Since co-founding Sustainable Coastlines in 2009, I've dedicated my mahi to protecting and regenerating nature.

I love bringing people together to design and fund conservation projects, programmes and strategies that can scale. I get pumped on connecting groups that don’t typically collaborate, solving problems and getting sh*t done.

I want to end ocean pollution.

I’ve invested the last 14 years in building an environmental charity, designing and delivering our mahi with communities around Aotearoa and the Pacific Islands. It has rarely been easy – there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears – and I’ve learned a lot along the way.

My partner and I have had two beautiful tamariki come into our lives – starting at the beginning of the pandemic. My sense of what is truly important, where my headspace is at, and how to deal with change, is constantly challenged. I’m excited about learning and embracing new ways of thinking, doing and being.

I love learning about behavioural change. It fascinates me to know how and why we make the decisions we make, and how we might influence behaviours for a better world. My journey into understanding indigenous world views – primarily through engaging with tikanga and Te Ao Maori through work alongside tangata whenua with Sustainable Coastlines – has likely been the most important learning in my personal and professional life.

14 years on from co-founding charity Sustainable Coastlines, I’m exploring what the next steps in my sustainability journey might look like. It’s exciting, and mildly terrifying, and I love the challenge of it all. Confidentially, of course 😉

Humans are nature. When nature thrives, we thrive. When nature suffers, we suffer. To regenerate and protect te taiao, we need to remember and embrace our part in nature.