Matt Lindley, Vice President

Matt joined the Royal Air Force in 1995 and qualified as a pilot flying the Hawk Fighter Jet. He then specialised in VIP transport becoming a Training Captain on The Royal Squadron. He was responsible for flying members of the Royal Family, The Prime Minister and Cabinet world wide for over 10 years. Matt became a Qualified Flying Instructor and was responsible for training on the RAF Hawker aircraft. Whilst in the RAF Matt became a civilian Crew Resource Management Instructor, developing a particular interest in non-technical training, human performance and error management . In 2006, Matt joined a major international airline, initially flying the Airbus A320 and from 2012 to the present day, the Boeing 747-400 and 777. Outside of aviation Matt has worked extensively in a wide variety sectors including healthcare, central government and pharmaceuticals. Matt is an international keynote speaker and has delivered TEDx talks.

Ness Haven, Associate - Resilience & Culture

Ness is a pioneering female aviator with real business experience. She was one of the very first female undergraduates to get a full Royal Air Force pilot scholarship whilst at university. Due to an unforeseen back injury, she was forced to rethink her career and chose human resourcing, joining Lucas Automotive as a graduate trainee. This episode of disappointment and change of direction, sparked Ness' interest in resilience and human performance. Ness' determination and grit to succeed in aviation, led her to being selected for prestigious Airline Cadet Training Scheme. Ness gained her wings and started her commercial airline career flying as a First Officer on the Boeing 737.

In addition to flying duties, Ness is a key member of the Airline Pilot Recruitment Team, conducting interviews and performance assessments of external pilot candidates. Ness is one of the handful of long-haul female Captains flying the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner worldwide. She is a passionate advocate of Human Performance Factors, in particular cultivating a culture on board where all crew members feel they can speak up, irrespective of rank.

Karen Speight, Associate - Research & Development, Coach

Karen is a Captain on the Airbus A320 for a major international airline, having previously flown the Boeing 757/767. She has a Masters in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University. Karen has been involved in training of both cabin crew and pilots since 1998, specialising in Crew Resource Management and Human Performance Factors. She also held a four year post as an airline flying instructor and has been involved in pilot recruitment since 2000.

Karen is responsible for the research and development of new material. She draws on her impressive academic and professional background, to transform behavioural science and psychology into useful business tools.

Karen is a qualified development coach.

Grainne “G” Somerville, Associate - Cognition & Decision Making, Coach

Grainne (“G”) has an MSc in Performance Psychology and  19-years of experience in the New Zealand Police (NZP). She qualified and worked as a Detective undertaking various roles before transitioning to CIB (Criminal Investigation Branch) as a Detective Sergeant and promotion to Senior Sergeant. She received three awards on completion of her recruit training and graduated top of her class in her Detective training. In 2009, she completed a tour to the Solomon Islands where she supervised, trained and mentored local staff. She was posted to a remote island station where she was responsible for overall operation of the police facility. As a female manager in a different jurisdiction this required her to lead by influence as opposed to a command approach as she implemented changes to address low morale, unacceptable work practices and corruption.  In 2016 she was seconded to Police National Head Quarters as Delivery Manager for  the roll out of the Police High Performance Program across the organization. This required her to support senior leaders to understand and implement organizational change.

Grainne has been involved in numerous high-profile cases; was part of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) investigation team during the Christchurch earthquake and completed investigations into the Christchurch Mosque Shootings. In 2020, she was awarded a Commissioner’s commendation for her investigative work. As a result of her ability to lead high performance, she was selected to lead the Cognitive Conditioning team at the Royal New Zealand Police College. Here she worked in developing and applying relevant cognitive conditioning training to a wide range of police groups. Her role saw her supporting police and tactical training, providing guidance to coaches and leadership teams.

Grainne has an extensive sporting background including representing NZ in Lacrosse. She presently lives in Washington DC, USA.  

Chris Robertson, Associate - Hierarchy & Speak-Up

Chris started his career in civil aviation in 2001. He worked through the ranks of a major international airline within the roles of cabin crew, cabin crew management and now over 15 years experience in learning and development. He specialises in both technical and non-technical learning and is skilled at delivering compliant and creative training interventions.

Working within this highly regulated industry Chris has been able to deliver training that empowers delegates to feel confident and competent in the workplace leading to increased performance and minimising the risk of error. His aim is to create thought-provoking and engaging atmospheres where compliance is key but employees are able to challenge, debate and learn from each other’s experiences.

Chris’s passion is employee well-being, human performance and reducing human error in the workplace incorporating all levels of the organisation to find best practices and ways of working to harmonise and deliver results.