Plenary Speakers

Dr. Priya Balasubramaniam is a public health professional with over 20 years of experience in large scale implementation research, evaluation and program planning in academic, non-profit and government settings.

Dr. Anne Bunde-Birouste, Director of the UNSW Yunus Social Business for Health Hub, is recognized both nationally and internationally for her expertise in Health Promotion, Sport for Development and Social Change, innovative community-based approaches for working with disadvantaged groups.

Sir Mason Durie is from the Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngäti Raukawa and Rangitane tribes. Apart from ongoing interests in health and social policy, he has contributed to the broader field of Māori development and has published widely on Māori health, Māori policy, the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori education and whānau development.

Tāmati Kruger (BA (Hons) in Māori Studies, 1978) is a Māori advocate and social and political analyst who has dedicated his career to the development of his iwi.

Patrick Mwesigye Sewa hails from Uganda and is the Founder and Team Leader at the Uganda Youth and Adolescents Health Forum (UYAHF), a youth led and youth serving organization that advocates for, and empowers, adolescent girls and young women to live a quality life with dignity and opportunities to realize their full potential.

Anne Salmond is a Distinguished Professor in Māori Studies and Anthropology at the University of Auckland. In 2013 she won the Rutherford Medal, New Zealand’s top scientific award, and became the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year. In 2017 she hosted Artefact, a TV series about the power of iconic objects, past, present and future; with more episodes to come in 2019.

Dr. Stanley Vollant is an Innu who grew up in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec. Dr. Stanley Vollant practices today at the Notre-Dame community hospital in Montreal. He plays a unique role among his peers through an innovative approach in health among indigenous populations. His inclusive aims empower indigenous peoples so that they may make their own path of a thousand dreams, realizing their full potential.