The Inkling has its genesis in extensive research in 2020 into intellectual discourse in New Zealand. That project was commissioned by Ed Bachrach, an author, businessman and philanthropist.
The Inkling benefits from an Advisory Panel who provide expert advice and support and share our belief in the importance of ideas and healthy debate. The Panel members are Professor Tracey Mcintosh, Professor Andrew Geddis, Ven. Dr. Lyndon Drake, and Juliet Moses. You can find out more about each of them below.
The man behind The Inkling is deeply interested in ideas and practical solutions, which led him to co-author a book about his home city, The New Chicago Way. Concerned about poor governance and a raft of negative statistics that make life too hard for too many of his fellow Chicagoans, like a murder rate higher than other major American cities, Ed helped chart a path forward for the municipal government, which is responsible for just under three million people. He also founded a non-profit, the Center for Pension Integrity, to address the city’s pension crisis. He’s now a frequent speaker and commentator on the opportunities and challenges facing Chicago.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Ed’s also a life-long learner, earning a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 2007. He earned this degree after he finished his career in business, where he expanded a family-owned store to a nation-wide presence across the USA. A student of history and a political centrist, Ed believes that discourse in the US has become far too polarised and superficial. In his experience, when debate goes deeper people move closer together and closer to the centre. With a better understanding of each other and of the issues, there’s a better chance of solving problems and creating opportunities.
Since 2008, Ed’s been a frequent visitor to New Zealand, developing a great love for this land. As a result, not only does he own property here, he’s passionate about helping to foster a vigorous and life-giving culture of public discourse.
Ed travels widely, and as a result of his voyages he’s become a philanthropist. He founded the Build Cambodia Foundation in 2002 to support development work directly in a rural setting. He also supports initiatives like Friends Without a Border (which provides medical care in developing countries) and Hope Worldwide (disaster relief and poverty alleviation), and sponsors aid and development work in North Korea.
Tracey Mcintosh, MNZM is Ngā Tūhoe and Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Auckland and a sociologist by training. She received the Royal Society’s Te Rangi Hiroa Medal in 2017. She is currently the Chief Science Advisor to the Ministry of Social Development, and a Commissioner on the Te Kāhui Tātari Ture: Criminal Cases Review Commission. She served as co-chair of the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty in 2012, and was a member of the Welfare Expert Advisory Group as well as a member of Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora: The Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group in 2018-2019. Her research looks at the interface of Māori and other Indigenous peoples with the criminal justice system with a particular focus on incarceration.
Andrew is a Professor of Law at the University of Otago, with a particular interest in public and constitutional law, rights jurisprudence and democratic theory, and electoral law. He’s a frequent commentator in the media and won the 2019 Critic and Conscience of Society Award for his contribution to public debate. Andrew has served on the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee, and holds an LLM from Harvard University which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar.
The Ven Dr Lyndon Drake (Ngāi Tahu) serves as Archdeacon of Tāmaki Makaurau in the Māori Anglican bishopric of Te Tai Tokerau. Until 2010, Lyndon was a Vice President at Barclays Capital, trading government bonds and interest-rate derivatives. Lyndon has a PhD in computer science (York), two degrees in theology (Oxford), and is working on a DPhil at Oxford on theology and economic capital in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. He sits on a number of boards, including as chair of Te Hui Amorangi ki Te Tai Tokerau Trust Board, Te Kaunihera (Governors) of St John's College, the Venn Foundation, and Te Whare Ruruhau o Meri Trust Board.
Juliet is a partner in TGT Legal, a boutique Auckland firm. As the Spokesperson for the New Zealand Jewish Council, she is often in the media commenting on a wide range of issues. Juliet serves as trustee or honorary solicitor to a number of charitable organisations, including service as a trustee of the Auckland Foundation, which enables impactful philanthropy in Tāmaki Makaurau, and a trustee of the Astor Foundation whose aims include promoting the human dignity of all faiths, cultures and ethnicities and supporting healthy debate.
