Emily is the Innovation Lead for Ember Innovations – an organization working to transform the mental health system in Aotearoa through innovation. This role gives her the opportunity to work with innovators doing extraordinary things with huge potential for positive impact, often utilizing technology to improve scale and access.Originally from Lymm in Northern England, Emily wound her way to Tāmaki Makaurau via York, London, Melbourne and Ōtautahi and found home here with her partner and two children. She has spent the past two decades working in social innovation, social enterprise development and non-profit consulting roles, with a focus on education and wellbeing. Emily also holds governance and advisory roles within the health and wellbeing space. Emily loves to look at complex issues from different angles, listen to the human stories and experiences behind statistics, and explore what might be possible. She is endlessly curious and loves a good yarn, as well as a logic model or system map. Emily is passionate about ensuring the voices of those most impacted by challenges are central to the development of solutions.

Emily Preston

Guest Speaker - Innovation Lead @ Ember Innovations