The people behind VortexDNA

Branton Kenton-Dau, CEO

Together with colleagues Martin Burley and Raf Manji, Branton has pioneered the science of human intention. Since 2001 the team has been instrumental in mapping the structure of human intent through the mathematics of complex systems. In 2007 the team first publicly demonstrated the principles of complex systems in human behaviour in a test against Google SearchTM. Since then the commercial applications of this major scientific breakthrough have been focused on providing better segmentation in the insurance, credit and online sectors.

Branton is also a director of MetaWealth Limited and MarketsDNA Limited. Prior to his work on human intention Branton created the first corporate environmental rating system based on whole system principles. Before moving to New Zealand in 1996, Branton ran Human Technology UK Limited, a high profile business consultancy focusing on the management of change. Branton holds a First Class Honours degree in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Lancaster University, UK.

 

Raf Manji, Director

Raf spent 11 years in the financial markets working for Bankers Trust, Lehman Bros and Nat West GFM, as a senior proprietary trader in the global currency and interest rate markets. At the beginning of 2000, he left the city to research wider issues in the global economy. He spent 18 months as marketing and development manager for Trucost Plc, an environmental rating company, which has developed a unique approach to measuring an organisation's environmental performance. The Trucost Rating was launched in August 2002 in the UK. In early 2002, Raf moved to Christchurch to continue his work.

He is director of the Sustento Institute, which specialises in developing policies designed around whole systems thinking. He has a BA in Economics and Social Studies from the University of Manchester and a Graduate Diploma of Arts from the University of Canterbury.

 

Nick Gerritsen, Director

Nick joined the Vortex team in December 2005 and brings extensive experience in commercialising technology-based start-ups, intellectual property and international investment to the company.

He is currently a director of a number of leading New Zealand based technology companies in the clean technology, renewable energy and internet/ online sectors; and acts in an advisory capacity to others in sectors as diverse as lifesciences and high growth manufacturing.

Nick graduated from University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB). During his legal career, he has advised leading corporates on intellectual property and has enjoyed a string of successful business ventures, most notably in the tradition-breaking high growth emerging technology sector.

Nick has also provided additional synergistic services to top level agencies engaged in the innovation sector, for example, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (June 2002 to October 2003), SIAC (Science and Innovation Advisory Council), its successor GIAB (Growth and Innovation Advisory Board), the Ministry of Research Science and Technology, and direct engagement with Ministers of the Crown.

 

Richard Waid, Information Technology Director

Richard started his first company, IOPEN, when he was still at the University of Canterbury; he received his degree in computer science shortly after. Even in those early days, Richard was quick to pick up on the larger implications of the open-source movement; he co-founded the Effusion Group, an open technologies service broker, to benefit from collaborative alliances in the industry.

Richard's technical expertise is widely recognized in the industry. He was the Technical Editor for "Zope: Web Application Development and Content Management," which at the time of publishing was considered the definitive guide. The Groupserver platform, for which Richard served as Software Architect, powers more than 16,000 users at onlinegroups.net; he and his team developed a custom version for forums.e-democracy.org, which claims over 7,000 users in 17 cities including Christchurch, New Zealand; Minneapolis, MN; Las Vegas, NM; Oxford, UK; and Darebin, Australia.

 

Ali Wilkinson, Marketing Director

Ali has spent thirteen years in the general insurance industry working in the UK, French and South-East Asian markets for the global giant AXA and for national market leaders in New Zealand and Russia. Ali specializes in health and related insurances with particular expertise in opening new markets, business development, strategic marketing and underwriting.

Ali attended the Université d'Angers in France and Brunel University in West London where she achieved Licence ès Sciences Economiques and BA (Hons) in European Business Studies -- International Finance, French and German. Ali studied for insurance qualifications with the Chartered Insurance Institute in London and the Singapore Insurance Institute.

Ali was Marketing Director for a New Zealand hi-tech company moving from initial success following start-up to sustained growth phase. For VortexDNA Ali marries knowledge of the issues and drivers of insurance companies with the paradigm-shifting technology solutions to help insurance companies recreate their business model.

 

Xiaomei Liu, Representative, South West, China

Xiaomei is the co-founder of IDF Global, a Chinese 3d visualisation and model making company which now has more than 300 staff and has 25 offices worldwide. Her academic achievements include a BA majoring in English literature and a Diploma of Commerce majoring in Trade.

 

Justin Liu, General Manager Asia

Justin has over ten years experience in sales and marketing with several multi-national companies; the majority of this time has been devoted to international market development for telcos and other industries. While working for power solution supplier Eaton, Justin significantly increased their revenue in China from start-up level. Justin is experienced in opening and growing new markets, creating new business opportunities and building up effective sales and service operational platforms.

Uniquely qualified to further VortexDNA's business with Chinese telcos, Justin held engineering roles at China Telecom/China Mobile for close to ten years and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Wireless Telecom Engineering from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Justin has multilingual ability in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka.

 

Andrew Groom, Senior Developer

Since completing an MSc in Physics at the University of Canterbury, Andrew has worked in the IT industry in a variety of roles and industries since 1989. His main focus has been on software design and development in a wide range of environments, but most recently in database-driven Internet and intranet-based applications through consultancy work with Web development companies and as a freelance consultant.

Andrew also has a strong interest in Open Source technologies, including the Python programming language and Zope Component Architecture on which VortexDNA server technologies are based.

 

Kaila Colbin, Head of Communications

Kaila is an entrepreneur, a published writer, and a communications expert. Since graduating from Cornell University in 1994, she has founded several companies including Missing Link Consultants, a communications and marketing consultancy with a focus on social media, and Falcon Training, a project management training company.

Kaila is widely recognized as a forward thinker and an innovative voice in web trends and global online communities. She is the voice of the Web Genome Project blog and a regular contributor to the US publications Search Insider and Network World. She has developed a particular expertise in provoking disruptive thinking and in bringing together disparate ideas about humanity.

 

Martin Burley, Head of Research

With an educational background in maths and philosophy, a Master's in Applied Ethics, and experiential research in organizational and management behavior, Martin's understanding of the forces affecting his community are better informed than most.

His knowledge in this area has been demonstrated repeatedly through his work at VortexDNA. For his first project, Martin analyzed the cultures of all of the companies in the S&P 500, validating the positive bottom-line impact of adhering to a core purpose and values. He then built on that success by being a key member of the team that mapped the mathematical structure of human intention.

For Martin, a whole systems approach isn't limited to abstract intellectual concepts; he applies it everywhere, every day. As a LifeLine phone counselor for people in distress, Martin is emphatic that his ability to perceive people as whole systems -- using concepts like flow and coherence -- has been vital to his ability to help others.

 

Olav Jordens, Head of Analytics

Prior to working with VortexDNA, Olav was the Manager of Credit Risk Models for Nedbank Capital, South Africa's fourth largest bank. His recent focus was the implementation of the Basel II Accord in the banking sector.

Olav gained his PhD in the congruence lattices of mathematical models and holds both a BSc(Hons) and a BSc in mathematics. He also developed and delivered courses for a South African University programme in the mathematics of finance and actuarial science.

 

Mark Sunderland, Statistician

Mark brings experience in economic analysis and prediction as well as a thorough academic understanding of economic statistics to VortexDNA.

Before joining VortexDNA, Mark was involved with the economic analysis of time series. This involved collecting macroeconomic data, clarifying data discrepancies he detected, and analysing interrelationships between sectors of the economy.

Mark earned both a Bachelor's and Master's of Commerce from the University of Canterbury by studying economic theories and conducting a sequential bargaining experiment. He has since given back to the University by working as a Tutor, and as a Research Assistant, which included analysis of labour market statistics and National Accounts data. He has also worked as a Tutor in Lincoln University's Department of Economics.