Gary Lawson is one of the founding directors of Stevens Lawson Architects established in 2002. The practice’s strengths lie in the creation of innovative design responses of aesthetic sensibility and functional resolution. Collaborative design with clients, consultants and users is intrinsic to Stevens Lawson Architects approach to architectural practice. 

Gary, along with business partner Nicholas Stevens was the recipient of the 2022 NZIA Gold Medal for Architecture, New Zealand’s highest honour for an Architect. Stevens Lawson Architects have been the recipients of 30 NZIA National Awards, and are winners of the New Zealand Home of the Year Award a record 4 times.

Having made a large contribution to Naylor Love over the past seven years, strengthening their commercial capability and championing new project opportunities, Jonny Eames has recently been appointed as General Manager – Strategic Partnerships & Preconstruction.

In this role, Jonny works with clients, consultants and supply chain to ensure that Naylor Love continues to offer the best construction solutions for the New Zealand market, including a renewed focus on Design & Build delivery. Leading the Preconstruction team and guiding the Naylor Love Health Hub initiative.

Hamish Boyd is a Principal at Jasmax where he has been instrumental in transforming educational environments in New Zealand. Hamish's expertise lies in master planning and designing educational facilities within defined budgets for various sectors, including public, private, and faith-based schools. He is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and has served on the Aotearoa New Zealand Ministry of Education Design Review Panel for over 10 years.

Simon Thomas is Head of Building System Delivery and Assurance, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. He is legally qualified with a regulatory background encompassing privacy law, occupational regulation (including LBPs) and Building System Delivery and Assurance (BSDA). The BSDA team he leads is responsible for the regulation of BCAs, TAs, CodeMark, Multiproof, Determinations, Weathertight Services, the Earthquake Prone Building register, BPIRs, overseas building product recognition and product assurance more generally. His team also plays a key role in Building Emergency Management and serious building failure investigations.

As Manager Building Regulatory Services at MBIE, Sophie Cunningham leads a team overseeing initiatives that support confidence in New Zealand's building system. Her team’s portfolio includes CodeMark, MultiProof, and the Overseas Building Products pathway, alongside broader work in regulatory assurance, compliance monitoring, and stakeholder engagement.

Ronnie Tan is the founder and company Director of CreditWorks — a pioneer in Commercial Positive Data Credit Reporting in NZ specialising in a commercial trade data database that collates trade debt information on customers so debt exposure and payment trends can be profiled, viewed and analysed, as well as offering a suite of credit reports to help New Zealanders make more informed credit and or lending decisions around who they do business with. To date, CreditWorks has the largest database of its kind in NZ and in 36 vertical industries with coverage as high as 100% of the market in some industries.

As Principal Advisor, System Intelligence at MCERT, Richard Deakin is responsible for understanding and explaining the workings of our complex housing system. He is a self-confessed New Zealand property nerd with an appetite for telling simple and insightful stories from complex and disparate datasets. Richard doesn’t just analyse property data, he works out what it means for the people affected.

As Managing Director and owner of EBOSS, Matthew Duder is close to trends and developments that reveal insight into the future of the NZ building industry. With 20 years industry experience, Matthew is passionate about understanding how technology and innovation can be used to improve the building process and deliver better buildings.

Dom Hay, Specification Marketing Consultant at EBOSS, has 25 years brand and retail marketing experience in London, Sydney and Auckland working with a variety of major brands including Unilever, Volvo, Virgin and Lion. Dom's curiosity lies in understanding human behaviour and how it can be leveraged to create engaging and effective marketing strategies for businesses.