Sponsor presentation

Tā Mark Solomon (Chairperson) NGĀI TAHU, NGATI KURĪ Tā Mark Solomon was born and raised in Christchurch where he lives there with his wife Maria, their children and extended whānau. Tā Mark served as Kaiwhakahaere (chairperson) of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, the tribal council of Ngāi Tahu, for approximately 18 years, from 1998 until December 2016. In 2013, he was recognised as Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and Business. He was previously deputy Chair of Canterbury District Health Board, and is also founding Chairman of the Māori Carbon Collective. He is on Te Pukotahitanga, The Māori advisory group to the Government’s joint venture on family violence and sexual violence. Tā Mark has been a strong advocate in Te Waipounamu for Tū Pono: Te Mana Kaha o te Whānau, a whānau-driven movement that has a focus to explore ways of enabling a stronger Māori response to reduce and eliminate family harm/violence. More recently he was appointed to the steering group who provided advice for the establishment of the Māori Health Authority.

Jon Duffy became CEO in 2020. Jon has enjoyed a varied career in the consumer protection field including roles as Assistant Privacy Commissioner, Head of Trust & Safety at online marketplace Trade Me and as a Senior Investigator at New Zealand’s competition authority, the Commerce Commission. Alongside its core work of product testing and review, under Jon’s leadership, Consumer NZ is focussing it’s research and advocacy efforts on the big issues facing consumers in New Zealand, Aotearoa. Jon and his team also keep traders honest by calling out illegal or unethical conduct when it occurs. Jon speaks regularly on consumer issues and is increasing concerned with how dysfunctional market structures and muted competition in critical sectors are benefitting a small minority and delivering poor outcomes for the rest of society. From supermarkets to transport, banks to electricity, as we respond to climate change and cost of living our consumer landscape needs to change and begin delivering outcomes that are fairer, sustainable and benefit society longer term. Jon and his team are helping to harness the collective power of consumers to achieve this before it’s too late.

Sacha Cowlrick is the EGM Business at Suncorp New Zealand. Sacha brings customer focus, disruptive thinking and a passion for ongoing improvement. She has a strong focus on delivering good outcomes for customers and business partners through building sustainable, inclusive, and high-value solutions in the markets in which we operate. Sacha has a strong underwriting background and joined Suncorp in 2016 as the Executive Manager for Operations before taking on the role of Executive Manager, Consumer Insurance Solutions in 2017. Prior to joining Suncorp Aotearoa, she spent more than six years at IAG New Zealand and over 10 years at Southern Cross Healthcare.

James Beard is a member of Treasury's Executive Leadership Team (ELT) in his role as Deputy Secretary for Macroeconomics and Growth. He has been at the Treasury since 2004. He has held a number of management and analytical roles covering financial markets, tax strategy, international, economic strategy, business environment, defence and security, Trans-Tasman relations and APEC. In 2011, James was seconded to serve as the Economic Counsellor to New Zealand’s Permanent Delegation at the OECD in Paris. As Deputy Secretary, James is responsible for Treasury’s advice from the Economic Strategy, Growth and Public Services and Economic System directorates. Prior to joining the Treasury, James lived in Australia where he spent 10 years with Sydney-based consultancy firm, the Centre for International Economics. James has a Master of Economics from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Science with Honours (in economics) from the University of Canterbury.