Auckland

Speakers:

Nadia Lim

The last ten years have been a jam-packed, exciting ride for the qualified dietician former MasterChef New Zealand winner.

Nadia has eleven best-selling books, is one of the founders of My Food Bag, and last year during lockdown she hosted and produced the highly acclaimed TV series "Nadia's Comfort Kitchen" with an accompanying cookbook and donated all profits of over $400,000 to Womens Refuge and Youthline. 

However her biggest passion project these days is farming. Nadia says she has always felt a “deep responsibility to follow the journey of what goes on behind our plates”. She believes Aotearoa has the opportunity to be the leader in sustainable, ethical food production. Along with husband Carlos, she has taken over the running of a 1,200 acre farm in Central Otago where they farm regeneratively and produce everything from lamb, wool, organic green produce, grains, seeds, pasture-raised eggs and honey.

Nadia is also on the board of trustees for Garden to Table that brings growing and cooking education to primary schools and is an ambassador of the Cambodia Charitable Trust.

Dr Siouxsie Wiles

Dr Siouxsie Wiles MNZM is an award-winning scientist who has made a career of manipulating microbes. Her day job is as an associate professor at the University of Auckland and head of the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab. There she and her team make nasty bacteria glow in the dark to find new medicines. Siouxsie also has a passion for demystifying science, and she was doing this long before the pandemic. In 2017 she published her first book, ‘Antibiotic resistance: the end of modern medicine?’ and in 2019 was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology and science communication. When the pandemic arrived, Siouxsie joined forces with Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris to make the science of the pandemic clear and understandable. Their award-winning graphics have been translated into multiple languages and adapted by various governments and organisations. Siouxsie was the Supreme Winner of the Stuff Westpac 2020 Women of Influence Award, named by the BBC as one of their 100 influential women of 2020, and in 2021 was named Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.

Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh

Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh is the Director of Women in Technology and a Senior Lecturer at AUT’s School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences. With a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, she is heavily involved in researching and developing high-level AI strategy in contexts such as the future of work and digital disruption. She is on the Executive Council for AI Forum, and is a board member of NZ Tech representing government and education, and on their sub-board for diversity and inclusion.

She is also a board member of Variety – the Children’s Charity, an organisation dedicated to supporting children and young people in need across New Zealand. She is an external technical advisor on AI strategy to a few New Zealand SMEs.

Mahsa is also the founder and director of charitable trust She Sharp, which aims to encourage more girls to study STEM fields. Her passion for promoting careers in technology to young women has been widely recognised, and she has received a number of nominations and awards for her efforts, including the Emerging Leader Award at the NZ Women of Influence Awards in 2013.

She was one of ten finalists for the 2018 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year. In 2019 she was the Champion Award winner of the YWCA Equal Pay awards, and in 2020 presented with the Massey University Distinguished Alumni Award for community service.

with Host Carol Hirschfeld

Carol Hirschfeld joined Stuff in 2018. She has had a lengthy career as a presenter and producer with both TVNZ and TV3, presenting the news with John Campbell at TV3 and later producing Campbell Live.

In 2009, Carol joined Māori TV as head of programming. She became head of content at RNZ five years later, re-launching Checkpoint as the organisation's first foray into multimedia programming.