Fiona Bentley is a Registered Nurse and Clinical Solutions Specialist for Smith + Nephew.  

Fiona, a Clinical Solution Specialist at Smith & Nephew, has spent seven years educating healthcare professionals on wound care management, following her experience in an ICU setting. Join her to learn how to enhance your team's ability to distinguish between incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) and pressure injuries, helping to better support your community.

Aged Care Commissioner | Te Toihau Tautiaki KaumātuaHealth and Disability Commissioner | Te Toihau Hauora, Hauātanga

As Aged Care Commissioner for nearly 3 years, Carolyn provides strategic oversight of health and disability services for older people in all care settings. In addition to being a statutory decision maker on complaints about care provided to older people, she advocates for older people’s rights to quality health and disability services to support them to age well. Carolyn’s 40-year career spans public and private sector governance, executive and clinical leaderships roles across New Zealand and Australia. She is passionate about ensuring older people have a great quality of care and quality of life.

Julie is a Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, Professional Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate at The University of Auckland. 

Julie is a previous Chair of the NZNO Gerontology Section and contributed the development of the College of Gerontology Nursing. 

Julie is co-author of the 2023 Edition of the Frailty Care Guides for residential aged care (RAC).  Her research interests include supporting the RAC team to identify and respond to acute deterioration in a timely and standardise manner. 

Dr Makarena Dudley, (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu), is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology and Deputy Director Māori for the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland. 

In 2025, Makarena was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to people with dementia, particularly Māori. She has developed a screening tool for detecting dementia mate wareware in Māori (MANA: Māori Assessment of Neuropsychological Abilities), developed a mate wareware website and app and has led the adaptation of the Cognitive Stimulation Training (CST) programme to be culturally appropriate for Māori. Makarena has developed a theory of dementia mate wareware from a Māori worldview.

Makarena is currently leading a nation-wide mate wareware prevalence study with Māori.

Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngai Tai

Kerri is a Registered Nurse and Midwife by background working across primary, community and hospital-based nursing, she is currently the Kaiwhakahaere at Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa – New Zealand Nurses Organisation. Kerri is member of the International Council of Nurses, Audit and Risk Committee, Co-chair of the Iwi Maori Partnership Board for Te Aka Whai Ora. Honorary Member of Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa, New Zealand Nurses Organisation.

Kerri is a well-respected international Indigenous nursing leader who has been representing Aotearoa on a global stage at a range of international for a for decades. She has strong indigenous networks and is a skilled strategist and thinker and strong advocate for human rights, Indigenous rights, women, and Workers’ Rights. 

Kerri has led numerous legal challenges specifically pay parity for the workforce, lead applicant for the Kaupapa Health Services enquiry, Mana Wahine claims and Oranga Tamariki – child uplift, a collaborator in the United Nations Universal Periodic Review, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, shadow report and the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

An advocate and published researcher, her national and international accomplishments have seen her present interventions at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the United Nations in New York, protecting freedoms and right of Indigenous peoples.

Kerri is a recipient of the prestigious” International Human Rights and Nursing Award” from the University of Exter UK and recognised in 100 Maori Leaders.

Matthew holds the position of clinical chair in gerontology, a joint appointment between Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) and the University of Waikato. Matthew works across health and specialist services in the midlands as well as commissioning in the South Island. He also works with Spark Health, as the digital clinical lead, specialising in older people and community health.

Matthew has spent the last three decades researching and implementing new health services to improve the lives of older people and people with disabilities.