Anna-Jane Edwards is driven by an unwavering belief that every child has the right to thrive in Aotearoa. This has led her to explore how economics, indigenous knowledge systems, co-design and systems thinking can be brought together to disrupt the conditions preventing all people from living full and prosperous lives.

Her roles in health and local government over the past 15 years have explored this concept, eventually leading her to establish Uptempo – the world’s first (and only) in work progression learning initiative, grounded in Pasifika values and focussed on the whole family.

Anna-Jane shares her home time between raising a resilient, happy, socially and environmentally conscious little boy and participating at a governance level on a number of organisations including the New Zealand Drug Foundation and Hawaiki Hou Sport New Zealand.