The MoA Team
Tori Ball
Head of Operations
Tori is the go-to person for keeping things running smoothly at the Ministry of Awesome. With a mix of experience from different industries like corporate, manufacturing, hospitality, and retail, she brings a lot to the table. Tori's all about making sure everyone's supported and empowered, and she's on a mission to create a super-organised and mega-productive work vibe for her team.
●Entrepreneurs-in-residence:
Georgia Lee
Former health tech founder with experience spanning research, product development, commercialisation, investor relations, and financial management.
Janine Grainger
Fintech founder and entrepreneur with a background in strategy, finance, and economics. Active in the innovation ecosystem. Recognised as a University of Auckland Top 40 Under 40 and 2023 IBM Hi-Tech Awards Inspiring Individual.
Dan Khan
Early-stage founder advisor and operator with 25+ years building and scaling tech companies, including a European social network exit and a $10M+ revenue business.
Sam Blackman
Entrepreneur, technologist, and educator focused on applying technology to improve lives. Co-founder and former CTO of Y Combinator-backed Nuvocargo.
Marie-Claire Andrews
Business development, marketing, and strategic leader. Experienced serial entrepreneur, now supporting growth and commercial strategy for startups and organisations.
Shaun Edlin
Former CEO of Dotterel Technologies, where he scaled from startup to international deployments. Now advises founders on GTM strategy, sales, and product development.
Tim Pointer
Co-Founder and CEO of Reason and Founder of RescueMetrics. Now an investor and advisor helping founders sharpen product-market fit and execute high-performing go-to-market strategies.
Brough Johnson
Co-Founder of Narrative Muse, an ethical audience intelligence platform. Leads product vision and commercial growth. Previously worked in film and TV, Emmy® Award-winning.
Guy Horrocks
Venture-backed serial entrepreneur in NZ and NYC. Now a GTM specialist advising companies like Halter, Tracksuit, and Sence.
●Startup coaches:
Dr. Dianne Jones
Dianne is the Co-founder of Myovolt. She has a passion for the commercialisation of R&D and loves the challenge of turning ideas into consumer products. She has a strong track record over the last 25 years as an inventor and company founder delivering cutting edge innovations to international markets.
Sam Park
Sam is a business strategist with expertise in sales strategy, food & beverage and healthtech—Sam helps others develop solutions for profitable, sustainable growth.
●Board of trustees:
Dale Stephens
Trustee + Chair
Dale has over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership roles to CEO level in the business world. He has also had senior leadership roles at government agencies including the Ministry for Māori Development, Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry of Fisheries. He has travelled extensively to promote New Zealand businesses including participating in numerous trade delegations.
James Burnes
Trustee
James is a product development consultant with 20 years working product marketing, entrepreneurship, and intrapreneurship. He previously co-founded and was CEO of Startup Queenstown Lakes with a responsibility to build the local community, develop and oversee entrepreneur and investor programmes, and to establish a role for the District In the national startup ecosystem.
Mahesh Muralidhar
Trustee
Mahesh has experienced how to build a global Unicorn from ground up as an early employee and the first Head of People at Canva (SAAS) helping to scale to 200+ people. He had the opportunity to drive operational excellence, helping Airtasker (marketplace) become profitable, go global and go public. He has also been an investor and mentor to startups as they navigate their way to success.
Jenni Callaghan
Trustee
Jenni is a Chartered Accountant and an Associate Director at EY, specialising in helping privately owned businesses, entities and individuals with their financial, accounting and taxation needs. She is passionate about supporting business growth and seeing entrepreneurs succeed. Jenni has helped to build the professional services partnership between EY and MOA.
Levi Fawcett
Trustee
Levi is the Founder and CEO of Partly. He's a successful entrepreneur with a proven track record of building four successful companies prior to Partly and has been recognised as one of Forbes' 30 Under 30. He previously lead the guidance and simulation team at Rocket Lab.
Bridget Unsworth
Trustee
Bridget has 15 years of experience in New Zealand’s startup ecosystem, specialising in supporting founders and fostering the growth of globally ambitious tech companies. As the former Investment Director at NZGCP and Executive Director of the Angel Association, she has helped countless founders navigate their investment and fundraising journeys.