City Shapers | Together Stronger

Specifically curated for property professionals, The Property Conference is a gathering of influential leaders, inspirational innovators, economic experts and the best of local and central government, packed in alongside the property industry’s movers and shakers.

In 2021 we are embracing partnerships with the theme City Shapers | Together Stronger; an ode to the power of collective expertise, insight and industry alignment.

If we are going to “shape cities where communities thrive”, we need to work together as one cohesive unit across the property industry, government and stakeholders.

If we are going to create change, we must be a trusted advisor, supporting the ideas that have merit and suggesting solutions where initiatives need more consideration. The Property Conference aims to showcase the best ideas, innovations and change-makers who will lead our industry, and our country, into the next decade.

Leonie Freeman

Chief Executive

Speakers

Born and raised in Oamaru, Nigel first attended Otago University, where he completed an MSc in Marine Science. He then moved to Auckland where he trained as a Clinical Psychologist and graduated with a Master of philosophy with 1st class honours in Psychology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology. A sought after speaker, Nigel has presented keynotes at a range of industry and corporate conferences both in New Zealand and overseas. His particular gift is blending real world pragmatism, the latest psychological research, and humour in an engaging and thought provoking manner that has relevance to a wide range of audiences and organisations.

Hilary was TV3’s 6pm network anchor for many years before moving to TVNZ where she now hosts Seven Sharp with Jeremy Wells.

Hilary spent many years working in morning radio as well, both on Auckland’s More FM and Radio Live. The multi-award winning newsreader and presenter, Hilary is an accomplished MC and public speaker.

Dr Tim Williams is a Principal at the global advisory firm Arup and is head of cities for its Australasian region. Before joining Arup, Tim was the CEO of the Committee for Sydney. Tim’s work helped shape public policy and infrastructure planning both in NSW and across Australia as he became a trusted advisor to governments at all levels. Before coming to Australia in 2010 Tim had been a special advisor on urban planning to five consecutive UK ministers and from 1997-2003 he was the CEO of the Thames Gateway London Partnership. Tim is an adjunct professor at Western Sydney University. He attended Cambridge and Oxford Universities, has a doctorate in history and is a qualified teacher and barrister.

As the CEO of Callaghan Innovation (New Zealand’s Government-backed innovation agency), Vic Crone knows first-hand how innovation can change the trajectory of individual businesses AND of New Zealand. While forestry, dairy and tourism have been stalwart industries in the past, it’s time to diversify and future-proof our economy and raise living standards for all – to do this, Vic says, we must turn ourselves into a hub for high-value, knowledge intensive businesses. Her vision for innovation in NZ is to encourage businesses to invest in research and development, build businesses’ confidence, and beef up the commercialisation of ideas to take overseas.

John started with Generator as the Sales Director which soon transitioned to the Sales and Marketing Director. Now as the General Manager of Generator it’s safe to say he’s the leading authority on co-working in NZ. John leads a team of 35+ staff who manage a community of over 190 businesses, 1200 members across five different buildings with more in the pipeline. Generator has been running for 10 years so the formula is obviously working, and with COVID19 changing how we work, coworking could be a niche that is positioned best to capitalise on the ‘new normal.’

Dr Caralee McLiesh joined the Treasury as Chief Executive and Secretary to the Treasury in September 2019. Caralee’s previous role was as Managing Director at Technical and Further Education (TAFE) New South Wales (NSW), Australia, where she led the transformation of TAFE NSW to become a more modern, competitive and sustainable organisation. Prior to this, Caralee held several Deputy Secretary roles at the NSW Treasury. Caralee also has worked at the World Bank in Washington DC, the International Red Cross and the Boston Consulting Group.