Shay Wright
Māori generally fall within the bottom 80% of indicators that the New Zealand' Government uses to measure wellbeing, and Māori are nearly three times as likely to be unemployed and/or convicted of a criminal offence.
Shay is working to empower the next generation of Maori entrepreneurs and leaders through the organisation he co-founded, Te Whare Hukahuka.

From the Far North iwi of Te Rarawa, Shay has been a champion for indigenous empowerment and leadership his whole life. He is particularly passionate about purpose-driven business and social enterprise. Shay worked in the Māori business development at The Icehouse, where he learnt a lot about start-ups, market validation and business models. In 2016, Shay was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia-Pacific for his efforts, and in 2019, was named an Obama Fellow.

Shay’s involvement with Inspiring Stories has been long-standing. He has attended and/or spoken at Festival for the Future multiple times. Shay was the inaugural winner of The Impact Award for Enterprise in 2019, and is a sought after speaker represented on Inspiring Speakers – the social enterprise speaker bureau run by Inspiring Stories.