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by Olivia
Andrew Slater

Chief Executive Officer, Whakarongorau

Andrew Slater

 Andrew is a visionary change maker in New Zealand’s e-health landscape. He has been passionately committed to improving peoples’ wellbeing since the age of 15 when he started as a St John Ambulance cadet in rural Wairarapa, in the North Island. 

As Aotearoa New Zealand’s youngest CEO in the health sector, Andrew solves health issues by identifying solutions through both a traditional and innovative lens. Throughout his career he has been committed to changing the country’s health system from the inside out, and growing people so they can deliver better health outcomes.

Andrew has been CEO of Whakarongorau Aotearoa (formerly Homecare Medical), a social enterprise providing national telehealth services, since its establishment in 2015. The organisation has grown exponentially in that time from 150 people to today’s workforce of 2500. Andrew is dedicated to solving inequitable access to health care by creating partnerships in provincial and rural areas to support ethnic communities including Māori and Pasifika, empowering local organisations to provide solutions for their own communities. 

Whakarongorau Aotearoa’s 24/7 services operate across seven digital channels including voice, webchat and text and are supported by clinical teams including more than 200 nurses, paramedics and specialists.

Guided by a Network of Global Leaders

Global Leadership Council

Global Leadership Council members provide thought leadership from a diverse range of professional backgrounds and experience in eMHIC’s Special Interest Groups. 

Dr Nina Ferencic

Senior Regional Adviser on Adolescent Health, Development and Participation, UNICEF

Jay Buckey

Professor of Medicine at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, USA

Kana Enomoto

Director of Brain Health, McKinsey Health Institute, USA

Dr. Daniel Fung

CEO, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore

Chris Wright

National Advisor for Digital Mental Health, Scotland

Liz Ashall-Payne

Founder and CEO, ORCHA

Prof. Andrew Greenshaw

Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience University of Alberta, Canada

Colin Seery

Chief Executive Officer at Lifeline Australia

Niki Legge

Director of Mental Health and Addictions, Government of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Dr Judith Kuriansky

Advisor, Mission of Sierra Leone, United Nations

Dr Jill Murphy

Executive Director, APEC Digital Hub for Mental Health

Nick Titov

Executive Director, Mindspot, Australia

Fran Silvestri

Former President and CEO, International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL)

Mary O'Hagan

Executive Director Lived Experience, Department of Health, Victoria, Australia

Richman Wee

Senior Researcher, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Piers Gooding

Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia

Dr Bruce Arroll

Professor of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Addie Wooten

CEO, Smiling Mind, Australia

Angie Chew

Adjunct Associate Professor of mindfulness, National University of Singapore

Professor Chee Ng

Professor and Healthscope Chair of Psychiatry, The Melbourne Clinic, Australia

Dr Craig Hassed

Senior lecturer at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Ed Mantler

SVP Chief Program Officer, Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC)

Nicholas Watters

Director of Access, Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC)

Juanita Ryan

Deputy Chief Executive at Ara Poutama, New Zealand

Victoria Hornby

CEO, Mental Health Innovations, UK

Stephen Appleton

President and Chief Executive of Global Leadership Exchange

Lucita Lazo

President of the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Philippines

Anna Elders

Clinical Lead, Just a Thought, New Zealand

Marie Paldam Folker

Director, Centre for Digital Psychiatry, Denmark

Krista Vanderheide

Assistant Secretary, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

Katherine Hay

President & CEO, Kids Help Phone, Canada

Derek Chambers

Policy Implementation Lead, National Mental Health Services Ireland

Dr Brian Hepburn

Executive Director, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD)

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Victoria Hornby

CEO, Mental Health Innovations, UK

International Phone and Text Helplines

Victoria is CEO of Mental Health Innovations, the charity behind SHOUT, the UK’s first 24/7 crisis text service. From 2011 to 2017, she was Director of Programmes at The Royal Foundation, building a portfolio of projects including the Invictus Games, Coach Core, United for Wildlife and Heads Together.