Avril Pereira — Group Manager Communications & Marketing Northpower

Avril brings extensive infrastrucure sector experience to her role leading the marketing and communications for Northpower and Northpower Fibre.

She is passionate, energetic and a highly experienced performance and delivery champion, with a focus on people, and stakeholder engagement.

A personable leader with wide ranging experience in leading and managing cross functional teams to develop and deliver solutions for both internal and external customers, to achieve growth, enhance brand and reputation in a competitive and changing business environment.

Andrew Cushen - Interim Chief Executive of InternetNZ

Andrew is Interim Chief Executive of InternetNZ. Andrew has over 15 years experience in managing relationships, messages and issues across the Internet, telco, and tech sectors. 

He currently leads the InternetNZ team on their commitment to being the home of .nz and work for an Internet that benefits all the people of Aotearoa. 

Nothing brings Andrew more joy than seeing the Internet used to do something special, remarkable and beneficial - be it for a community, a business or our country. 

Bronwyn Scott - General Manager of Digital Future Aotearoa / Project Manager at Recycle A Device

Raised in Bridge Pa, Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawkes Bay), Bronwyn was always looking skyward, leading to a career as a commercial pilot and flying instructor before diverting into the world of technology as a contracts specialist, team leader and project manager. 

As someone who is passionate about bridging the digital divide, Bronwyn is the General Manager of Digital Future Aotearoa, a charitable trust dedicated to upskilling our tamariki and rangatahi so they're able to thrive in the increasingly digital world we live in.  She's also part of the Digital Equity Coalition Aotearoa (DECA) and is Co-Chair of two constellations:  Digital devices and inclusion, and the Waitaha Regional Digital Equity Group.

Gavin Male — CEO at NZ Compare

Gavin is the Founder and CEO of NZ Compare and it’s suite of comparison brands. Before he founded NZ Compare, Gavin worked for a range of leading online businesses in the UK, Europe and the US. A Physics graduate from the University of London who is passionate about digital marketing and comparison progression in NZ.

Gavin is a professional, experienced Managing Director and Digital Professional with over 15 years of online marketing experience and has been two times short-listed as UK Digital Entrepreneur of the Year (2013, 2014).

Gavin founded NZ Compare after relocating to New Zealand with his young family in 2014 and struggling to compare and find a suitable broadband provider for his needs and Broadband Compare, the first of the NZ Compare websites was born.

Craig Young — CEO of TUANZ

Craig is passionate about the communications industry and the opportunity it offers for improving business and personal lives in NZ. He is currently the Chief Executive of the Telecommunications Association of NZ (TUANZ), which as a member based organisation educates and advocates for the improvement of communication services across NZ. TUANZ has a proud history of providing leadership in representing the views and needs of the people and businesses that rely on communications technology every day.

In his previous role at Chorus, Craig led the multilateral engagement with industry stakeholders and customers. He was heavily involved in providing leadership in several industry sectors including Chorus' rural broadband commitments. He was responsible for the RBI Advisory Committee and has presented and represented Chorus at numerous Rural conferences. He was also heavily involved with commercial and regulatory efforts on behalf of TelstraClear in previous roles.

Matthew Jackson — Commercial Director of Alimentary Systems

Matthew has two decades of experience commercialising disruptive technology across multiple industries, including telecommunications, media, SaaS, finance and healthcare.

As the former Commercial Director at Bypass, he helped accelerate convergence with Global Mode™, which enabled Netflix in New Zealand early. After that, they pivoted to keeping kids safe online for 20M Internet users.

In 2018 he was selected for the Edmund Hillary Fellowship for his work on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. His new company, Alimentary Systems, creates value from waste with a circular system that regenerates our environment. The system converts mixed organic waste streams into bioenergy and fossil-free organic fertiliser, to keep waterways clean and decarbonise industries.

Sarah McHardy — GM of Customer at Vector Limited

Sarah McHardy has extensive knowledge of the energy industry after almost 20 years in varying roles. She has worked for Energy Retailers and now is General Manager Customer for Vector Metering.

As her title suggests, Sarah is all about the best outcome for customers; Vector Metering customers and their customers. Sarah is excited about the challenges that we’ll face as we head into the new energy future and looks forward to seeing what this means for us all.

Alex Grace — CTO of NZ Compare

Alex is the CTO of NZ Compare and it’s suite of comparison brands, New Zealand's only comprehensive online comparison websites. Before founding NZ Compare, Alex worked for a range of leading online businesses in Russia for 5 years where he launched several successful online projects.

Relocating to New Zealand in 2014, Alex studied IT at Regent International Education Group and graduated in 2015. A very keen online gamer and all round technical wizard, Alex has very high demands around his broadband connection to the everyday Kiwi consumer. This perspective and day to day involvement in working with New Zealand retailers makes him a valuable addition to the Judging Panel.

Tom Pullar-Strecker — Senior Journalist at STUFF

Tom Pullar-Strecker was educated at Oxford University and has worked as a reporter and editor for the past 30 years, in the UK, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Australia, contributing to publications including Britain's The Independent newspaper and Economist Group publications before moving to Wellington.Tom is a former editor of The Dominion Post's NZ InfoTech and has a key interest in reporting about the intersection between economics, technology and public policy.

Most recently, Tom is based as a senior business journalist for Stuff. He has had a specialisation in telecommunications and technology reporting for much of his career, winning the TUANZ Telecommunications Editor of the year award in 2010.

Phil Campbell — Director at UBS

For over 20 years Phil has been an equity analyst valuing listed telecom companies in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Between 2010 to 2017 he worked as planning director and CFO for Crown Infrastructure Partners through which he was intimately involved in the roll out and wholesale pricing for NZ's Ultrafast Fibre Network. Now the Director of UBS, a global firm providing financial services to private, corporate and institutional clients. In his spare time, Phil loves socialising, traveling and talking about broadband!

Bill Bennett — Freelance Journalist for the NZ Herald & NZ Business

Bill Bennett is an experienced editor and journalist specialising in technology and business. He writes business and news features for the New Zealand Herald, a monthly technology column for the NZ Business magazine, and is a regular on Radio NZ Nine-to-Noon. Recently, Bill has also edited The Download magazine for Chorus.

Bennett has written for many overseas titles including Computer Weekly in the UK and PC Magazine in the US. He has previously worked for Australia and New Zealand’s best known newspapers including; The Dominion, The Evening Post (now Dominion-Post), The National Business Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Melbourne Age and The Australian Financial Review. He has been a technology commentator on ABC radio, the BBC, Channel 7, 2ZB, TVNZ and TV3 in New Zealand.

Karen Tobeck — Director at Monteck Carter

As a director of Monteck Carter, Karen is responsible for developing strategy around marketing and communications within this accounting and business development firm. Her client focus is working in the taxation and advisory roles with her clients.

Being a business owner for the past 30 years, means Karen brings a wealth of experience in running and growing small businesses in NZ. Communication and technology play a major part in assisting her clients to develop and grow. Karen has a Bachelor of Business and a Master’s in Taxation Studies from Auckland University. Her client portfolio is varied across many sectors of NZ business, giving her vast experience when it comes to overseeing her own busy accounting practice.

Karen brings many years of experience in customer service and knowing how to retain clients in a changing business world both with client expectations and the advancements in technology.

Nicole Crump — Head of Marketing at AdviceFirst

As a former founder of Tactix and now Marketing and Customer Insights Manager for AdviceFirst after the acquisition of Tactix, Nicole’s focus is on the generation of meaningful consumer insights to guide the development of effective sales channels, and marketing strategies to ultimately grow businesses. 

With over 25 years experience in both marketing and research roles, Nicole has proven results across a large range of industries and has a specific interest and focus on the communications, broadband and ICT industries where she has been responsible for growth of companies in NZ and Pacific Islands.

Jess Henderson — Director of Movinghub NZ

Jess Henderson is a Director of Movinghub NZ; New Zealand’s leading moving services company and a global leader in SaaS and PropTech solutions specialising in helping people move home with ease. Jess has extensive sales and marketing experience; working with global brands such as The Body Shop and Adidas before embarking on a purpose driven journey to reinvent the way people move home.

Operating in four markets, Movinghub has moved +1.5 million people (and counting); providing a free service to arrange the connection of multiple utility services at a new home, in one place.
Working with leading service providers to get the job done, it’s fair to say Jess has a wealth of knowledge of the power and broadband sectors and more importantly, understands what it means to deliver excellence.

David Morrison — CEO at Thankyou Payroll

David is the CEO at Thankyou Payroll, a purpose driven Payroll SAAS company that delivers beyond a focus solely on profit.  Alongside its core business of payroll services for thousands of organisations, Thankyou  Payroll believes businesses can be better, embedding sustainable impact and generosity into how they go about their work. 

In recent years David was the Commercial Director at InternetNZ, the home of the National Broadband Map. The National Broadband Map is an InternetNZ service and the only independent website that maps all fibre, VDSL, ADSL, Cable and Fixed Wireless coverage across New Zealand. 

Outside of work you can find David paddling in a surf ski and chasing waves across Wellington Harbour.