Emily
Gilligan
Digital Practice Lead,
BLENNZ
Kia ora everyone. My name is Emily, and I’m the Digital Practice Lead here at BLENNZ. My role involves supporting BLENNZ ākonga and our staff with a particular focus on online environments in the classroom. A large part of my role is about digital access. I also have the privilege of leading our Accessible Format Materials (AFM) team, which develops accessible learning materials to ensure ākonga who are blind, deafblind or have low vision can access curriculum content alongside their peers throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
I began my teaching career in 1996, initially working as an early childhood teacher and later as a kindergarten teacher. Over the years, I retrained as a primary teacher and joined the team at BLENNZ in 2010. Since then, I have worked as a Resource Teacher Vision in Wellington before moving into roles focused on IT and digital access. My role at BLENNZ is incredibly rewarding, allowing me to collaborate with our ākonga, whānau, and staff, as well as our sector partners. This collaboration ensures that BLENNZ ākonga have greater access to information in an increasingly digital world.