David Irving
David retired from a successful business career in 1997, having been CEO and area director Australasia of Heinz‐Wattie. David was co‐founder of The ICEHOUSE and among several governance roles for small New Zealand businesses, is chairman and major shareholder in Cable Bay Vineyards. David also holds an appointment as honorary professor of enterprise and management at the University of Auckland Business School. Of specific note, David led the establishment of The ICEHOUSE and the ICE Bridge Business Growth Programmes for the University of Auckland Business School.
He was the inaugural Sir John Logan Campbell executive in residence at the University of Auckland from 1997 to 1998. In his role as honorary professor, David is uniquely placed to contribute to the Business School’s development as New Zealand’s leading business learning and research centre. David has been a critical influence in enhancing the focus around the integration between the teaching, learning and research activities of the Business School and the business community.
Jo Clayton
Jo is an experienced general manager and consultant working with The ICEHOUSE on its Owner Manager and Leading and Managing for Growth programmes. She is involved as a facilitator and coach on a number of Senior Leadership programmes in the corporate sector with companies such as The Warehouse, IAG, Fonterra and TVNZ. She is also an executive coach working with senior managers, first time general managers, leaders of SME’s and leadership teams.
She provides consulting and advisory services to businesses in a range of industries, working with their management teams to improve their performance and establish the foundations for growth. She assists with assessing and developing capability, and ensuring capacity, structural and governance issues are addressed.
Prior to establishing Acumen Ltd in 2001, Jo gained commercial experience across a range of industries including retail, manufacturing, building and professional services. She has held a range of senior executive and general management roles (including international assignments) with Mobil Oil, Fletcher Building and The Warehouse. She has a BEd and an MBA from Otago University.
Darl Kolb
Darl is Associate Professor of Management and International Business at the University of Auckland Business School, where he has taught undergraduate, postgraduate and Executive MBAs since 1992. His theory and research on ‘connectivity’ (social and technical communication) in organizations is internationally recognised. He is a faculty facilitator in the ICEHOUSE business growth programmes and co-author of the best selling business growth book, Changing Gears: How to take your Kiwi business from the kitchen table to the board room (2009, Auckland University Press). He holds a BSc (Illinois State) in sociology, an MA (Colorado) in education, and a PhD in organizational behaviour from Cornell University.
Leith Oliver
Dr Leith Oliver lectures on Business Growth, Strategic Operations Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, and runs University short courses on Business Planning.
He has a broad experience as an owner-manager of many businesses including companies engaged in housing construction, furniture manufacturing and exporting, and retailing. Leith co-authored the book "Production Planning Systems Design" with Associate Professor Victor Portougal (Auckland) and is also co-author of the 5th Ed of the "Small Business Book" with Associate Professor John English (Canberra). In the course of his research and consultancy Leith currently works with many businesses on strategic planning and developing management competencies in the fields of finance and accounting, sales and marketing, and operations management.
He custom designs and delivers innovative strategic planning workshops for companies wanting to develop a shared strategic vision for the company based on the drivers of performance within the business.
Deb Shepherd
Deb is a Senior Lecturer in Management and International Business at the University of Auckland Business School and Founding Director of Coal Spud Group and Director of several other enterprises. Deb is a founding faculty member of The ICEHOUSE Growth Programmes and has facilitated Business Growth programmes since 2001. Her research and consultancy with SMEs is specialized on strategy, leadership, senior team development, change management and family business and a member of the Family Firm Institute. She is co-author of the best selling business growth book, Changing Gears: How to take your Kiwi business from the kitchen table to the board room (2009, Auckland University Press). She holds a BA (Otago) in psychology, an MA (Hons) in psychology and management, and a PhD in management from the University of Auckland.
Chris Woods
Kiwi born and bred, Chris's interests in entrepreneurship and the small to medium business sector were sparked after working in Malawi as a small business advisor. Instead of catching malaria she caught the entrepreneur bug, becoming "hooked" on the passion and energy that entrepreneurs bring to what they do. She currently teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Faculty of Business & Economics at the University of Auckland. In 2003, she was instrumental, with the Post Graduate Students' Association, in establishing the Spark Entrepreneurship Challenge. She has been involved with The ICEHOUSE Business Growth Programmes since their inception in 2001. Her consultancy work is with SMEs and Family Businesses in strategy development, learning and business growth. She is also a member of the Family Firm Institute.
Liz Wotherspoon
Liz WotherspoonAs ICE Bridge and ICE Network Director for The ICEHOUSE Liz is responsible for leading the Growth business which includes the business growth programs, networks and services that are focused on adding capability to grow established SMEs. She is also responsible for the alumni and international activities of The ICEHOUSE.
Liz is a Director of Grafton Consulting Group and has extensive experience in the provision of consulting services to clients including facilitation, organisation design and structure, training, role and competency profiling, performance management, capability needs analysis, management coaching, and change management.
Liz has spent most of her career contributing to the success of organisations through working with them to develop their most important asset - people. She was Manager, Human Resources Consulting for TMP Worldwide (formerly Morgan & Banks Group) in Auckland. Prior to joining TMP Worldwide, Liz was Director, Training and Development for the New Zealand Institute of Management. In this role she had overall responsibility for NZIM Auckland's executive development, public programmes, customised training and consultancy services and the effective planning and management of international speaker seminars. She also served as Acting General Manager for NZIM for a 4 month period.
Liz joined NZIM shortly after arriving in New Zealand. Originally from New York City, she spent her career prior to moving to New Zealand working for Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York City. Liz holds a B.A. in Psychology and Business from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA.