Our scheduled speaker was unable to attend this week because of illness and Andy Ellis stepped in at short notice. It was a great opportunity for members to get to know him beyond his work, which he had shared with us earlier in the year – although he did touch on that as well.
Brenda Lazelle reports on Andy's talk on 5 October 2022.
Leanne, Andy’s wife and business partner also attended bringing their sons Felix (5) and Reuben (3). Leanne is a chef and formerly Head Chocolatier and Production Manager at the Wellington Chocolate Factory. She developed the award-winning artisan Anzac Cookie Bar.
Andy was born to English immigrant parents and raised in Wellington. His parents instilled in the family the culture of giving generously from a very young age. Throughout his presentation he made several mentions of his parents as mentors – always very community focussed and always looking to help to make the world a better place.
Four years ago, Andy and Leanne bought a property in Tawa which is now home to their business The Garden Factory. Check out their colourful website here. They grow exotic herbs, fruits, vegetables and flowers and … tomatoes – lots of tomatoes, nearly 17 - or was it 70 - varieties of mainly heirloom tomatoes. This seed raising enterprise enables them to ground themselves and unwind as well as connect with their community which has become involved.
In June Andy moved from the Health Promotion Agency to MBIE, as a consultant working on re-platforming all the digital experience for Immigration. He is still working in the health sector as a Board member of the Digital Health Association, an entity that represents 175 health technology companies. This is his first experience of governance and an opportunity to see his passion for using technology to make things simpler operationalised.
He is also involved in a Tech Startup that has developed a way to deliver learning to groups, all virtually, and have them interact with the speaker. The company has secured a couple of impressive early adopters one being Newmont, the world’s largest gold mining company. They wanted to bring in subject matter experts and develop training for their 45 thousand employees across 30 countries. The start-up has also recently rolled out training on behalf of Zespri International, delivering workshops virtually and on demand in China and across Europe. Andy’s closing message was, everybody is a teacher and everyone is a learner – just never stop.
Thank you Hayley for introducing Andy to the Club. It’s easy to see why you thought he was a great fit.