Meet the respected executive judges that will determine the 2025 Wayfinder Award winners. A stellar panel of wellbeing industry and business leaders that offer invaluable experience and perspective, ensuring a comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of entries.
Dr Denise Quinlan, MAPP, PhD - Director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience
Dr Quinlan is a co-founder and Director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience. She works with organisations throughout New Zealand and lectures internationally on Positive Psychology. Co-author of The Educators' Guide to Whole-School Wellbeing.
She contributes to the development of wellbeing in education and the workplace through her research, programme development and face-to-face consulting and training. Dr Quinlan was part of our inaugural Executive Judging Panel, and we’re delighted to have her return to judge the 2025 awards.
Rob Holmes, Discovery Director at PaperKite and inaugural winner of the Wayfinder True North Award
Rob is the Discovery Director at PaperKite, a digital product design company focused on creating solutions that empower and uplift people. He has a background in digital strategy, product development, and design thinking - but over the last 15 years he's spent most of his time building highly engaged teams and creating environments where people can do their best work.
Initially hired at PaperKite to introduce formal product practices and productise innovation, he quickly moved beyond this to implement a set of changes focused on the wellbeing of individuals in the team. In the year following these changes PaperKite recorded its best ever engagement scores and had its most successful financial year ever. Rob was awarded the Gold True North Award in the 2023 Wayfinder Awards.
Dr Ellen Joan Ford, Leader, military veteran, researcher, international speaker and parent
A former captain in the NZ Army, Ellen holds a PhD in leadership and wellbeing and is terrifyingly ambitious about improving the working world for people and for organisations.
Ellen draws on her research and practical experiences to drive organisational outcomes such as improved retention, productivity, engagement, wellbeing and ultimately, profit, by enhancing inclusive leadership capabilities and workplace culture. Ellen was awarded the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year – Local Hero, Person of the Year – Manawatu Standard and the prestigious Sir Peter Black Leadership Award.
Melanie Beirne (Ngāi Tahu), Entrepreneur, leader, facilitator, coach and Māmā
Melanie is the Founder of Women Step Forward (Wāhine Mā Rere Ki Runga), a platform designed to empower and equip women with the expertise to become high-performing leaders. A champion of gender balance and inclusive leadership, Melanie has over 23 years of leadership experience and is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, building high-performing leaders and teams.
Hugely passionate about equipping the next generation of women leaders to achieve success. Melanie is an expert in building leaders to thrive and lead in a multi-generational workplace, understanding new ways of working together to reduce workplace friction.
Nick Astwick, Chief Executive, Southern Cross Health Society (Judging Convenor)
Nick joined Southern Cross Health Society in 2017 on the back of a successful career with Kiwibank, where he was Chief Operating Officer for several years. Nick has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry in various leadership and governance roles across retail and investment banking organisations.
In addition to his Chief executive Officer role, Nick is also a director on several Southern Cross subsidiary Boards in addition to his role as Chair of Leadership New Zealand.
Learn more about the Southern Cross Health Insurance Wayfinder Awards.