- Location: Wellington, Aotearoa/NZ
- Local Time:–:–:–
Melissa Clark-Reynolds
I help leaders cut through noise, tackle change head-on and build clear pathways to tomorrow.
My clients are Boards of Directors and Senior Teams in the Private Sector, Crown Owned Entities, Iwi/Hapū and Government Agencies. I have low bono rates for a number of NGOs, especially those working with Sexual Health and Violence Prevention and Addiction Services.
In the last year I have worked with the 2 oldest government agencies in NZ. For one, we trained a cohort of 50 people in Futures Thinking, ahead of the development of their next 10 year plan. For the second, I have facilitated and developed the Agency’s AI Strategy and I am now working with their Strategy team on Strategy implementation. I recently worked with a large Iwi (Tribal Organisation) on their 25 year Strategy. I worked alongside indigenous consultants and co-facilitated community consultation, then helped to translate the inputs into corporate strategy.
I like to start by interviewing people individually and then working with teams to create multiple futures and look for blind spots. I believe a social, often somatic, practice is the best way to work together to consider possibilities and develop strategies that are agile and resilient. In Aotearoa/NZ I often work in wānanga and marae settings.
I bring boardroom ready insight and practical tools that help teams turn uncertainty into direction. I have been a NED/Company Director for 2 decades, including having served on the Boards of Wētā Workshop, Atkins Ranch Lamb, Radio New Zealand, Jasmax Architects and chaired Alpine Energy Ltd.
I am a Certified Futurist, having trained with the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, School of International Futures (UK) and with Sohail Inayatullah in Causal Layered Analysis. I also draw heavily on the work of Clayton Christiansen, Roger Martin, Geoffrey Moore and the methodologies found in “Your Strategy Needs a Strategy”.
I feel privileged to work in bicultural settings and was shaped by being in the kapa haka group at Ngāti Pōneke as a child. I grew up as a global citizen, traveling extensively and I am deeply curious about the world and the people in it. I feel connected to nature, and all living beings.
“When I first met Melissa, what struck me immediately was how quickly she understood us our products, and the way we think about innovation. She didn’t arrive with a generic view of technology. She invested the time to understand our business, our customers, and the challenges we face, and built something that felt like it had been created specifically for our team. Her understanding of technology and AI is exceptional, but what truly sets her apart is her ability to translate complex ideas into practical insights that product teams can immediately apply.”
Australian team of a Global Manufacturing Company
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I am a Futurist and Strategy lead for a number of clients. I have been working on our own strategy and working to develop tools for us to use. I have a 30+ year background in Technology leadership, so I am immersed in our thinking about AI.
I was awarded the ONZM (NZ’s OBE) for my services to the Technology Sector. I earned a BA(Hons) in Anthropology from Victoria University in New Zealand. I have a Masters from Rutgers University in New Jersey where I specialised in Environmental Health. I am a lifelong learner, having taken courses at MIT, Stanford, HBX, IDEO, Pacific Integral. As a Futurist, I have trained with IFTF, SOIF and Sohail Inayatullah.
I have been the founder and CE of multiple Technology companies, including raising capital and working with venture-backed companies, and scaling those globally. I was one of the founders of NZ’s first Tech accelerator – Lightning Lab and was awarded several Fast50s and AsiaPac Fast 500 awards.
I love to ocean swim, having come back to it after a 30 year break. I swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco to celebrate a recent big birthday, my next big swim is the Hellespont in Turkey. I am also an enthusiastic gardener and I have over 100 dahlias in my small garden, as well as fruit tree and lots of vegetables. I like to dance, learn, eat and spend time with interesting people. I like to read, listen to podcasts and I am always looking for my next edge.