Reflecting on the year that’s been and planning for the future

Last week we hosted our Annual Meeting where our co-chair, Shane Kerr, and deputy chair, Alana Pellow presented to our membership base a review of the journey our EdTech community has had over the last 12 months, our strategy moving forward, and announced our new executive council and said some farewells. Here are a few highlights from the last 12 months:

EdTech Excellence Report was released.
EdTech Ecosystem Directory was published on our website. Make sure you are part of the ecosystem and add yourself if you haven’t already.
Our EdTech for Export Working Group was formed to help our community succeed in offshore markets.
Appointed a new executive director, Alison Mackie, to bring more support to our leadership team.

With the incredible growth we’ve seen over the last year, we believe that our strategy holds strong and we will be continuing to focus on the following:

Advance:

Helping Government to understand the EdTech opportunity
Helping EdTech companies connect and grow

Promote:

To Aotearoa, the importance of innovative technology to support education
To the world, expose Aotearoa EdTech innovation to the world

Connect:

Supporting a growing, integrated, connected ecosystem
Connecting New Zealand to international markets

This week our executive council will come together in Wellington for our strategic hui to develop key initiatives for the coming year and build a series of activities to connect, promote and advance the work of our EdTech community. Keep an eye out for our next newsletter for a full update.

Announcement of council appointments

We are pleased to introduce the successful candidates of our executive council, who all bring great insights and experience in the EdTech sector to our council. We welcome Jude Hadfield (TTRO), Mahsa McCauley (AUT), and Bradley Hansen (AWS). We also congratulate Alana Pellow (ENZ) and Truman Pham (The Mind Lab) who were successful in being reappointed in their respective seats.

While we welcome new members of our executive council, we also say farewell and a big thank you to Noah Ghebremichael (University of Auckland Business School); Matthew McCulloch (AWS); Sarah Cochopa (Hudson Gavin Martin); and Duane Grace (Taiki). Thank you all for your efforts in bringing collaborative thinking across the education sector and your insights on how we can support our EdTech community to accelerate their growth.

And a final departing thank you to our longstanding EdTechNZ Chair, Shane Kerr from our co-chair, Evo Leota-Tuou:

I would like to express my sincere appreciation on behalf of the EdTechNZ executive council for all the hard work and commitment that Shane Kerr has contributed over the years. Along with others who have stepped down from council duties, Shane’s wisdom and expert knowledge have enabled us to flourish together, as an EdTech community – especially as we move forward into a new phase of growth.

Working on complex campaigns and initiatives requires an impressive work ethic and resilience, which Shane provided. Many successful EdTech (projects) and campaigns have been attributed to his collaborative attitude and strong leadership.

I have no doubt that Shane will apply the same amount of determination and talent to the next opportunity he pursues, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.

Thank you once again for all you’ve done for the ‘newcomers’ and for the EdTechNZ community as a whole.

With best wishes – Ngā manaakitanga.
Evo Leota-Tupou, Co-Chair EdTechNZ

Read More: EdTechNZ November News