Our People
Meet the experts who lead research, education and collaboration activities at the centre, and learn why each of them chose to become involved.
Leadership
Dean of the Business School
University of Auckland
Professor Susan Watson
Interim Director
Can we rebalance to do capitalism better—harnessing its undoubted benefits whilst minimising its harms and sharing its benefits more equitably?
Senior Lecturer in Management & International Business
University of Auckland
Dr Billie Lythberg
Associate Director – Research
The centre will encourage dialogues across disciplines and knowledge systems and generate research and projects of global significance for the well-being of people and planet.
Senior Lecturer in Marketing
University of Auckland
Dr Drew Franklin
Associate Director – Strategic Engagement
Business must evolve from merely mitigating harm to actively transforming markets for inclusive and sustainable growth. At Juncture, we rethink the role of business in society, pursuing models that generate financial value and inclusive, sustainable outcomes.
Steering Group
Professor of Macroeconomics
University of Auckland
Professor Prasanna Gai
Resilient market economies operate best when there is a robust social framework—where individuals, firms, and governments have a sense of their shared values and responsibilities to the system as a whole.
Professor of Innovation & Research Management
University of Auckland
Professor Kenneth Husted
This centre will be a core institution in Aotearoa’s transformation toward a more sustainable and inclusive economy, with circular economy offering pathways for sustainable and inclusive business.
Professor of Accounting
University of Auckland
Professor Charl de Villiers
My research brings an accounting perspective to social and environmental matters, including inequities entrenched by power differences. This matches with the centre’s focus on enhancing outcomes for everyone in society.
Professor of Economics
University of Auckland
Professor Robert MacCulloch
We’ve long moved beyond the idea that achieving economic growth at any cost is a worthy ideal.
Professor of Psychology
University of Auckland
Professor Carla Houkamau
By balancing tradition with innovation, Māori businesses are not just participating in the economy – they are reshaping it, allowing Māori businesses and communities to grow what is truly important to them.
Professor of Management & International Business
University of Auckland
Professor Jason Mika
How can we make the Economy of Mana real for all? Now, that’s a question I want to know the answer to. Anyone else want to join?
Chief Executive Officer of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust
Lisa Davis
Lisa is a direct descendent of the revered Ngāti Whātua ancestor Tuperiri and is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust. Born and raised in Ōrākei, Lisa is the first Ngāti Whātua descendent to attain the role of CEO for the Trust. Her whakapapa, background and experience are what drives Lisa. She knows that her whānau are the priority. Lisa understands the unique position of her people, who actively live and celebrate the role of ahi kā in the economic powerhouse of Tāmaki Makaurau. And she is well aware of the opportunities and responsibilities that come with this locality. Lisa is guided by the saying ‘Mō tātou, mō ā tātou Tamariki, ā, mō ngā uri kei te heke mai’ which encourages the application of an intergenerational perspective over anything that she does as CEO, and as a proud uri of Ngāti Whātua.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Soul Capital
Dr Jamie Newth
Jamie is the Founder and CEO of Soul Capital, and Senior Lecturer of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School with a research focus on social innovation and impact investment. Jamie sits on a number of commercial, non-profit, and industry peak body boards.
Climate finance, business management and governance
Jason Patrick
Jason has been working in sustainable finance for more than twenty years. He was most recently the founding Chief Investment Officer for NZGIF, New Zealand’s green bank. He previously led the BioCarbon Group, an investment firm backed by Macquarie, the IFC and Global Forest Partners, and was Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He has additionally served as board director or advisor to numerous firms in the sector. He is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and Institute of Finance Professionals. He holds an M.A. from New York University, an M.E.M from Yale University and a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Our PhD Students
PhD Candidate
Management & International Business
Victoria Ongolea
Victoria Ongolea, of Melanesian and Polynesian descent, was born in Papua New Guinea’s Simbu Province and raised in Lapaha, Tonga, before migrating to New Zealand in 2015. Her PhD research, Empowering Tongans in New Zealand through Cultural Financial Capability Education (CFCE), builds on her Master’s work and focuses on enhancing financial well-being through culturally grounded education. By integrating Tongan language, proverbs, and values, she aims to bridge financial knowledge gaps and empower her community to navigate economic challenges.