Presenters

Brent Lewis, Former Principal, Avondale College
Brent Lewis has led three secondary schools and is the former Principal of Avondale (a secondary School of over 2,800 students and 240 staff). Brent has both an MA and MBA and uniquely has been the chair of both the Wellington and Auckland principals associations, Avondale College has high success rates in both NCEA and Cambridge pathways with students consistently topping NZ and the world in various subjects, Currently the college has former students at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Amherst; all on scholarship., Avondale College is now the highest provider of IT industry certifications in Microsoft, Adobe, and Autodesk in New Zealand and Avondale students have made up all of the national representatives to the Microsoft Global championships for three years in succession..8 students winning top ten finishes against annual fields of 1 million., The college now has its own data centre and leading edge network and most recently Brent has been engaging with international and domestic strategic partners on the Colleges new Innovation Programme which is being trialled with other schools as a not-for- profit initiative.

Vanessa Curac, Barrister, Friendship Chambers
Vanessa started out as a solicitor for Oranga Tamariki, before becoming a Barrister, working in the Youth, Family and Criminal Courts. Vanessa mainly represents young people in the Youth Court, children in the Family Court and young adults in the District Courts in South Auckland. Vanessa has recently worked with survivors in the Abuse in State Care Inquiry as a panel lawyer, and currently sits on the board of her daughters college in Auckland. Vanessa is based in Friendship Chambers in Manukau.