Dr Monty Soutar has been a teacher, a soldier, and a historian and has worked for the government, museums and iwi runanga. Dr Soutar’s research background spans almost forty years, during which time he has had access to closely guarded tribal and family manuscripts. In 2015, he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and historical research. He continues to serve on the Waitangi Tribunal.

Dr Soutar is the author of Whītiki Whiti Whiti E! Māori in the First World War and Ngā Tama Toa: The Price of Citizenship: C Company 28 (Māori Battalion 1939–1945). Whītiki is a significant publication about Māori participation in the First World War, and the award-winning Nga Tama Toa focussed on Māori participation in the Second World War.

In 2021, he was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship to write the Kāwai series. He has published two books in the series. For Such a Time as This was published in September 2022, and Tree of Nourishment was released at the end of 2024. Both novels went straight to number one on the New Zealand Fiction bestsellers list.

Nicole Skews-Poole is a communicator and trainer specialising in understanding disinformation and building organisational resilience to online targeting.

She has a background in strategic communications, crisis response and social media. After helping steer some of the first disinformation targeting of the public sector during COVID-19, she worked as the Director of Communications for the research group The Disinformation Project. Following the Project's closure, she founded the small social enterprise called Anchordown, where she provides education, training and consulting on countering disinformation and its impacts.

Nicole is part of the Christchurch Call Advisory Network (CCAN), a registered member of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) and the Facilitators Network NZ.

Te Paea Paringatai (Waikato, Ngāti Porou) is President-elect 2025-2027 of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and a passionate advocate for libraries as spaces of connection, cultural resilience, and collective stewardship. With a career spanning academic libraries, national institutions, and global leadership roles, she brings deep experience and a strong commitment to embedding mātauranga Māori and Indigenous knowledge systems in the heart of information practice.

Te Paea currently serves as Chair of the IFLA Professional Council and sits on the IFLA Governing Board, helping shape international conversations about the future of libraries, equitable access to knowledge, and the role of Indigenous worldviews in shaping sustainable solutions. In Aotearoa, she supports the teaching of future library and information professionals and has led strategic initiatives with the National Library and Archives New Zealand to break down systemic barriers and foster genuine collaboration.

Her interests span systems thinking, institutional entrepreneurship, organisational psychology, and cultural transformation. She champions taonga i tuku iho, governance excellence, and the applied practice of mātauranga Māori in institutional policy and strategy.

A LIANZA Fellow and Honorary Fellow of Te Rōpū Whakahau, Te Paea holds a Bachelor of Library and Information Studies and an MBA with Distinction. She is currently completing doctoral research through the University of Otago.

AI/Data and Emerging Tech Ethics and Governance; IP & Critical Indigenous Researcher.

One of Aotearoa New Zealand's leading voices in digital technology ethics and Māori data sovereignty. With over 30 years in the sector and deep expertise in integrating mātauranga Māori with emerging technologies, Dr Taiuru brings a unique perspective on how AI impacts not just innovation, but identity, sovereignty, and tino rangatiratanga in the digital realm.

From cultural appropriation in algorithm design to the risks and opportunities AI presents for all communities, Dr Taiuru provides useful and practicable insights and advise into the ethical, governance, and rights-based issues that can’t be ignored. Whether you’re in policy, product design, or technical leadership, Dr Taiuru will challenge your organisation to think more critically—and inclusively—about the future we’re building.

He is also known for his work with various tech boards and organizations, including his involvement with the AI Forum Kāhui Māori and the Institute of AI Governance.

Dr Marie-Louise Ayres FAHA was appointed Director-General of the National Library Australia in March 2017, and reappointed in March 2022, having joined the Library in 2002. She has worked in research libraries for more than 30 years, after completing a PhD in Australian Literature at the Australian National University.

Dr Ayres is a Director of National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) , having previously been a leader and participant in many NSLA projects, including NED, the National eDeposit service that was jointly developed by Australia's national, state and territory libraries. She is the Chair of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries .

Dr Ayres is an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Rachel Esson FLIANZA is Te Pouhuaki National Librarian of New Zealand. She was previously the director of content services at the National Library of NZ. Content Services is responsible for the acquisition, description and processing of items for the published collections, for collection delivery services, for preservation of the Library’s digital collections, for the Library’s full-text digitisation programme and services for libraries, EPIC, Te Puna, Kōtui and APNK Services. She is a professionally registered librarian who has held senior and strategic roles in academic and research libraries. She has an MLIS from Victoria University and also holds a Certificate in Tertiary Teaching from the University of Otago University. She has researched and published in the area of evaluation of library services. She has held previous roles as Associate Chief Librarian Research Collections at the Turnbull Library, Associate Director, Library Academic Services at Victoria University and Medical Librarian (University of Otago, Wellington). She has been active in LIANZA  and is a previous LIANZA President.