Chris Beard is the CEO of ISANA NZ and an Adjunct Teaching Fellow for the Victoria University of Wellington School of Education. He has many years’ experience working with international students and more recently refugee background learners. Chris led the development of ISANA NZ’s online Toolkit and eight eLearning micro modules.   

Dr Shireen Chua is a Certified Professional Coach, Certified Intercultural Intelligence Trainer, Enhanced Conversational Intelligence Coach, and a CQ Trainer (Advanced) with Cultural Intelligence.  She also facilitates High Performing Intercultural Teams training. After managing several multicultural teams and coaching professionals relocating to Asia and Aotearoa, Shireen set up Third Culture Solutions, which specialises in finding co-created intercultural solutions for leaders, teams and organisations.

Dr Christina Baird is an Auckland-based psychologist leading a movement of kindness that transforms workplaces, enabling people to be themselves and find joy in their work. She focuses on supporting staff in helping and caring roles to care for themselves and their teams effectively. Her expertise includes leadership development coaching, workshops on values and creating kind cultures, and well-being support for those experiencing burnout or compassion fatigue. Passionate about learning, she holds a PhD in psychology and a certificate in professional supervision. Her diverse experience in the non-profit and health sectors encompasses university tutoring, leadership development with tertiary students, training and supporting aid and development professionals, and supporting families and patients in palliative care. She currently serves as the chair of the board of ISMNZ.

Colleen Ward is Professor of Cross-cultural Psychology and the Founding Director of the Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research at Victoria University of Wellington. Her studies on crossing cultures, spanning over 30 years, are amongst the most internationally cited programmes of research on this topic. Professor Ward has also designed and delivered intercultural training to meet the needs of international students, immigrants, and expatriates.