TechTuesday – February 2026

Leading Diverse Teams in 2026

Presented by Kelsie Inglis (General Manager, Publica)

As tech teams become increasingly diverse across age, culture, neurodiversity, working styles, and life experience, traditional leadership approaches are starting to fail. In this session, Kelsie explores the real friction points that show up in modern tech teams and what actually drives performance in diverse environments.

Drawing on real-world leadership experience, she unpacks psychological safety as a practical leadership tool, the importance of clarity over control, and how empathy can be applied without lowering standards.

The session focuses on leadership accountability in 2026 and offers clear, actionable takeaways for people leaders, tech leads, and project owners who want diversity to become a genuine performance advantage rather than a buzzword.

Bio:
Kelsie Inglis is General Manager at Publica, a Christchurch-based digital agency delivering complex websites, platforms, and integrations. She leads multidisciplinary teams spanning developers, designers, strategists, and marketers across generations, cultures, and working styles. With a background in brand, digital strategy, and leadership, Kelsie specialises in building high-trust teams that perform under pressure – especially in fast-moving, high-stakes tech environments.

Event Outline:

5.00pm – Member registration opens, networking, drinks and nibbles
5.30pm – Non-member registration opens
6.00pm – Canterbury Tech updates
6.15pm – Guest speaker
7.00pm – More networking
7.30pm – Close of event

Things to note:  

• Each attendee will receive 2 drinks tickets for the event. Alcoholic beverages may not leave the function space.
• Members must have a valid membership at the time of booking and on the day of the event. This will be validated at each point and we reserve the right to invoice the event at the full, non-member rate in the event that membership has lapsed.
• Please note that registering for this event will be taken as acceptance that your image, name, or voice may be included in a recording or photos of proceedings that will be published after the event. 
• By registering for a Canterbury Tech event, you are agreeing to abide by our Code of Conduct.