Rohan Wakefield

I’m a founder and part-time CEO with over 15 years of experience building organisations, leading teams, and supporting others to do the same. I co-founded and led Dev Academy Aotearoa, a mission driven tech training organisation that helped hundreds of people transition into software careers, many from underrepresented backgrounds. Over more than a decade, I built and scaled the business, grew and coached high performing teams, and led strategy, operations, stakeholder relationships, and funding negotiations, including work with Government, Iwi, and partners.

My love working alongside founders and leadership teams to help them turn vision into executable strategy. I can help when a team is hitting growing pains or needs to clarify their product direction, develop leadership capability, sharpen their sales focus, or get serious about stakeholder engagement or investment readiness.

I’ve worked across the public, private, and impact sectors, and I’m particularly energised by ventures with a purpose, whether that’s making tech more equitable, solving social problems, or building tools that empower others. As a consultant and advisor, I bring a calm, strategic presence that helps founders lead more confidently and teams operate more effectively.

• Strategy development and business model design - helping founders clarify their vision, set priorities, and build practical, scalable plans

• Product visioning and roadmap alignment - supporting teams to define what to build, for whom, and in what order to create real value

• Team coaching and leadership development - growing strong and resilient teams through one on one coaching, culture design, and capability building

• Sales focus - working with teams to identify customers, refine messaging, and effectively engage

• Stakeholder engagement and partnership strategy - building the right relationships with customers, funders, government, and key collaborators

• Investment readiness and fundraising support - preparing founders to raise capital with clarity