Derek Handley

Derek Handley is currently Chief Innovation Officer with New York-based social impact startup studio, Human Ventures. He is also the founder of Aera, a charitable trust investing in causes and companies addressing social issues in imaginative ways. The foundation catalyzed Aera VC, a community of family investors backing for-profit, social-venture startups launched at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where Derek was named 2016 Social Innovator in Residence.

Previously, Derek was Founding CEO of The B Team, co-founded with Sir Richard Branson as a global leadership collective advancing better ways of doing business for people and planet.

One of the first companies to help global brands navigate the mobile world, The Hyperfactory, was founded by Derek six years before the iPhone was invented. It is one of the multiple future-focused digital media and technology companies co-founded by Derek, and was acquired by Time Inc/Meredith Corporation in 2010. Shortly after, Derek was named in the 'Silicon Alley 100' most influential technology people in New York.

Derek is also a director at New Zealand’s largest media company, Sky Television (NZX: SKT); a founding member of the Air New Zealand Sustainability Advisory Panel (NZX:AIR); and a former New Zealand EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year; and an aspiring astronaut with Virgin Galactic, hoping to rocket off to space in the coming years.