Shay Wright
Like his ancestors before him, Shay is a teacher and a guide. He works on systemic change, reshaping enterprises and systems to cultivate a more beautiful world. Combining education, strategy, spirituality, and reindigenization, his approach is deeply influenced by community and academic leaders, indigenous teachers, and spiritual sages. He works across all layers of the system, influencing Government and industry leaders, community leaders and grassroots organisations. Shay has led impact-driven enterprises like The Icehouse’s Māori Development unit, Te Whare Hukahuka, OurOra, and Elemental Food. He is passionate about empowering communities to cultivate clarity, self-determination, and economic resilience by building confidence, shifting mindsets, and crafting compelling visions and strategies. This work has been recognised by a range of awards, as well as by Forbes Asia, the Obama Foundation, and the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. Shay’s exploration and reclamation of ancestral knowledge has awakened him to the importance of reindigenising both our systems and ourselves. He sees this as a powerful way to transform how we relate to life and how we solve problems. He is applying this approach in a range of projects, including how we grow enterprises, what we consume, how we think, and how we connect with the energies within ourselves and the world around us. As part of building intergenerational legacy and impact, Shay also helps steward the new generation of leaders to navigate and thrive in today's complex landscape, and to develop foresight, just as our ancestors did.
Sunrise Sessions
We talk a lot about what tech companies do: making software, building a marketplace, developing novel hardware. But we don't often talk much about how they do it: the unique team cultures they build, the way they attract new talent, the customer experience they deliver, and the intentionality behind their business model or supply chain strategy. This session is all about the HOW. Three highly opinionated builders will take us through the HOW of their companies: ⇼ Sam Stubbs is the CEO and Founder of Simplicity, a fund manager who is rewriting the script on money management, from operating as a non-profit, to building their own supply of housing investments, to having a 100-year business plan. ⇼ Shay Wright is a serial Māori entrepreneur who is building Elemental, a nutrition blend company. Shay is intentionally weaving tikanga principles into the fabric of Elemental, from seeking sustainable, local ingredients supply chains, to creating products specifically for tangata whenua. ⇼ Christine van Hoffen is Head of People at Tracksuit, a company that provides beautiful, always-on, brand tracking software to over 500 brands globally. Tracksuit is one of the fastest-growing companies in New Zealand history. Tracksuit stands out not just for its commercial success, but the strength of its employer brand. Christine will talk about the tactics behind Tracksuit's distinctive culture, from full pay transparency to championing customer brands in everything they do