ANZAAN CONFERENCE
Our Speakers
Hear from experienced leaders, practitioners, and specialists from across Australia and New Zealand who understand what it takes to build thriving alumni associations and connected school communities.
Our inaugural conference brings together expert speakers covering fundraising, membership value, governance, data privacy, engagement, and the future of alumni networks.
OUR SPEAKERS
Learn From Those Leading the Way
ANZAAN’s speaker programme has been designed to provide practical insights, fresh ideas, and proven strategies that alumni associations can take back and apply immediately.
Delegates will hear from professionals working across schools, associations, fundraising, technology, legal compliance, and community engagement.
Topics include:
Building sustainable endowment and scholarship funds
Creating meaningful membership value
Governance and committee best practice
Data privacy and alumni communication laws
Growing engagement through events and digital channels
Strengthening the relationship between schools and alumni bodies
Sponsorship and new revenue opportunities
Future trends in alumni relations across Australia and New Zealand
How to Ensure the Alumni Association is Valued by the School
Session 1 Speaker:
Jason Speedy
Head of School - St. Peter's School, Cambridge
As Head of School at St Peter's School, Jason Speedy brings extensive leadership experience from some of New Zealand’s leading independent schools. Prior to returning to St Peter’s in 2025, Jason served as Headmaster of Southwell School and previously held senior leadership roles at St Peter’s and Kristin School.
Having worked closely with alumni communities, school boards, advancement initiatives, and wider school stakeholders throughout his career, Jason understands firsthand what school leadership values most in an alumni association. His session will provide delegates with practical insight into how alumni organisations can become trusted strategic partners to their schools through strong governance, positive engagement, advocacy, and meaningful community contribution.
Steve Gow brings more than 40 years of senior marketing, strategy, and business development experience across New Zealand and international markets. His career has included leadership and advisory roles with organisations such as Vodafone, Telecom New Zealand, Telstra Europe, Qualcomm, Mighty River Power, and a wide range of economic development and tourism organisations.
In this session, Steve will help unpack the findings from the ANZAAN New Zealand-wide alumni association benchmarking survey, providing insight beyond the numbers. Drawing on decades of experience in customer engagement, brand development, and organisational strategy, he will explore what the results reveal about how alumni associations can strengthen engagement, improve value to members and schools, and build more sustainable and effective organisations for the future.
Events That Strenghten Connection & Loyalty
Session 3 Speaker:
Howard Baker
Engagement & Events Strategy - Wycane
Howard Baker leads education engagement and events strategy at Wycane Advisory, working alongside schools, alumni associations, and community organisations to develop events and engagement programmes that strengthen relationships and long-term loyalty.
Howard has extensive experience designing and delivering community-focused events that bring people together in meaningful ways. His work focuses on creating experiences that move beyond attendance numbers and instead build genuine connection, advocacy, and ongoing engagement. In this session, Howard will share practical strategies around reunions, networking events, golf days, dinners, alumni weekends, and regional gatherings, helping delegates understand what makes events successful and how they can create stronger ongoing relationships with members and supporters.
Joanne Jogia is a Partner at Lewis Lawyers, specialising in commercial, employment, and property law. Joanne is recognised for her practical and commercially focused legal advice and regularly assists organisations navigating compliance, governance, and communication obligations.
Her session will provide delegates with a practical understanding of privacy law, consent, electronic communications, and database management as they relate to alumni organisations and schools. Joanne will help demystify common misconceptions around what organisations can and cannot do regarding member communications and data sharing, ensuring delegates leave with greater confidence and clarity in this increasingly important area.
Data Sharing, Privacy Law and Member Communications
Session 4 Speaker:
Joanne Jogia
Partner - Lewis Law
Building and Growing Endowment Funds
Session 5 Speakers:
Matt Henry
Head of Wealth Research - Forsyth Barr
Simon Bowden
Head of Philanthropic Services - Forsyth Barr
Matt Henry and Simon Bowden from Forsyth Barr bring significant expertise in wealth management, philanthropy, investment strategy, and long-term fund growth.
Matt leads wealth research at Forsyth Barr and provides strategic investment insight across a range of portfolios and sectors. Simon Bowden leads philanthropic services, working closely with charitable organisations, donors, and community entities to help structure and grow sustainable funding models.
Together, they bring a powerful combination of investment expertise and philanthropic strategy to this session, helping delegates better understand how successful endowment funds are established, positioned, managed, and grown over time. Delegates will gain practical insight into donor engagement, legacy giving, fund structure, and the long-term thinking required to build sustainable financial support for schools and alumni organisations.
Arno van Niekerk is head of delivery at Company-X, one of New Zealand’s leading technology and software development firms. With extensive experience delivering technology solutions, automation systems, data tools, and digital platforms, Arno has worked with organisations looking to improve operational efficiency and community engagement through smarter use of technology.
His session will focus on how alumni organisations can use modern digital tools, AI, automation, database technologies, and communication platforms to reconnect with lost alumni, improve engagement, reduce administrative workload, and strengthen community connection. Delegates will gain practical ideas that can be implemented regardless of organisation size or budget.
Finding Alumni and Bringing Them Together
Session 6 Speaker:
Arno van Niekerk
Head of Delivery - Company-X
How to Make Membership of the Organisation Valued by Alumni
Session 7 Speaker:
Lizzie Dyer
Alumni Manager - Christ's College
As Alumni Manager at Christ's College, Lizzie Dyer works closely with one of New Zealand’s most established and engaged alumni communities. Her role focuses on creating meaningful engagement opportunities, building lifelong relationships with former students, and ensuring alumni continue to feel connected and valued long after leaving school.
Lizzie brings practical, real-world experience in alumni communications, member engagement, events, and relationship building. Her session will explore how organisations can move beyond simply maintaining databases and instead create genuine value through experiences, networking, recognition, nostalgia, communications, and member-focused initiatives that encourage long-term loyalty and participation.
Craig Grimshaw is Chief Executive of Loyalty Collective and is widely recognised as one of New Zealand’s leading loyalty and customer engagement specialists. With significant experience across loyalty programmes, customer engagement, rewards systems, retention strategies, and behavioural engagement, Craig has advised organisations on how to strengthen connection and long-term loyalty. (LinkedIn)
His session will explore how the principles used by some of the world’s most successful loyalty programmes can be applied within schools and alumni organisations to create stronger emotional connection, repeat engagement, advocacy, and belonging. Delegates can expect highly practical insights that combine global best practice with real community relevance.
Manuel Fernandez brings extensive advisory, governance, and strategic consulting experience, alongside his involvement with the board of St Peter's School. His professional background includes helping organisations improve governance effectiveness, strategic clarity, accountability, and operational performance.
Drawing on both governance and practical leadership experience, Manuel will explore what separates effective alumni organisations from those that struggle with execution. His session will focus on committee structures, role clarity, succession planning, accountability, leadership, and balancing volunteer governance with operational delivery - providing delegates with practical strategies to strengthen committee effectiveness and long-term sustainability.
Grant Metcalfe is a marketing strategist at Metcalfe Advisory with extensive experience helping organisations identify commercial opportunities, build partnerships, strengthen brand positioning, and develop sustainable revenue streams.
Grant specialises in helping organisations better understand the value of their networks, audiences, events, and communication platforms. In this session, he will share practical insight into sponsorship strategy, commercial partnerships, business alliances, and advertising opportunities, helping delegates understand how alumni organisations can create sustainable income beyond memberships and donations while maintaining credibility and community trust.
Commercial Partnerships and Sponsorship Opportunities
Session 10 Speaker:
Grant Metcalfe
Marketing Strategist - Metcalfe Advisory
John has been an international fundraising consultant for 20 years advising schools, universities and arts organisations on advancement in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle-East, and India. Before moving to consultancy, he held fundraising roles with the Sydney Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, the University of Edinburgh, and Napier Edinburgh University.
John trained professionally as an actor, and has degrees in Arts Administration, Opera (though he can't sing!), Marketing, and Philanthropy. His two research degrees and numerous published articles cover fundraising and philanthropy. He has been a board member of Educate Plus and President of its New Zealand chapter, and a board member and Chair of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand (FINZ).
This session will provide delegates with practical guidance on reconnecting with offshore alumni, managing international donations, running global giving campaigns, and understanding emerging opportunities such as digital asset and cryptocurrency philanthropy.
ATTEND THE CONFERENCE
Join Us for the Inaugural Conference
Be part of an event designed to strengthen alumni associations across Australia and New Zealand.
