Holly Suzanne Bennett

Holly is a keen advocate of accessible, transparent government and spends much of her time looking for ways to improve the lobbying industry.

Te Arawa (loud and) proud, Holly holds a law degree from the University of Auckland and was admitted to the bar in 2013. She spent four years working in political roles for two National Ministers before founding Awhi at the end of 2017.

In 2023 Holly was named in the University of Auckland’s 40 Under 40, and won Young Business Person of the Year at the Newmarket Business Awards and the People and Capability category at the MWDI Māori Business Women Awards in 2022.

She is a regular contributor for New Zealand media including RNZ, Newsroom and The Spinoff, and is a Crown-appointed Board Member of Whakaata Māori. To support her vision for an industry that everyone can access, Holly also founded New Zealand’s leading government relations training organisation Engage.

A cat mum to two (crazy) bengals, Holly spends her spare time keeping their claws out of her furniture as well as helping budding entrepreneurs learn how to bootstrap their start-up to their first million.

‍