Kiwis Can Fly NYC - Speaking + Network Event

Join us for an inspiring evening of learning from top New Zealand leaders + many networking opportunities. From top business leaders, entrepreneurs and designer thinkers - there is something for everyone.

Check out the below video for a glimpse of what to expect at a Kiwis Can Fly event:

SPEAKERS INCLUDE

Hannah Lee-Darboe - NZTE Trade Commisser & Consul General New York

Rosena Sammi - Founder and CEO of The Jewelry Edit

Ronnie Peters - Chief Creative Officer & Founder 360Design

Steven Tupu - Founding Principal of terrain-nyc landscape architecture PC

SPEAKER BIOS

HANNAH LEE-DARBOE - NZTE Trade Commissioner & Consul General New York

Hannah is New Zealand's trade commissioner and consul-general in New York, where she is responsible for promoting and facilitating trade opportunities and strategic relationships for New Zealand businesses on the United States' east coast.

Since joining NZTE in 2013, she has led the design and development of NZTE policy, culture and values, and played an important role in launching 'The Customer Way', NZTE's process for partnering with New Zealand exporters.

Hannah has a background in marketing, strategy and business improvements. She previously held prominent roles at Mizuno, Icebreaker and Education New Zealand, working in Japan, Europe and New Zealand.

She is fluent in Japanese and holds a degree in international law from Kobe University, Japan.

RONNIE PETERS - Chief Creative Officer & Founder 360Design

Ronnie is the Chief Creative Officer & Founder 360Design based in Miami, New York, Austin & Europe, serving clients worldwide, award winning strategist & designer, UX, UI, VR, AR, digital twins, increasing engagement, sales. Strategist and digital designer, driven by design. My clients range from start-ups to fortune 5 brands, including Disney, Apple, Amazon, Hulu, Accenture, American Express, Merrill Lynch, Time Warner, The New York Times, Office Depot, HP, Turner Broadcasting, SAP, McGraw Hill, Scholastic, HyperloopTT, The Broad Institute, and UBS to name a few.

Founder and Chief Creative Officer of 360Design, a digital design firm collaborating with global brands and emerging companies to deploy a Design Thinking strategic approach to design user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design solutions. We provide results in strategy, websites, mobile apps, AR / VR, social media, animations, short films, and brands. We are 360, led by design, driven by strategy, and inspired by technology; we are writers, thinkers, and doers—bringing our collective creative energy, insights, and ideas to every project. Ronnie’s specialties include, design thinking strategy, innovation, brand architecture, user experience design, user interface design, information architecture (IA), graphic design, Websites, Metaverse, AR / VR, mobile apps, animations, and short films.

Ronnie has a MFA in graphic design from the Rhode Island School of Design and is a graduate of the University of Canterbury in fine arts, film making and graphics and design.

ROSENA SAMMI - Founder and CEO of The Jewelry Edit

Rosena is the founder and CEO of The Jewelry Edit. An e-commerce jewelry platform that revolutionizes the way you shop for jewelry through curated jewelry collections focusing on diverse and sustainable designers. In a former life, Rosena was a Park Avenue attorney. In 2006, she left the law to start a successful jewelry brand, which has sold through leading department stores and boutiques for over a decade.

She has been profiled on CNN, sold over 10,000 pieces on Good Morning America and her jewelry has been worn by A-list celebrities like Rihanna, Gigi Hadid, Miley Cyrus and Blake Lively. Her jewelry has been featured in every major magazine including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, which named her a “Designer to watch”.

Rosena has a master’s in law from the University of Virginia Law School and graduated from the University of Auckland with a Double Bachelor's degree in Law and Arts.

STEVEN TUPU - Founding Principal of terrain-nyc landscape architecture PC

Steven grew up in Wellington, Aotearoa in a large extended Pasifika family. He trained and worked as a Tailor in Auckland, worked in restaurants, and studied horticulture before moving to Australia. In Melbourne, Steven studied at the Royal Melbourne Insti-tute of Technology (RMIT) where he received a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture with Honors in 1993.

Steven opened terrain-nyc in 2004 and is the founding principal of the NYC-based landscape architecture firm. Steven sees design as a public service – this is bolstered by the Kiwi mindset of the basic belief in fairness. Many of terrain’s projects provide the opportunity to address some of the inequalities suffered by minority communities such as access to well-designed, safe, open spaces.

Collaboration is the core process of the firm and Steven actively encourages responsibility over ownership. Through his creative leadership, Steven leads his team to richly detailed solutions that transform experiences of nature and the urban. Terrain’s work is rooted in the vibrancy and intensity of urban experience and each design is mindful of its ecological context - each project, no matter its size, is part of a network of environmental and human connections.

PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS