Projects
Who I work with
United Nations Development Programme – international communications expert for the Pacific region. I’m proud to be one of 21,000 people working across 170 countries to improve the lives of millions each year with progress on better jobs, gender equality, sustainable energy, reduction in poverty, fairer economies and more. Read UNDP reports www.undp.org/publications
Serious Fraud Office – New Zealand shares least corrupt country in the world status with Scandinavian countries. From 2014-2017, I wrote the SFO’s annual reports detailing what makes this crack government department an essential element of that success. I also created their strategic plan, which includes staying abreast of cybercrime, and wrote best-practice website content.
Auckland Transport – Before its inception in 2010 as part of a super city shake-up, transport projects were delivered ad hoc across the city. I co-wrote with a policy analyst the first-ever 30-year integrated transport strategy for the Auckland region. I have since completed so many projects for Auckland Transport that it’s hard to remember, although they included an Australasian Gold for its annual report. One project dear to my values was a profile of AT’s leading-edge introduction of electric buses to replace the polluting (and noisy) diesel fleet.
We are therefore I am – In 2003, now in Auckland, and my first book-length commission. The CFO wasn’t convinced that a bald Buddhist could do the job, but the deputy VC came through for me. On the night when I handed AUT’s vice-chancellor his life story in print there were four ex-prime ministers in the crowded ballroom along with the current one, a testament to his sphere of influence. The best accolade though came from his wife, who said I had captured him both exactly and empathetically.
More book commissions ensued and I discovered that places also have their biography, just as people do. I was approached by bestselling author Dr Kerry Spackman to work with him on a new book of philosophy. I was at my desk at 7.00am each weekday to pick up his call. My cat would have liked to know what Kerry’s strategy was for getting me to agree to such early rising. By then I had also managed a team of journos and production staff to produce the weekly City Scene paper, and was editing UNITEC’s research magazine Advance (2006-2011).
Google – I was headhunted by Google in 2007 when they started up an office in Auckland. I turned them down because I didn’t believe in expending my creativity writing Google ad words. Today, they receive five million CVs annually. Regrets? Occasionally.
West – Sir Bob Harvey came to see me one day when we were both commissioned in 2008 to write chapters of a book on the history of west Auckland. Mayor Bob proved to be a staunch ally and was very kind in his praise for my take on the turbulent political history of the west.
Foundation of the Blind – from 2003-2008 I shared with the Foundation its journey to becoming the Foundation of the Blind. This fundamental shift from ‘for the blind’ needed communicating across a wide range of stakeholders and I was privileged to work with the CEO and Chair of the Board to do this. I also made lifelong friends with people who hold the same values.
AUT Centre for Innovative Leadership – in 2011, my Restorative Justice colleagues and I trained in effective governance with PWC’s Stephen Drain. We all agreed that authenticity is everything.
The Presbyterian Church has featured among my list of clients since 2014, for the opportunities it gives me to travel for General Assemblies and to write about issues of social justice and the environment. Features in SPANZ magazine include euthanasia, prison chaplains, bioethics, global missions in the Pacific and south-east Asia, and youth perspectives on climate change. My Spring 2018 feature on the iniquities of private lending companies, and the legislation being put in place to curb their excesses, won an Australasian Religious Press Association GOLD award.
If you enjoyed reading this and want to work with me, get in touch.
The back story to my Oxford University fellowship – life in London…
I first gained critical acclaim as a performance poet in the UK in the 1990s, headlining along with the Nuyorican slam poets from New York. The Observer wrote, “these poets are in the forefront of attracting the new generation”. I shared the stage at festivals such as the biennial Edinburgh Book Festival and the London Arts Festival with luminaries Louis de Bernières and Iain Banks. My first collection of poetry sold out of two editions.
“This book charts the evolution of a poet who is a throwback to the bards and minstrels of medieval times – a poet who takes poetry back to its oral roots without loss of seriousness, unlike the majority of ‘performance poets’ who are simply stand-up comedians who use rhyme.” Barry Graham, writer
My poetry and short stories have appeared widely in anthologies, including Bleeding Hearts, Love Poems for the Nervous and Highly Strung (Allen & Unwin 1998), alongside poets such as Pablo Neruda, Alice Walker, Rainer Maria Rilke, D.H. Lawrence and e.e. cummings. I was publishing editor of London-based Gecko Press. One of its publications won the New Internationalist best first collection for 1999.