Annick Janson

I am passionate about developing leadership in the Health & Disability sector. I trained as clinical and an educational psychologist with a special interest in vulnerable families and families raising disabled children and teens.

Positions & Governance Experience

* Associate, Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research, Victoria University of Wellington

* Inaugural Research Director, NZ Leadership Institute, University of Auckland Business School

* Research Director, Microsoft NZ, PiL

* Principal Investigator. NZ Leadership Pathway, Royal Society of NZ.

* Fast Track Inclusion trust, Co-founder

* New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology, Past Co-President, Current Exec. Committee member

I have served on Advisory Boards and Steering Committees, such as the Community Public Health Advisory Committee of the Waikato District Health Board, the NZ Tertiary Commission, Fast Track Inclusion Trust, Waikato, Hamilton Multicultural Services Trust. I received a Gallup International Positive Psychology Award for research in Leadership Formative Experiences and represented NZ at the Global Leadership Summit, Gallup Leadership Institute, and at the European Commission Disability Service Providers Forum. Invited as Visiting Research Associate, INSEAD and Harvard School of Consulting & Clinical Psychology. Member and contributor, Citizen Network.

My positive psychology research in disability with the NZ Ministries of Education, Health & Social Development led me to author over 50 peer-reviewed publications including for UNESCO and the Human Rights Commission. I use storytelling (www.pictability.org) and the science of wellbeing to develop family and youth leadership. I am a NZ Ministry of Health Knowledge Translation Fellow for my research on building capacity in the disability sector (www.egl.ac.nz).

Co-founder with Sylvana Mahmic, Plumtree Children Services, a Sydney-based Early Intervention Centre, of ‘Now & Next’, an award winning ground-breaking program. Now & Next facilitates a leadership pipeline to take parents raising young children with disability through a transformative journey to increase outcomes for their children and families. The program trains peer leaders to harness their sector leadership (www.nowandnext.org).

I encourage my three children to take up, and design, life opportunities. My lived experience includes coaching my son Yaniv through his leadership journey as an international artist (www.yanivjanson.com).