ABOUT
The New Zealand Esports Federation is the solely recognised national sporting organisation for esports in New Zealand. Established to promote and represent esports in New Zealand to increase its level of awareness, improve standards and inspire future talent.
The New Zealand Esports Federation was set up with the aim to lead and support kiwis to positively shape the future of esports as the recognised voice of Esports in New Zealand.
CORE VALUES
We aim for every action we take at the New Zealand Esports Federation to contribute towards our core values.
It’s on these values we aspire to build the future of esports.
OUR VISION: To unite New Zealanders with each other and the world through Esports.
OUR MISSION: To lead, support and grow esports in New Zealand.
Inclusive Participation
To ensure that all New Zealanders have equal opportunity to participate in esports. To give a voice for positive change to all stakeholders in the NZ esports ecosystem.
Education
To promote the social, health and educational benefits of esports and video games for youth and the wider community.
Integrity
Advocate for a safe and controlled competitive environment that reinforces the sporting spirit of fair play and integrity.
Empowerment
Empower individuals to pursue esports with confidence across all levels of the industry. To empower youth to reach their full potential using the skills and attributes learned through esports.
OUR PEOPLE
NZ Esports Executive Committee
President
Conor English is a former independent advisor to the Reserve Bank, chief executive of Federated Farmers and the New Zealand Property Institute and is involved in a number of businesses and boards. His interest in esports was sparked by his children’s involvement.
Vice President and International Representative
Duane has held senior roles within the gaming industry since 2010. He has worked with publishers including Activision, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, Riot, SEGA and Warner Bros. He is an experienced managing director with a demonstrated history of working in the broadcast media industry. Duane is passionate about the development of esports on a regional and global scale as well as delivering world-class broadcasting content. Outside of the office he enjoys surfing and finds the correlation between the rise of action sports and esports both fascinating and inspiring.
Chair, Women’s Subcommittee, International NZ Representative
Nikolasa has extensive experience working in digital spaces and alongside indigenous communities. She has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from Waikato University where she lectured for 5 years in the School of Māori & Pacific Development. She is founding Director of TangataWhenua.com, one of Aotearoa’s first Māori news portals launched in 2002. Nikolasa is co-founder of Digital Basecamp, Rotorua’s largest coworking space for digital content creators and cofounded Digital Natives Academy Charitable Trust. DNA was founded in 2014 and was one of the first non-profits in NZ to focus on providing access, mentorship and training in the area of esports, animation and content creation with a focus on providing kaupapa Māori delivery. DNA has a 2500sqm training facility in the heart of Rotorua with 40 high spec rigs. DNA works closely with local school and offers free programmes to the community along with accredited level 4 programmes through Media Design School.
Henry Lawton is the general manager of VictoryUP. He successfully launched the Wellington Secondary School league as an official sport in the Wellington region and run the largest high school esports league to date with more than 1,000 students participating nationwide. Henry has a passion for growing the esports scene from grassroots and offers a unique insight into how to successfully engage with esports.
Paul is the owner of Playtech, a large computer and technology reseller. Paul has had deep roots to the gaming and esports community as one of the largest equipment providers in the space. Paul brings a wealth of community relationships, business acumen and critical perspective to the NZESF.
Alison is heavily involved in New Zealand sport governance and has been a Director of High Performance Sport New Zealand, and Cycling New Zealand and is a current member of the NZOC Athlete Commission and the Oceania representative on the Commonwealth Games Federation Athlete Advisory Commission.
Belinda has also taken on the role of Community Grants & Funding Advisor in 2022 for NZ Esports.
Women's Sub Committee
Founder Digital Natives Academy, Digital Basecamp, Native Industries, TangataWhenua.com
Nikolasa has extensive experience working in digital spaces and alongside indigenous communities. She has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from Waikato University where she lectured for 5 years in the School of Māori & Pacific Development. She is founding Director of TangataWhenua.com, one of Aotearoa’s first Māori news portals launched in 2002. Nikolasa is co-founder of Digital Basecamp, Rotorua’s largest coworking space for digital content creators and cofounded Digital Natives Academy Charitable Trust. DNA was founded in 2014 and was one of the first non-profits in NZ to focus on providing access, mentorship and training in the area of esports, animation and content creation with a focus on providing kaupapa Māori delivery. DNA has a 2500sqm training facility in the heart of Rotorua with 40 high spec rigs. DNA works closely with local school and offers free programmes to the community along with accredited level 4 programmes through Media Design School.
Senior Lecturer @ RMIT University
Emma Witkowski is a sociologist and senior lecturer with the game design program at RMIT University, Australia. Her research focuses on networked game cultures, particularly high-performance practices, esports modernisation, and young people’s relationships with their organised digital leisure activities. Emma has published widely on esports careers, gender and games, and the institutionalisation of esports, she consults at local, state, and federal levels on esports in Australia and advises for professional esports and sports organisations. Emma is a board member of the Australian Esports Association and Order Esports.
Chairperson of the New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA), Head of Strategy & Business Development at CerebralFix Ltd
Chelsea is Chairperson of the New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA), the national industry body for games and interactive media. She works closely with government, tertiary education, trade organizations, and cross-industry partners to advocate for the game industry. After working in Medtech product development for many years, she decided to pursue her passion for video games, and brought her 10+ years of experience to New Zealand in 2019. She is now the Head of Strategy & Business Development at CerebralFix Ltd, a Christchurch-based game studio that creates mobile and digital location-based experiences for clients like Disney, Universal, DreamWorks, and Pixar.
Kahu is a twitch streamer, model, and Masters of Business Management student who has seen first-hand how the landscape of the gaming world has changed in the 20 years. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion in gaming, and strives to break stereotypes. Through her passion for gaming, Kahu has hosted gaming tournaments, been involved in live tv discussions about the relevance of gaming in the sports industry, was a guest speaker at the Media Design School panel discussing game studies and engineering, and hosted a Ministry of Education funded events series about careers in gaming, streamed to schools across New Zealand.
Platform and Leagues Associate, LPL
Ashleigh ‘Minxy’ Dougal, is one of NZ’s top Esports Professional (Rainbow Six Siege) and was the first female Team Captain in LPL competitive play. She is currently Platform and League Associate for Let’s Play Live. Ashleigh has experience working within the esports ecosystem and has an extensive background in event management and coordination.
Marketing Executive, Award-Winning Designer, Gaming Enthusiast and
Advocate
Layla arrived in Wellington by way of South Africa, and she’s a slayer of all things creative and navigates through the labyrinth of life with an astounding toolkit of contrasting talents. By her side is her trusty sidekick, Athena, a 4-year-old female Staffy that travelled 11 554 km to live in a country where sheep outnumber humans.
Being a self-classified multipotentialite translates as being a marketer by trade. The only specialisation Layla has done is choose a druid as my Dungeons and Dragons character class, and that is ironic.
Layla is an award winning graphic designer and over the past 6 years has worked across various fields in marketing. Being a naturally curious creature, she always wants to understand how each piece fits into the puzzle. Her thesis for her Honours degree focused on product placement in video games. The research showed that brands placed in video games created a positive brand association and increased brand loyalty as audiences are immersed in the environment and relate that product with their favourite video game.
Gaming has been a big part of her life from a young age. She watched her mother play Age of Empires and quickly realised why she spent an hour or two most evenings escaping into the game. Layla has been an avid gamer ever since. Layla believes it will take hard work, but with so many passionate people believing in the future of esports in this country, the achievement will soon outweigh the effort.
Meet the Chief Executive Officer
Jonathan ‘ Arkadian’ Jansen
@TheRealArkadian
Jonathan is starting as the first Chief Executive Officer of the organisation and brings a unique combination of strategic, operational and creative flair to the NZESF. As the former CEO of New Zealand Industry Qualifications, Jonathan has a passion for creating opportunities and outcomes and has been working to raise the national standard in computer literacy and computer skills in New Zealand schools. Jonathan has been a life-long gamer and involved in the esports scene since it’s inception in New Zealand. With first-hand experience of the industry from an athletes perspective, Jonathan is positioned to help take Esports to new heights.
Advisory Roles
Taikawa Tamati-Elliffe
Māori Culture Advisor
Ko Te Atua o Taiehu te mauka
Ko Otākou te tai
Ko Otākou te marae
Ko Kati-ruahikihiki , Kai te Pahi , Kati Hawea ngā hapu
Ko Kai Tahu , Taranaki ngā iwi
Ko Taikawa Tamati-Elliffe ahau
Tihei Mauriora
Papaki kau ana ngā tai o mihi – may the tides of greeting wash upon you
Kia Ora im Taikawa, By day I am the Māori Partnership and Pathways Manager at CODE Dunedin.
By night I am the Director and co-founder of Ngāti Gaming.
I grew up as the first generation of Kai Tahu te reo Māori revitilization project lead by the members of Kotahi Mano Kaika.
My passion for gaming started at a young age, where my friends and I would work our local driving range to earn enough to head to our local internet cafe all nighter.
For me gaming is about uniting people with a common cause to achieve your combined goals and objectives, This is my attitude heading forward in this industry.
I am an avid coffee drinker, photographer, videographer, and licenced drone pilot, but most importantly I enjoy motivating, inspiring, and challenging people through the content I create. Several years ago I started No Hands No Excuses, on YouTube, as a platform to motivate every day people to achieve their best, by showing them what a guy with fragile skin, and no hands, can get out there and do every day!
Over the years this has expanded, grown, and changed into many different avenues of creating art and content for people to enjoy, but also be inspired by. These days that includes being a Partnered Streamer on Twitch, playing video games 4 days a week, and showing the world that with a little kiwi ingenuity, a setup full of accessible adapted technology, and some awesome people in my corner that take a chance and work with me, I can give any game a go!
Humprey ‘NoHandsNZ’ Hanley
Accessibility & Disability Advisor
Belinda Hope
Community Grants & Funding Advisor
Belinda owns TenForward Technology Lounge, a specialised after school care and holiday programme that uses gaming as a tool to support social development skills for young people. We enjoy social team gaming on screens with each other, strategising together in the same room and learning better communication skills and teamwork, and also off screen gaming such as D&D and MTG. Our young people are keen to become esports athletes as they get older, and we hope that our grassroots supporting of positive behaviours and attitudes to gaming and other teammates and competitors will create a better environment for everyone to enjoy.
Belinda is a business and entrepreneurship mentor, and is also on the Board of SkateNZ to support both community and competitive sport.