The board of trustees at Ministry of Awesome has named Graham Scown (pictured above) as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
Over the past three years, Christchurch-based Ministry of Awesome has undergone significant growth. It has transformed from a regional startup hub into a key national player, supporting founders across the country.
Scown’s appointment will focus on implementing Ministry of Awesome’s strategic plan. His goal is to build New Zealand’s most impactful founder-focused programmes for globally ambitious startups.
The plan will also support a rise in women entrepreneurs through Electrify Aotearoa, and a more aligned and collaborative startup community.
“Graham’s experience in bridging the worlds of government, universities, startups and industry will be instrumental as we build founder-focused startup programmes to increase economic productivity in New Zealand through startup innovation,” says Dale Stephens, chair of Ministry of Awesome.
New force in the startup ecosystem
For the past 13 years, Scown has led the University of Auckland’s venture-building efforts through UniServices. He has spearheaded national programmes such as Momentum to foster student entrepreneurship.
He has also led Return On Science, which focuses on driving research commercialisation.
His experience in building successful programmes for first-time founders will also help strengthen Ministry of Awesome’s approach, which uses entrepreneurs-in-residence to provide founder-to-founder mentorship, says Stephens.
Scown takes over from interim CEO James Burnes. Burnes will remain a member of the Board of Trustees, a position he has held since 2019.
Burnes’ priority over the past 14 months as interim CEO was to enhance the organisation’s focus and capabilities, aiming to support founders ahead of government changes to New Zealand’s science and innovation sector.
“Ministry of Awesome is playing a pivotal role in connecting and supporting a national framework for founder success,” says Scown.
“There’s incredible momentum building in our startup ecosystem. Ministry of Awesome is uniquely placed to fuel that, from the grassroots to the global stage.
“I look forward to working with our partners and founders to expand our role in helping create companies reaching global markets,” Scown adds.
