Dr Catherine Leonard (Kāi Tahu) is the Research Director at Ihi Research, a Māori-owned research and evaluation organisation working alongside communities, iwi and Māori service providers across Aotearoa New Zealand. Catherine specialises in kaupapa Māori and whānau-centred research, with a focus on generating evidence that is practical, credible, and useful for community decision-making, commissioning, and service improvement.
Her work spans mixed-methods evaluation, social impact measurement (including SROI), and community-led approaches that centre lived experience, equity, and Te Tiriti-aligned outcomes.

Dr Kathie Irwin is a third generation Māori educationist. Public service and social justice are deeply embedded in her bloodlines. She spent 20 years as an academic and about 20 years working as a public servant and in the NGO Sector. 
Kathie’s passion inspires her to contribute to nation building, in innovative and creative ways, that are framed by Sir Apirana Ngata’s whakatauāki (proverb) “E tipu, e rea”. This proverb speaks to the possibilities of Treaty based models of change that create authentic transformation. 

In June 2020 she founded Kathie Irwin and Associates, Specialists in Education, Research and Training. Kathie serves as CEO.

Dr Gauri Nandedkar has extensive research and evaluation experience in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas in housing, race and ethnicity, positive ageing and empowerment. She enjoys working in and with organisations that align with her core values of social justice, empathy and understanding, and representation and inclusion of diverse voices. She has worked with both mental health and women’s organisations that support ethnic communities in their health and wellbeing. 

Associate Professor Polly Yeung, originally from Hong Kong, is a distinguished scholar in the field of ageing and currently serves as Deputy Head of School in the School of Social Work at Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand, where she has worked since 2010. Having completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in New Zealand and her PhD in Australia, she has built an academic career dedicated to understanding the complexities of ageing and the role of social work interventions in supporting older people, their whānau, and families. With extensive experience in disability and community development, her research spans quality of life in later years, elder abuse, caregiving, and cultural diversity.
She has published widely in high-impact journals and been involved with prestigious funded projects focused on health and wellbeing among older people and vulnerable communities, making significant contributions to both scholarship and practice in social work.

Dr Janet Tupou (Tongan) is a Lecturer in the School of Communication Studies (SCS). As a graduate of the Bachelor of Communication Studies, she went on to complete a BCS Honours and Masters (first class) and her PhD all at Auckland University of Technology. Janet has been involved in a wide range of research projects centred around emotional labour, Tongan cultural identity and community consultation efforts in Auckland. She is also interested in intercultural communication and particularly the representation of women in Tongan spaces and Pasifika cultures. She also conducts research and evaluation for government agencies and NGO’s.

She teaches courses in the critical media department, specialising in Intercultural communication and sustainable development communication.
Janet also supervises post graduate students, is a member of the Kaipatiki Local Board and volunteers in the Tongan community on a regular basis.

Dr Edmond Fehoko is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago. His interdisciplinary expertise includes criminology, sociology, cultural studies, mental health and addiction, reproductive health, and public health. Dr Fehoko’s work focuses on Pacific and Indigenous health, emphasizing culturally grounded, community-led research.
He has extensive experience in designing, developing, and evaluating Pacific and Indigenous health interventions. Dr Fehoko is recognized for his leadership in qualitative and Pacific research methods. He is currently funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand to lead a programme on Pacific male perspectives on digital wellbeing and is a Co-Principal Investigator on a project exploring Pacific experiences of infertility and assisted reproductive technologies.

Before joining the University of Otago, Dr Fehoko held roles at the University of Auckland, Manukau Institute of Technology, and Auckland University of Technology. He has received several awards, including the Prime Minister’s Pacific Youth Award (2013), the Sunpix Pacific Peoples Education Award (2019), and multiple Health Research Council awards.

Sandar Duckworth is a co-founder of Litmus and has more than 20 years’ experience working alongside communities, and government agencies to understand what drives meaningful and lasting change.

She specialises in impact measurement and management, supporting organisations to focus on what matters most for the people and communities they serve. Her work helps organisations adapt and strengthen their services, make informed decisions, and clearly demonstrate their value to funders and partners.

Sandar is a member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association and the American Evaluation Association (AEA), where she serves as the External Relations Co-Chair for the Social Finance group. She is also a trustee of Ethnic Research Aotearoa.

Mathea Roorda has had a long involvement in evaluation that has spanned many sectors and collaborations in Aotearoa, the Pacific and Australia. She has Post Grad. Diploma in Social Sector Evaluation Research from Massey University and a PhD in evaluation from the University of Melbourne.
Mathea has previously held the position of Chair of the Awards Working Group for the Australian Evaluation Society and is also part of a team that won a ‘Best Evaluation Study’ award for a two-year evaluation of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Policy.