Katie has demonstrated expertise in machinery safety, critical risk management, and safety culture enhancement. She has been instrumental in implementing safety strategies that not only ensure compliance but also enhance operational performance through continuous learning and innovation. Her ability to lead teams and design safety programs that are responsive to dynamic, multicultural work environments has consistently delivered measurable improvements in safety performance.

Katie’s leadership has been recognized through various achievements, including the introduction of learning teams to promote operational safety and being the winner in the 2024 National Safeguard Safety II Awards. Katie resides in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Margaret is the co-founder and Chair of Women in Safety Excellence New Zealand and is passionate about supporting career progression for women in health and safety. Margaret is an experienced Health and Safety Professional with 25 years’ multi sector experience in H&S group management, advisory, regulatory and consultancy roles and Managing Director of a specialist H&S consultancy providing health and safety governance, leadership and technical consultancy services. Margaret is a Chartered Fellow with IOSH, a HASANZ registered Health and Safety Professional, a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), holds a number of governance roles and is an independent advisor across public and private sectors.

Vanessa is an experienced Safety, Health, and Wellbeing Leader with recognized success across various industries in Maritime, Telecommunications, Construction, Health and has recently joined the Transport and Logistics sector.  Vanessa recognizes the importance of enhancing the health and well-being of workers to achieve better safety outcomes, and more effective worker engagement and participation.  She does this by empowering the workers voice, applying her positive influence in leadership, and places significant focus on organizational culture, visible leadership, and effective working relationships.  Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Health Science in Psychology, a Diploma in Business Management, a Nebosh IGC in OSH and was awarded the 2023 Safeguard Practitioner of the Year.

Miriska is a passionate and highly experienced Health and Safety leader with a strategic, forward-thinking mindset. She holds a Master’s Degree in Occupational Hygiene, and is only one of a few Certified Occupational Hygienists (COH®) in New Zealand. She currently leads the National Programme for Hazardous Substances and Occupational Hygiene at Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (with an estimated 80,000 employees, making them the largest employer in New Zealand). Miriska serves on various governance boards such as HASANZ, NZOHS and WISE and has gained significant experience over the years at successfully setting and delivering H&S strategies and change programmes. She is known for her passion, inspiration and influence in the industry and has received several awards and scholarships in recognition. Miriska is constantly working towards improving and maintaining good worker health and safety. She actively participates in providing training, education and awareness to anyone willing to listen. As the demand grew, she also commenced her mentoring aspiration and is currently mentoring a few young professionals. Seeking to contribute and accomplish good worker health for the current and future generations, she also provides Occupational Hygiene consulting services to other businesses.