Technology Challenges and Market Resilience will be one of the interesting topics an international speaker at the 2016 Top Executives (TOPEX) Conference will address.

Derek Handley, a New York-based social entrepreneur from New Zealand, will be talking on this theme at the two day conference.

The event for the top executives gets underway this Friday at the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa on Denarau Island.

Mr Handley founded Aera Foundation, a charitable studio investing in new companies and causes addressing social issues in innovative ways.

Prior to this, he was founding chief executive of The B Team, where he worked with Sir Richard Branson to form a group of global leadership icons catalysing better ways of doing business for people and planet.

Mr Handley has helped found multiple companies in digital media and technology.

He is currently a member of the Air New Zealand Sustainability Advisory Panel, an Adjunct Professor at Auckland University of Technology, and a director of Sky Television.

In 2015, Mr Handley was listed as one of the top 10 most influential social entrepreneurs on Twitter and was named a visionary leader on two ‘top 100’ global leadership indexes.

He is a former NZ EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year and released his first book “Heart to Start” in 2013, on the entrepreneurial journey and pursuing personal purpose.

As an aspiring astronaut with Virgin Galactic, he hopes to rocket off to space in the coming years.

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