Sam Rossiter-Stead

Sam is General Manager at Southland Regional Council (Environment Southland) and has spent the past 25+ years working in senior leadership roles in both the public and private sectors.

A former journalist, he specialises in issues management and crisis communications and has led the development of crisis management plans for major international events at home and overseas, as well as helping to protect the reputations of some of New Zealand’s highest-profile organisations and individuals.

His extensive experience in emergency management includes working as Group PIM for the Bay of Plenty region, an area where the risk of natural disaster is amongst the highest in the country. He is currently training as an emergency management controller - one of the first people to follow that route from a PIM background.

Sam has been an EMPA stalwart since its expansion into New Zealand in 2014 and is a former Board Chair. He currently serves as a Director and has been a member of the NZ Conference Committee since 2019.