TEDxWaihī Beach

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Anna Curzon

  Business leader & Activist

  Anna co-chairs B416, a New Zealand advocacy group established to address a modern-day public health crisis: the impact of social media on youth. Anna is passionate about the simple yet urgent mission of keeping our rangatahi safe online and has lobbied for the introduction of a legal age limit for social media. Outside of her work with B416, Anna is a prominent and highly respected business leader and board director. Her experience includes global C-suite roles at Xero and senior leadership roles with a number of other technology companies. She is a Director on a number of leading NZ companies. For over five years—across successive Governments—Anna has been a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council by appointment of the Prime Minister, where she is currently chairing the Regional Economic Working Group.

• Clare Bradley

  Business Leader & Conservation

  Clare Bradley is the CEO of AgriSea NZ Seaweed Ltd , a Māori-owned seaweed company creating regenerative solutions for farmers, growers and coastal communities. At 20, Clare lived deep in the Amazon Rainforest working alongside an indigenous community to build enterprises that protected their forest, an experience that shaped her belief that real change must be community-led.🌲 Today, she works at the intersection of science, indigenous knowledge, and business to build a thriving seaweed sector in Aotearoa. As Founding Chair of the Aotearoa New Zealand Seaweed Association and founder of Rere ki Uta, Rere ki Tai, Clare is helping reshape how we think about soil, water, food and the blue economy. She believes the essence of a changing world is not disruption, it is reconnection.

• Dr Louise Schofield

  Business Innovator & Health

  Dr Louise Schofield is the founder and CEO of PREKURE, built on the powerful belief that prevention is cure. PREKURE was named Changemaker Organisation of the Year 2023 by the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine — a testament to the impact of this work. Louise is a published researcher, former New Zealand professional triathlete, successful entrepreneur, and lifelong student of behaviour change — dedicated to helping people transform their own lives and the lives of others. Her message is both simple and powerful: the most impactful health intervention available to any of us is the decision to keep becoming. Because your identity isn’t a noun — it’s a verb.

• John Ballinger

  Founder, Engineer & Tinkerer

  "I build things I probably shouldn’t. I’m a founder, engineer, and lifelong tinkerer who believes most problems are more 'figure-out-able' than they first appear. My background spans startups, software, and systems, but lately I’ve been using AI as something closer to a workshop assistant: part researcher, part co-pilot, part overly enthusiastic intern. I use it to hack together electronics, untangle messy information, prototype ideas quickly, and solve practical problems that would normally sit in the 'too hard' pile. What interests me most isn’t AI replacing people. It’s what happens when ordinary people suddenly get extraordinary leverage. In a small community like Waihi Beach, that matters. Because so much of what makes a place work, is invisible: volunteers, local clubs, small decisions, half-finished ideas, and people quietly holding things together. AI doesn’t replace that. It amplifies it!"

• Jono Ridler

  Sports person and Activist

  ono Ridler is an endurance swimmer, ocean advocate, and founder of the Swim4TheOcean initiative. Through ambitious endurance challenges, he uses sport as a platform to spark conversations about the health of our oceans. His latest achievement is a staged, unassisted 1,000-mile swim down the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island—one of the longest staged swims ever attempted. 🌏 Beyond the physical and mental challenge, Jono’s work is about possibility. By sharing lessons from preparing for and pursuing extraordinary goals, he inspires audiences to think bigger about their potential. Through stories from the ocean and the edge of endurance, he challenges people to dream bigger, commit to bold goals, and discover how far they can go. ✨

• Juliana Carvalho

  Changemaker & Storyteller

  Juliana Carvalho is an award-winning disability advocate, bestselling author, and inspirational speaker. Born in Brazil, she became paraplegic at 19 and transformed her experience into a mission to drive change. She created and hosted the Brazilian public television show Make a Difference, directed the award-winning short film 'If the Eyes Cannot See, The Legs Cannot Feel', and won Marie Claire Brazil’s Best True Story Award. Her autobiography ‘In my chair or yours?’ has sold more than 30,000 copies in Brazil, and the English edition made it to the top #100 hot new releases on Amazon.com. Since 2012, Juliana has called Aotearoa home, dedicating herself to leadership in the disability sector. A proud Rotarian from the Papamoa Club, she is passionate about serving the community. Through humour, energy, and powerful storytelling, Juliana challenges perspectives, inspires resilience, and advocates for a more inclusive world. To learn more visit www.juliana.co.nz