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- NZIEC KI TUA 2023 photo feature
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Leadership team changes at ENZ
Regional Directors join ENZ’s Executive Team

ENZ’s three Regional Directors – Alex Grace for China and North Asia; John Laxon for South and South East Asia and Middle East; and Lisa Futschek for Europe and Americas – have been appointed to ENZ’s Executive Team. This will ensure that international market conditions and issues have greater visibility in our discussions and decisions.
Incoming Regional Director, China and North Asia
Adele Bryant is preparing to take over the role of Regional Director, China and North Asia from Alex Grace who leaves ENZ in June. Adele brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her new role including her significant achievements with the universities sector, and her international experience with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade before joining ENZ. Amongst her MFAT roles directly relevant to the ENZ Regional Director role, Adele worked as Head of the China Unit, was Consul General in Hong Kong and was Deputy Director APEC. Adele will move to Beijing shortly.New GM Strategy and Insight
Clive Jones is our new GM Strategy and Insight. This is a new role with an important mission to lead and coordinate ENZ’s strategic thinking, priority projects and major initiatives. He’ll be focusing on some key initiatives that have the potential to make a big difference for the future of international education. Clive was previously ENZ’s GM Business Development.Successor to GM Industry Development
Greg Scott has been promoted to replace Clive as GM Industry Development. Greg was previously ENZ’s South Island Business Development Manager and led our Regional Partnership Programme. In his new role, Greg will lead ENZ’s team of business development and project managers, based in our four New Zealand offices, who are tasked with supporting international education providers to achieve sustainable industry growth across New Zealand.Student Marketing expands focus
As part of ENZ’s recently expanded focus on the entire ‘student journey’ – from ‘prospective student’ to ‘student experience’ to ‘alumni and advocate’, we have refocused our Student Marketing team around five areas: student acquisition; events and agents; student engagement; student experience; and student scholarships.
Internal promotions

Kaylee Butters has been promoted to Director, Student Engagement, and Euan Howden is promoted to Director, Student Acquisition.
New Director, Student Experience
Hayley Shields has joined ENZ as Director of Student Experience. Hayley recently led international marketing and business development for the University of Auckland. She has had an extensive career in international education in Australia and New Zealand, including with University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne and CPA Australia. Based in Auckland, she will work with industry stakeholders, government and community agencies and students to deliver a shared vision of a unique and quality student experience for all international students. This work will be informed by the International Student Wellbeing Strategy, the development of which has been led by the Ministry of Education. - NZIEC Esther Brimmer
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Thirty groups awarded PM's Scholarships for Asia and Latin America
The successful groups were announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins today, and mark the outcome of the first round of the scholarships since they were paused due to COVID-19.
Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) congratulates all the successful recipients, who include a marae, non-profit organisation TupuToa, six of New Zealand's eight universities, Te Pūkenga, and a number of private training establishments.
A full list of recipients is available here.
Chris Hipkins also announced that the scholarships will open for individual applications this month. Applications will be open from 18 July - 31 August 2022. More information, including how to apply, is available here.
About the scholarships
The Prime Minister's Scholarships for Asia and Latin America are funded by the New Zealand Government and administered by Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao.
Since 2013, the scholarships have supported more than 2,400 New Zealanders on learning experiences in Asia and Latin America.
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AUT international students connect with senior citizens
A uniquely engaging initiative supported by New Zealand Police and AUT recently brought together international students and local senior citizens to connect in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
The initiative was an outcome of a meeting of the Auckland Agency Group, of which Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao is a member and enabled international students to understand and start to integrate into local culture guided by senior residents and members of the wider Auckland community.
As the last 12 months have seen the welcome return of international students to our campuses and communities, New Zealand Police Ethnic Services teams around the country, including in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, have been busy engaging with international students in a number of ways.
Around 18 students met with 10 senior citizens at the Northbridge Residential Village.
The event helped international students engage with their local community, establishing intergenerational bonds, helped them access support networks, engage in cultural exchange, and actively participating in community affairs.
The event included a panel discussion involving members of Northbridge Residential Village, AUT international students, and New Zealand Police. The panel discussion unfolded in two key segments: the initial part addressed the dynamics of culture shock, while the subsequent portion revolved around the overarching themes of diversity and inclusion.
AUT Students Association, International Affairs Officer, Yun Ke, said that the AUT international student interaction with local senior citizens event was a great success.
“We have received immensely positive feedback from students about the event, which is exciting.
“This interaction saw double the participation by international students, as compared to a previously held event in September,” Ke said.
San Winkyi, an international student from Myanmar, was grateful to New Zealand Police for the way they supported the event.
“The police’s presence and assistance contributed significantly to the event's success, and we deeply appreciate their commitment to international student safety and wellbeing,” San said.
For Huabiao Xiao, an international student from China, the interaction was a wonderful opportunity to appreciate cultural differences while enjoying communicating with an open and inclusive local community of senior citizens.
“Spending time with local seniors and police officers was an amazing experience, far beyond anything I could have imagined. These elders are simply the epitome of local cultures and society, and I deeply appreciate their differences and uniqueness. At the same time, I appreciated how New Zealand police officers are committed to promoting a community culture,” Huabiao said.
Education providers with international students who are interested in organising a similar event are welcome to contact Faymie Li, faymieli@enz.govt.nz or Ross Crosson, ross.crosson@enz.govt.nz.
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ENZ staffing changes in Washington, D.C
On Friday 27 September Amy Rutherford, our Regional Director – Americas, the Middle East, and Europe and Counsellor (Education), will be finishing after eleven and a half years at ENZ.
Amy started at ENZ in 2013 as an International Market Manager for China. She has been in Washington, D.C. since 2018, having been in Los Angeles prior to that as ENZ’s Director of Education, North America. Prior to working for ENZ, Amy studied in the United States as an undergraduate student and worked for the University of Otago in the North American and European markets, as well as the New Zealand Resident Director for a US study abroad provider, the Institute for Study Abroad (IFSA).
“As a colleague of Amy’s in the International team, I’ve greatly appreciated Amy’s knowledge and expertise and I know she has built of wide network of trusted colleagues across New Zealand’s international education sector,” Acting General Manager Ben Burrowes said.
Ben added, “on behalf of ENZ, it is my privilege to congratulate Amy on an outstanding tenure at our organisation and we wish her well for the next step in her professional career”.
ENZ’s Regional Director - Americas, Middle East and Europe, Amy Rutherford (centre) will be finishing with ENZ on Friday 27 September. Associate Director of Engagement – North America, Natalie Lulia (left), will be acting in the role from Monday 30 November.
We are delighted that Natalie Lulia, currently Associate Director of Engagement – North America, will step into the role of Acting Regional Director - Americas, Middle East and Europe on Monday 30 September.
"Natalie has been a fantastic addition to ENZ and steps into the role at a particularly important time as we implement our 2024 – 2027 business strategy,” Mr Burrowes said.
Natalie first joined ENZ in October 2023. Prior to ENZ, she was Director – Māori for the Centres of Asia-Pacific Excellence (CAPE) and Strategic Advisor, International Indigenous Development at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato - University of Waikato. There, she led a team passionate about Māori business capability, Global Citizenship Education and raising awareness to establish meaningful relationships in the Asia-Pacific, particularly with indigenous communities.
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Around the world in five
NEW ZEALAND
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AUSTRALIA
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GLOBAL
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Fermented flour a food waste breakthrough
Ninna Granucci, a former University of Auckland international student, is part of a new generation of thinkers contributing solutions with out-of-the-box thinking.
Ninna grew up in Brazil and saw for herself the amount of food waste primary producers there generated. Learning about the scale of the problem globally, she resolved to apply her skills to help bring about change.
“I wanted to use science in an area which fascinates me –microbiology and specifically, fermentation – to try and find a solution to this huge problem.”
University of Auckland a great place for new ideas
Ninna chose to study for her PhD in Biological Sciences under Dr Silas Villas-Boas at the University of Auckland in 2014. “The university environment was a great place for new ideas, to promote the spark to find solutions to problems, with the scientific approach to support it.”
It clearly worked. After only 18 months, she had a breakthrough in the lab which she knew could make a real difference. She refined a fermentation process to successfully convert waste pulp and peel from selected fruit and vegetables into a nutritious flour. Widening the range of ingredients in her trial, she proved she was on to something.
Data from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)shows that almost 32 percent of plant-based product is wasted annually. Ninna’s technology has the potential to make substantial progress on this.
It turned out that the ingredients also tick all the boxes for health and sustainability-conscious consumers: high protein, high fibre, low calorie, gluten free, rich in vitamins, minerals and natural antioxidants. And the bonus is that they also have lowest CO2 footprint compared with other ingredients in the market today.
Entering her prototype into the University’s Velocity 100K Business Idea Challenge sparked media interest and a flurry of inquiries from supermarkets and other businesses wanting to buy the product. “That was when we realised it was not only an academic project but also something which could be much bigger and could help to address the problem of food waste,” Ninna says.
Green Spot Technologies has global plans
With support from Velocity, she and Silas co-founded sustainable food innovation company Green Spot Technologies, which has ambitious plans to go global. Ninna is now CEO and based in Toulouse, France, where the business is established in a start-up accelerator environment and employs 15 people.
But back in the early days, it was pretty nerve-wracking. “My plan was to complete my PhD first and then set up a company based around the project. But after the success in the Velocity Challenge, we decided the time was right to forge ahead with the start-up. It was quite challenging. My background is all scientific, I didn’t have any experience in business, and I had a lot to learn.”
She is grateful for the support she got at the University of Auckland and believes that her career path would never have progressed as quickly if she hadn’t chosen New Zealand as a study destination.
“I give a lot of credit to New Zealand for how things worked out”
“New Zealand was the catalyst,” she says. “I managed to secure a scholarship through Callaghan Innovation available to students looking to add value to waste streams. It allowed me to focus on the work and find opportunity. I give a lot of credit to New Zealand for how things worked out.”
Ninna worked in Auckland with other international students from around the world and says that, too, helped contribute to her success. “When you are in the same situation you can support each other and that was super important during my PhD.”
New Zealand education the right decision
Ninna remains passionate about sustainability and reducing food waste. It is at the heart of her business and is important to her personally. The mission of Green Spot Technologies is “challenging the food waste paradigm to feed the future”. The company has won multiple awards, both in New Zealand and in Europe, highlighting the unique nature of its technology and products.
With food insecurity spreading to hundreds of millions of people around the world, the UN has set a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to halve food waste by 2030. It is an ambitious target and needs innovative thinkers like Ninna to make it achievable.
“I think it is incredible that we waste so much food, knowing that we need more food in the world. It doesn’t make any sense, but it motivates me to work on solutions,” she says.
The decision to study in New Zealand was a critical part of Ninna’s journey from international student to international businesswoman and innovator. “I could not have imagined that it would lead to such huge changes in my life in such a short time,” she says.
“A New Zealand education provides a truly enriching experience. I really think I made the right decision.”
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India’s Welcome2NewZealand series kick-starts event season
Jugnu Roy, ENZ’s Country Manager for India, said Welcome2NewZealand was an opportunity to discuss the current visa regulations, thank agents for their patience through uncertain times and a recent drop in student numbers, and to emphasise ENZ’s student recruitment strategy of moving from volume to value.
"We were very pleased with how the sessions went and have had positive feedback,” said Jugnu.
Held in New Delhi and Chandigarh, the event had ENZ Recognised Agents (ENZRA), licensed immigration advisors (LIA) and other high-performing student consultants in attendance, along with NZ Inc partners.
Welcome2NewZealand included sessions on ENZ’s strategy for the India market, and an update from Immigration New Zealand on policy instructions and how they would like to work with high-performing agents to get high-calibre students into New Zealand.
The New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Joanna Kempkers, chaired the sessions, along with John Laxon, ENZ’s Regional Director South and South East Asia and Middle East, and Daniel Smidt, Area Manager for INZ.
Jugnu said similar events for agents are planned in other Indian cities later this year.
In Bengaluru, ENZ partnered with the FPP EduExpo fair for the first time, following good reviews from colleagues in other markets.
Jugnu said the event was a nice change from previous student fairs that have been very USA- and Australia-focussed.
“In India, we wanted to explore a multi-country event. It’s a cost effective way of flying the New Zealand flag and profiling the country as a world class study destination.”
Jugnu said more than 1000 students attended the fair, with some 77 percent looking at postgraduate qualifications overseas.
“A number of Bangalore students were interested in courses at New Zealand institutions, ranging from environment and sustainability, architecture, biochemistry to specialist engineering programmes.
“It emphasised the importance of student fairs in profiling New Zealand as a high-quality education destination, attracting capable and talented Indian students.”