David has had a successful career in the private and public sector and is now CEO of The New Zealand Story, an ambitious government-funded organisation marketing New Zealand to the world.
He also acts as a consultant and is a director on several boards, including as Chair of The Icehouse.  David is an ex-comedian, TV and radio actor, semi-finalist for New Zealander of the Year, cancer survivor and a published author of the books No.8 Re-wired, No.8 Recharged, A Mild Touch of the Cancer, and Silver Linings.
David founded SOS Business, a hugely successful not-for-profit initiative to help cafes and other small businesses during covid-19.

Hayden Mackenzie is the Head of Energy Investment at Invest NZ – New Zealand’s new FDI agency. Hayden focuses on the attraction and acceleration of investment into renewable energy and industrial projects in New Zealand.

Hayden supports New Zealand businesses in their investment preparation, ensuring they are investment ready and ready to meet with investors. He works closely with investors and developers from across the world to smooth their entry to New Zealand.

In his career prior to joining NZTE, Hayden worked as an exploration geologist in New Zealand, Indonesia, and Canada before transitioning into ESG consulting and venture capital.  Hayden holds a BSc in Geology and MSc in Engineering Geology (geothermal) from the University of Canterbury, Master of Legal Studies from the University of Auckland, and an MBA from the University of British Columbia.

Alan Stewart is the CEO of MB Century, a world-class energy services provider specialising in the renewable energy sector. With a career spanning over two decades, Alan’s journey began in London’s financial sector, leading international talent acquisition for investment banks. He later transitioned into business leadership, bringing strategic oversight and operational excellence to the organisations he served. Since joining MB Century in 2019, Alan has overseen key business functions, including people, risk management, quality assurance, IT, finance, and administration. Appointed CEO in December 2024, he continues to drive innovation, operational excellence, and client partnerships in the energy sector.

Mr. Yamin is responsible for leading Ormat’s sales and business development efforts in New Zealand and the Philippines. Prior to joining Ormat, held a number of executive roles spanning technical, sales, and business development functions, demonstrating a strong and versatile leadership background.

Mr. Yamin holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Ben-Gurion University and a Master of Science in Management from Polytechnic University of New York.

Tina Schirr is the Executive Director of the BusinessNZ Energy Council (the New Zealand member committee of the World Energy Council), where she is responsible for the development of policy on all matters relating to climate change, energy and transport. Tina is a member of Transpower’s Consumer Advisory Panel, part of the Start-Up Energy Transition Jury and an independent advisor to New Zealand’s Young Energy Professional Network. Due to her passion for entrepreneurism, she is always looking out for the next game-changer in the energy sector.

Tim is Chair of his consultancy group, Groser & Associates, which specialises in advice on trade and climate change-related matters. Among his other responsibilities he was recently appointed as the  Chair of the Government Advisory Group on Supercritical Geothermal Energy.​

After joining the NZ Treasury as a junior economist in 1973, Tim became deeply involved in Australia/NZ economic relationships which then evolved into the CER Agreement. In the early 1980s, Tim served in the Prime Minister’s Department as the Foreign Affairs adviser to Prime Ministers Muldoon and David Lange 

In 1986, Tim was then appointed NZ Chief Trade Negotiator with responsibility for the last successful multilateral Trade Negotiating Round, the Uruguay Round. 

He served as Ambassador to Indonesia 1994-97 (Tim’s first involvement with the Geothermal Industry (the Wayang Windu 600 MW plant built by NZ). 

In 2002 Tim was appointed Ambassador to the WTO and chaired the Agriculture Negotiating Group.  He served as NZ Trade Minister, NZ Climate Change Minister (International) and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs 2008-15. From 2016-19 Tim was Ambassador to the United States.​

Tim was recently appointed Chair of the Advisory Group on Supercritical Geothermal Energy.

Ian Richardson has worked in the electricity industry for over 20 years, working in both technical and leadership roles in Australia and New Zealand. Ian has worked in the geothermal industry for the last 12 years and is currently the Head of Geothermal Innovation for Contact Energy. Ian is currently focussed on greenhouse gas mitigation for Contact’s geothermal power plants including NCG reinjection and ca.

Farrell Siega is the Geoscience Manager at Mercury NZ, based in Rotorua, New Zealand.  With a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Philippines and a Post-graduate Diploma in Hydrology from Austria, Farrell  also has completed a Master of Business Administration degree and is a Certified Associate in Project Management in New Zealand.

Farrell is passionate about the development and management of renewable energy, with 25+ years experience working in the geothermal industry.  His expertise is in the area of geochemistry, geothermal resource development and management, and consent compliance reporting. 

As a Strategic Project Manager at Mercury, Sam leads key initiatives focused on geothermal emissions reduction, helping drive progress toward Mercury’s Climate Action Plan goals. With four years at Mercury, Sam brings experience in managing complex, sustainability-focused projects at the intersection of energy and innovation. Sam is excited to host the discussion on, “New Zealand’s Geothermal Carbon Emissions: Technical Examples of Mitigations and Emerging Opportunities,” and looks forward to spotlighting the latest insights and solutions in this space.

Andy is the Director of Business and Innovation and Co-founder of Upflow, a geothermal science, research and innovation company that builds expert teams to provide intelligent solutions to global industry.
The nexus between science, business and community is where her expertise sits. She has a deep understanding of the drivers relating to the business of science, and a proven ability to turn scientific ideas into economic and societal gains.
In her previous role as Business Development Manager at GNS Science (NZ) Andy
was responsible for leading and coordinating sub-surface geothermal geoscience
contracts worldwide for over 10 years.
Awarded the role of Geothermal Business Development Lead for New Zealand (2017-
2020), Andy was tasked with driving commercial investment in geothermal industrial
direct use projects. The desired outcome was the development of large projects with significant positive impacts on local economies, communities, and the environment.
Andy has experience in leading strategic planning and tactical thinking across several industries including governance roles that required strategic investment decision making. This includes chairing the commercial arm of a Māori organisation with a significant geothermal asset base (~$800m).

Dr Katie McLean is a Senior Reservoir Engineer working for Contact Energy at Wairakei near Taupo. She is an engineer and geologist by training, with a PhD in geothermal well testing from the University of Auckland. She has co-authored a textbook on geothermal well testing with Professor Sadiq Zarrouk, and published papers on a range of reservoir engineering topics, most recent focused on geothermal carbon emissions. She is the past president of the New Zealand Geothermal Association, and co-founded the NZGA Emissions Working Group.

Stew become Mercury’s Chief Executive in September 2024. He joined Mercury in 2021 as the Executive General Manager, Generation, and was responsible for the management, operation and maintenance of our electricity generation assets.

Before joining Mercury, Stew was the Chief Executive at New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd and has over 25 years’ experience working for industrial energy customers in mining, minerals processing and manufacturing in Australia, New Zealand and Africa.

Stew has a Chemical Engineering degree from Auckland University and an MBA from Melbourne University. With a proven track record of success in leading large, complex businesses, is well placed to ensure Mercury capitalises and builds on our strong platform for growth.

Holger Zipfel is the Managing Director of MTL NZ, with over 25 years’ of experience in complex infrastructure sectors. He leads a passionate team of geothermal engineers with diverse expertise in process, mechanical, civil & structural, and EC&I engineering, along with project and contract management.

Holger’s geothermal journey began in 1996 with his final thesis at Contact Energy’s Wairakei site. Internationally, he contributed to major international projects, including the EPC Balance of Plant delivery for Energy from Waste facilities in Europe.

A Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineering NZ and APEC, Holger also serves on the board of WING NZ.

Samantha is a geologist specialised in geomatics. With GNS Science since 2009, her technical role is focussed on integrating multi-disciplinary data to create geoscience models that support the sustainable development of geothermal resources in New Zealand and internationally.  She leads the Geothermal Geology and Modelling Team at GNS.

Samantha has a strong governance experience being the Secretary of the New Zealand Geothermal Association since 2020, the Treasurer of the Asia-Western Pacific Regional Branch (AWPRB) of the IGA since 2018 (now Asia Pacific Geothermal Association) and an Executive Secretary of the International Energy Agency Geothermal (IEA Geothermal) since 2023.

Through these roles, Samantha is well connected with our international colleagues and activities in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States.

Jonathan Young is Head of Industry and Government Engagement at Ara Ake, New Zealand’s future energy development centre. In this role he has worked at the intersection of innovation, regulation, and industry implementation. He has been a member of the Ara Ake team since June 2021.
From 2008 to 2020 Jonathan served as the Member of Parliament for the New Plymouth electorate. Through his parliamentary role as Energy & Resources spokesperson for the National Party, he travelled throughout New Zealand visiting industrial energy users as well as generators and network companies, creating an awareness of New Zealand’s integrated energy system. He also travelled overseas gaining insight into other countries energy systems, recognising the global opportunities of New Zealand’s renewable energy system, especially geothermal.

Dan is a qualified Automotive Technician with 19 years of experience spanning New Zealand and the U.K., encompassing diverse roles within the automotive and supply chain industries. For the past ten years, he's been a driving force in the tertiary sector, progressing from a tutor to his current position as Head of Partnerships and Pathways at Toi Ohomai. Dan is passionate about fostering close ties with industry partners, believing that collaborative efforts are key to shaping relevant and impactful educational and career pathways.

Olivia is the Chief Executive of Tupu Angitu, the commercial arm of the Lake Taupō Forest Trust, and a director of Amplify.  She has over 20 years of experience in  property development, management and strategy across the property and infrastructure sectors.  At Tupu Angitu, Olivia is focused on diversifying the Trust’s commercial assets beyond forestry, collaborating with partners to drive economic growth in sectors that enable Māori entities to grow their investment portfolios in line with their core values and intergenerational aspirations.

Clare Baxter has played a key role in Seequent’s growth from a small New Zealand company 14 years ago to a global leader in subsurface software, with a strong focus on the geothermal sector.  Holding a BSc in geology from the University of Canterbury and a Master of Energy in Reservoir Modelling from University of Auckland, Clare has held a range of business development and user enablement roles in APAC and Europe and supports geothermal companies build out their subsurface modelling workflows. This has taken her around the globe working closely with geothermal organisations worldwide.

Based in Christchurch, Clare is passionate about enabling integration across geoscience and reservoir modelling disciplines and supporting the digital transformation underway in many geothermal organisations.

Nataly Castillo Ruiz is a dedicated geothermal professional with 10 years of experience in the industry. She has been actively connecting the geothermal community through volunteer work with several organizations and currently serves as a board member of the New Zealand Geothermal Association. Nataly is passionate about advancing New Zealand's geothermal ecosystem and innovation. She believes that expanding New Zealand's expertise in Aotearoa and sharing it globally is a key contributor to capacity building and leadership.

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In her day-to-day role, Nataly is a Reservoir Modelling Engineer at Contact Energy in the Geothermal Development team. Her experience ranges from exploration and sustainable operations of geothermal fields to project development of key new geothermal projects for New Zealand, including the recent successful Final Investment Decisions for Te Huka 3 and Te Mihi S2A stations. Her technical background spans geoscience data integration, reservoir engineering, field utilization sustainability, and reservoir modelling. Nataly has also worked in international fields in Iceland and Colombia, contributing to understanding  geothermal resource utilization in both high and low enthalpy fields.