I grew up in a small town in Aotearoa/New Zealand, where spare time was spent exploring and being part of a close-knit community. That early sense of connection, knowing your neighbours, bumping into people on the street and sharing third spaces has stuck with me ever since.
When I moved to Wellington, my first real city, I began learning about how all the pieces of urban life fit together. My background is in architecture, but my curiosity has always gone beyond housing, to the ways streets, transport networks and public spaces shape how people experience their city. I really value my experience working for the local authority where the “client” was the community itself. It taught me to listen, balance lots of different voices and advocate for outcomes that were inclusive, sustainable and for the betterment of the community. I worked on projects from urban regeneration to housing led masterplans and transit-oriented development, always with the goal of making the city a better place to live.
My next stop was an even bigger leap: London, one of the world’s great cities, where I came to stretch my understanding and learn from urban ideas on a truly global scale. Getting there took me through many other cities across the world, where I observed how people shape their neighbourhoods in unique and inspiring ways. Each place offered insights that I carry with me, lessons I hope to build on as I continue the adventure of imagining better places for communities