Unconference
Unconference 2025
Connect. Collaborate. Catalyse Change
7-8 August 2025
AUT Conference Centre, Auckland
The Global Entrepreneurship Network New Zealand is back in 2025 with our flagship Unconference and Workshops; two powerful days designed to ignite energy, spark collaboration, and supercharge Aotearoa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Whether you're a founder, researcher, investor, educator, or ecosystem enabler, this is your opportunity to learn, share what matters, and help shape a thriving future of entrepreneurship in Aotearoa.
Thursday 7 August:
A full day of hands-on, high-impact workshops, facilitated by experienced leaders. These sessions are practical, purposeful and designed to leave you with tools, insights and connections that add value to the ecosystem.
Friday 8 August:
Dive into a day where the agenda is curated by you and your community. Come with an open mind to take part in peer-led sessions that explore challenges and opportunities across the ecosystem and look to find the path forward.
Expect fresh ideas, real conversations and meaningful connections
For more information on the event and to secure your ticket click below
Want to help ensure this amazing event and the rest of GEN NZ's work continues?
Reach out to discuss sponsorship opportunities!
Join us on LinkedIn for all updates and speakers presenting at Unconference 2025
Unconference 2025 Sponsors
Unconference 2025 Speakers
Jenny Douché
How can government agencies provide better support to startups?
Dan Thurston Crow
Motivation: What Lies Beneath
Colin Magee
Realising a Return on Your Startup
Marissa Kaloga
Founders of the Future: A Creative Lab for Inclusive Entrepreneurship
Richard Liew
How Startups Harness Strategic Storytelling for Growth
Niamh Given
The Innovation Lens: Recognising Ideas Worth Pursuing
Tamara Buckland
The Goblin Market: A playful experiment in entrepreneurial leadership
Chris O'Neill
Accelerating Startup Progress with AI: Tools, Tactics & Open Dialogue
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Nathaniel Holmes
Think Like a Human: Unlocking Creative Problem Solving Through Design Thinking
Ella Henry
Kaupapa Māori Entrepreneurship: Dialogue, Discovery & Decolonising Enterprise
Michael Fielding
Turning Researchers into Entrepreneurs: Myth, Mindset & Mobilisation
Debi Roder
What Is Economic Development? Understanding the Local Levers of Prosperity
What is an Unconference?
An ‘unconference' is a conference without a set agenda.
Attendees are given the freedom to create the event they want. There is no pre-planned agenda. Instead, it is created by the attendees at the beginning of the meeting. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on any topic can choose a time and space.
Unconferences allow every attendee to be a worthy keynote speaker on their own. All topics of conversation are on the table.
GEN NZ has been running Unconferences in various locations around New Zealand since 2020. The event welcomes entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, ecosystem builders, and many others to meet, discuss, and learn together.
