Jim Scully began his career as a mechanical engineer (and fitter/turner!), so he knows what it means to build things that have to work in the real world. In fact, every time he drives over Mangere Bridge, he is reminded of the expansion joints he sandblasted as an apprentice at Repco! Over three decades, he has moved from engineering into leadership design, mentoring, and speaking, working at the intersection of human-centred design and leadership with exporters, government, corporates, global organisations, as well as founding his own social purpose business, ThinkPlace New Zealand.

As a GM, he introduced design thinking into the public sector and built the NZ's first dedicated government design capability. He founded ThinkPlace NZ in 2009, growing it into an internationally recognised design and innovation practice. Jim works with senior leaders and emerging changemakers across the public and private sectors, and mentors young innovators globally through UNLEASH — an annual SDG innovation sprint bringing together 1,000 emerging leaders from 140+ countries. He has been on the UNDP Social Innovation Panel and NZTE’s Better-by-Design panel, and works with leaders in several countries. He is currently writing Shapers — because the future is too precious to leave to chance. It’s for leaders who don't just build things, but create the conditions for others to flourish.